What has been your favorite school assignment, and why? What did you learn?
The most interesting subjects for me were the last few courses that I took. One was social sciences, and the other was world trade. We have difficult and unique problems in our country. It’s too bad some interests are demonized in the early 20th century-but always a problem; also, the modern increases in media has an intensity paralleled by history: the late
Tell us about an instructor or tutor who has been especially influential in your experience as a student. How has s/he impacted you?
There was one mathematics instructor who handled class problems very well. I recall a brief conversation about economics. In my “class instructor assessment,” I praised him somewhat; he ought to have a symposium on the “art of teaching” for friends and colleagues.
What do people most commonly misunderstand about the criminal justice system, and about incarcerated people? What do you wish people understood?
It promotes poverty and isolation, but also gives an opportunity to develop interest in books and study. I spent 15 years studying chemistry, from general inorganic to biochemistry, with excursions into related fields. Best of all was botany, but there was very little theoretical study there. I was a gardener for about a year and a half in Los Angeles.