Editorial

— Rollie Atkinson

In just two weeks we will turn our calendars to a new year as we

Governor Jerry Brown recently signed five important tobacco control laws, made possible because of the governor’s special session on health legislation.

The late Ernie Rapley was an old time newsman. He worked for the

Editor: Three cheers for Supervisor Paul Kelley's opposition to

Fellow classmates, faculty, family and friends, it is truly an honor to be speaking here and I wanted to start it off by congratulating my classmates. It has been a road paved by strife, diligence, chronic senioritus, and quite a few senior ditch days but we made it here so I think that deserves a round of applause.

For the last 15 years, I have been a volunteer in prisons, teaching convicted felons in the field of sociology and running self-help groups. Most of my students are “lifers,” men who have been convicted of serious crimes like murder, rape, or burglary for which they have received sentences of 15 years to life and much more. None of them are on death row, and most are now eligible for parole, having served their minimum sentences. Often, they have served far longer.