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Show by Carol O. Hinckley Comment Editor ifty years ago Weber State College stood alone on the foothills east of Ogden. As the campus has grown, the community has grown up around it, and the two have meshed to mutually support each other. Now WSC's influence is reaching beyond the community and into the entire state of Utah. An example of this extended impact is in law enforcement education. On campus upwards of 200 students are majoring in law enforcement, criminalistics or corrections. Off campus, WSC provides education to almost as many police officers in 17 locations from Logan on the north to St. George on the ~ south. . “Specialists are becoming increasingly essential in police work,” said Dr. Glen W. Howard, chairman of the department of corrections and law enforcement at WSC. He said the responsibility of providing these specialists has been given to WSC — by the State Board of Regents. “Engineering techniques are being applied to traffic planning and control, and social work techniques to. crime prevention," he said. “Today's policeman must have a better education.” This education in police work includes a great deal of “hands on" learning; even for those students on campus who have not been hired into the criminal justice system. Corrections Juvenile court, probation and parole offices, youth detention facilities, prisons and jails and drug abuse clinics supplement the classroom of WSC students majoring in corrections. For college credit, not money, two senior students were selected to work with the juvenile court for this “practical experience." “Most of the kids here are first and second offenders,” explained Juvenile Court officer, Paul Dawson, who supervises the students. “And most have been picked up for shoplifting.” “We spend a lot of time talking to the juveniles and their parents," bubbled diminutive Denita Toyn, who plans to receive her degree this spring. She says she loves working with people, and finds this contact with the young people most rewarding. Seniors Ron Dixon and Denita Toyn counsel with juveniles and their parents for the Utah State First District Juvenile Court as part of their college/on-the-job training in corrections. “Before any court action is taken the child and his (her) parents come in and talk about what has happened,” explained Dawson. “At that point we start seeing patterns of parental concern or lack of it.” He said the person assigned to the case counsels with the parents and the juvenile, and makes a decision whether the child is to be sent to a higher court. . realize most people don't get in tr ble," he said... ot snl Dixon, who works on weekends as a musician in Wendover, on the -Utah/Nevada border, says he is gl he is getting the opportunity to work with the young people while he is still in school. | ‘I am into corrections for person satisfaction, not the money," he sai “You have got to feel like you are doing something to help someoneg For first offenders. there will be _ no court record. “We can handle first offenses, and if we handle them here, there will be no record,” Dawson continued. He said he thinks almost nobody is immune to a first offense. "But if they get caught the first time, they seldom come back," he added. For those juveniles who do come back (about 33 percent of them) the college students spend a lot of time -in court hearings with them, and get an education on how the court system works. “They have been here for five weeks now and really know what is going on,” Dawson said, referring to Ms. Toyn and her fellow classmate, Ron Dixon. Dawson said part of the education he tries to give the students is that they must have some outside interests or they will begin thinking that everybody is corrupt. “You have to have some contact with other people outside the work environment, kids in particular, to you wouldn't get into it at all.” WSC faculty member over the corrections program is Dr. Michael ‘Norman. He works closely with th directors of the agencies which place his students. “We try to inter face as closely as we can, and I tel my students if they do a super job this experience can open some do. for their future employment," he said. Norman said the job prospects over the next four or five years for corrections graduates looks good in the state of Utah. We must identify those who are a threat to society. ~ admit wh to re Ms. is war other seem | calls e chang. iend Rick house, flight « “Somewhere down the line we must develop technology to identify persons who are a threat to society | if they are not locked up," he continued. He said we're not doing this particularly well in our present system, but with better education and more understanding, he thinks professions in the area of correc: tions have a bright future. ‘ the re: down calls “c in the Rick o out the record since ¢ month | |