The Perry Daily Journal (Perry, Okla.), Vol. 80, No. 279, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 26, 1973 Page: 7 of 10
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P. 7, Perry Daily Journal Wednesday, Dec. 26, 1973
Legislator
Applies For
Food Stamps
By FRANK GRIFFIS
DALLAS (UPI) - On a
morning he was supposed to
travel to Austin to meet with
some university regents, state
Rep Paul Ragsdale woke up
and decided it was ridiculous to
work at a fulltime job only to
receive part-time pay So he
went back to sleep
"I got hungry later so I went
and applied for food stamps,”
the Dallas Democrat said,
plopping down on a green vinyl
couch in the middle of the
sparsely furnished living room
of his house, its walls plastered
with posters of Angela Davis,
George McGovern and Jimi
Hendrix.
"I’ve been trying, but it's
kinda hard on $400 a month,''
the thin, bearded, black legisla-
tor said
Doesn’t Have Another Job
Unlike many of his colleagues
in the legislature, Ragsdale, 29,
a bachelor, does not have
another job to supplement his
$4,800 annual state income
"I probably could have gotten
a job, but it would have tied me
down," Ragsdale said
Ragsdale said the legislature
was a fulltime job and that
representatives and senators
who are lawmakers for five
months and hold other jobs—as
lawyers, physicians, teachers
and businessmen—the other
seven months of the year don't
spend enough time on their
legislative homework
"I mean we got more than
200 state agencies we re respon-
sible for, we, the legislature."
Ragsdale said "Man, if that's
a part-time job. In Dallas
County, I'm the only one
(legislator) without a job I'm
also the most active
"I’ve tried to point out the
disparity between the pay and
the kind of people you get You
can't get top quality people for
$400 a month "
Ragsdale, who had the best
attendance record in the House
by being present for 97.6 per
cent of all roll call votes, said
all he has gotten out of the food
stamp move was some local
publicity and an appointment to
apply for the federal relief He
said his legislative income
probably was too high for him
to be eligible for food stamps
Suggests a Strike
'So then I suggested that the
legislature go on strike,"
Ragsdale said. “It’s a sugges-
tion. Ordinary people have the
right to go on strike, but we're
hamstrung with our hands tied.
1 gross $400. I take home
$301 57 I can't buy clothes 1
hope to hell nothing breaks
down and 1 hope I don't get a
stopped-up sink or the car
breaks "
Out of his 1301 take home
pay. Ragsdale, who used to
work for the city Planning
Department, said he made a
$172 payment on his two-
bedroom unfurnished home, a
$104 car note on his new Ford
Maverick i ‘the motor went out
on the old one"), and $21 in life
insurance
"We’re not talking about
utilities, telephone bills and
gasoline," Ragsdale said.
"We’re not talking about food
We’re not talking about clo-
thing, and we’re damn sure not
talking about taking a broad
out on the town "
Ragsdale said he planned to
“stick it out."
"I’ve got to—there’s too
much unfinished business,” he
said. “A bunch of white people
don’t have the perspective that
WOMAN LAWYER is
how Jill Wine Vollner does
not like to hear herself de-
scribed She prefers simply
‘attorney.’ Assistant special
prosecutor in the Water-
gate proceedings before
Judge John Sirica in Wash-
ington, she played a key
role in questioning Rose
Mary Woods, President
Nixon’s private secretary.
BENC HED is benched,
even in the littlest leagues.
But a ( upertino, Calif.,
rookie by the name of
Cameron took it as gra-
cefully as possible under
the circumstances when
the big boys told him to sit
this practice out. (Photo by
Orv ille Andrews)
Preparing baby for travel can
be made easy if you remember
to stock up on everything you
need in advance. Pack a special
bag for baby that will put
everything needed at your
fingertips, whether you are in
a car or plane.
The biggest state in the
United States, Alaska, has no
snakes
'Pen Pals'
Can Hurt
Prisoners
By ROBERT D. LURATI
SAN QUENTIN, Calif (UPI)
— A letter to a convict from
outside the prison walls can be
not only a promise of better
things" but also "a hurting
instrument.’
That’s how George Schroeder,
editor of the San Quentin News,
talks about mail from ‘pen
pal" citizens who are interested
in the mental well-being of
prisoners behind bars
Schroeder is not talking about
mail from the inmates’ families
but letters from citizens who
have never met their convict
correspondents.
On the plus side, Schroeder
said, the letters "afford the
prisoner the opportunity to keep
abreast of the everchanging
attitudes on the part of those
outside the prison community.
And possibly make a lasting
friend, while in, through letter
writing."
But, he said, the letter
writing can present problems
for both persons
One of the Chief Dangers
"One of the chief dangers ..
is: Will the initial interest on
the part of the outside
correspondent continue after
the first flurry of communica-
tion'’" Schroeder wrote in his
Bastille by the Bay column.
He said that at the start of
the relationship the prisoner
becomes re-interested in the
thoughts of non-prison people,
he grows to like them and he
relates his thoughts and hopes
Then, suddenly, his mail
stops," Schroeder said. "He is
hurt as well as confused. Has
he done something wrong?
Have his letters become misun-
derstood? Or are they, and he,
so uninteresting that his new-
found friend no longer wishes to
continue the contact
So the convict usually never
finds out what happened and is
left in confusion, the editor
said.
Another danger is that the
convict - when communicating
with a woman—misconstrues
her interest and concern for
love, Schroeder said.
He Might Overreact
"The outside correspondent
should be aware that a prisoner
is a feeling human personality
who is restricted from normal
as well as extended contact
with members of the oppposite
sex," the editor said.
"And, so his reaction to
another’s interest is likely to be
greatly magnified due to the
restrictive conditions of close
confinement placed upon him.
He usually means no harm, but
is merely overreacting to a
human need which has long
been repressed."
Schroeder warned women
writers not to become “alar-
med” but be gentle and honest
in the letters.
"Sooner or later both must
face the reality of their
situation—a relationship needed
by one but not wanted by the
other," he sail.
The editor warned that
outside citizens “must never
lose sight" of the fact that
prisoners are restrict* J by
walls which do not restrict their
emotions.
And remember, Schroeder
said, convicts are in need “of
all but further hurt or
disappointment."
Three-wheeled bicycles with
cargo areas aft are good for
making trips to nearby stores,
the gasoline-saving way. They
are designed for persons who
have trouble getting the hang
of riding a two-wheeler again.
A TALL ORDER
1
is one way to describe construction of a
new nuclear power plant at Port Clinton,
Ohio Huge cranes deliver steel beams to
work stations inside the cooling tower, left.
Below, an exterior view of the 500-foot tall
tower which will hold five million gallons
of water when the plant begins producing
commercial electricity in 1975.
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Watson, Milo W. The Perry Daily Journal (Perry, Okla.), Vol. 80, No. 279, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 26, 1973, newspaper, December 26, 1973; Perry, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc2250838/m1/7/?q=%22%22~1: accessed August 15, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.