Education Report - Inmates Find Hope in College Classes at San Quentin Prison
教育报道 - 圣昆廷监狱为犯人提供大学课程
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语教育报道。
Last week we told you about a prison training program in the American Northwest. It teaches women in prison to start their own businesses after their release. Today we tell you about one of the few prisons in America that offer college-level classes: San Quentin State Prison in California.
上周我们讲述了美国西北部的一个监狱培训项目，该项目为女犯人在刑满释放后开办自己的生意提供培训。今天我们将讲述美国少数几个提供大学课程的监狱之一：加州圣昆廷州立监狱。
Jody Lewen volunteered to teach in the college program at San Quentin in nineteen ninety-nine. She was a graduate student. The program had a small group of volunteers and no money. But a year later the director resigned. Ms. Lewen agreed to run the program until a permanent director could be found.
1999年，乔迪·卢恩（Jody Lewen）在圣昆廷州立监狱大学项目承担志愿教学任务。她是一名研究生。该项目有一小群志愿者，没有任何资金。一年后该大学项目的校长辞职了。卢恩女士同意在找到常任校长前负责运作这一项目。
JODY LEWEN: "But once I started doing the work and got more deeply involved, I also began to see the potential the program had. And I started to think more and more about what this program could become. There was nobody else to run it. And I thought it would just be one of those failures for the rest of my life if I let it fold.”
卢恩：“但我一开始负责这项工作就越陷越深，我同时也开始看到了这个项目拥有的潜力。我开始越来越多地思考这个项目的发展前景，它能服务的人群，以及它能实现的理想和价值。”
The Prison University Project has expanded under Ms. Lewen's leadership. The goal is to prepare men to lead thoughtful and productive lives inside and outside of prison.
在卢恩女士的领导下，这个监狱大学项目不断扩展。该项目的目标是使男犯人在监狱内外都能过上有思想性和创造性的生活。
Twenty courses are offered each semester. Classes this spring included English, math, United States history, and Russian and Soviet history. Other courses included Asian-American theater, Spanish, biology, sociology, philosophy and criminal justice.
该项目每学期开设20门课程。今年春天开设的课程包括英语、数学、美国历史、俄罗斯和前苏联历史。其他课程还包括亚裔戏剧、西班牙语、生物学、社会学、哲学和刑法。
Three hundred inmates take classes every semester. They earn credits toward an associate of arts degree in liberal arts from Patten University in Oakland, California.
每学期有300名犯人参加课程。他们可以修得加州奥克兰市佩丁大学文科的一个联合文学学士学位认可的学分。
Ms. Lewen says getting teachers to volunteer is not difficult. But some are nervous about their first trip to San Quentin.
卢恩女士表示，招募志愿教师并不难。但有些教师会对他们的首次圣昆廷州立监狱教学之旅感到不安。
JODY LEWEN: "You know, all the stereotypes people have in their minds about people who are incarcerated, and they assume they’re a lot of troublemakers and people are goofing off and they do not want to do their work. That stereotype has nothing to do with reality."
卢恩：“你知道，人们脑海中对犯人的成见，他们认为犯人是麻烦制造者，吊儿郎当无所事事。这些成见与现实不符。”
She has recruited more than one hundred fifty volunteers, including graduate students from colleges and universities in the area.
她已经招募150多个志愿者，其中包括该地区大学院校的研究生。
Charles Spence hopes to earn parole from prison one day. He needs a few more courses to receive his associate’s degree, and he wants to earn a master’s degree in psychology.
查尔斯·斯彭斯（Charles Spence）希望有一天能假释出狱。他需要学习更多课程以获得联合学位，同时他希望获得心理学硕士学位。
CHARLES SPENCE: "This experience really has changed my life. It has given me a lot of tools on how to express myself. This program is really rare in the prison setting, so we are really lucky to have an opportunity to get an education, especially with the way the economy is out there now. And odds are stacked against us in being convicted felons. This actually gives us a lot of hope, and hopefully will help us succeed when we walk out the door."
斯彭斯：“这一学习经历彻底改变了我的人生。它给了我很多如何表达自我的工具。在监狱设置中这类大学项目很少见，所以我们真的非常幸运能够有机会学习，特别是这类课程不牵扯经济因素（即不收学费）。我们重罪犯人成功的希望渺茫。这实际上给了我们很大希望，希望它能帮助我们在走出监狱大门后取得成功。”
More than one hundred prisoners have received an associate’s degree. Many more have continued their college studies after their release. The project receives no state or federal money. It operates with donations from people and foundations.
一百多名犯人获得了联合学位。其中许多人在释放后还继续了他们的大学学业。该项目未接受任何联邦或州政府资金，它依赖大众和基金会的捐赠运作。
Jody Lewen wants to make a free college education available to more of the five thousand five hundred inmates at San Quentin. There is a long waiting list of prisoners who want to take classes.
卢恩希望能为圣昆廷监狱5500多名犯人提供免费大学教育。现在希望参加学习的犯人候选名单已经排了很长。
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report. I'm Bob Doughty.
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Contributing: JoAnn Mar |