RSU Radio Public Affairs Program to Examine Female Prison Population May 27

The third installment of “Making Oklahoma Work: Community Problems and Solutions,” will air at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 27, on RSU Radio 91.3 FM, the radio station operated by Rogers State University.

The program, titled “Oklahoma’s Female Prison Population: Two Policy Alternatives,” will focus on treatment programs that reduce the number of women sent to prison and the number who return once paroled.

The program will repeat at 8 a.m. Sunday, May 31.

“Oklahoma’s rate of incarcerating women is among the highest in the U.S.,” said Steve Housel, executive producer. “The show reports on two treatment programs. One is the drug court, which is designed to identify substance-abusing offenders and place them under court monitoring while they undergo aggressive treatment. The other program aims to bond inmate mothers with their infants through training, mentoring and mother-child contact. Both approaches have demonstrated highly encouraging results.”

“Making Oklahoma Work: Community Problems and Solutions” is broadcast quarterly, examining issues and policies of concern to citizens across Oklahoma, Housel said. Future programs will investigate the quality of drinking water in several area communities and examine how city employees in Owasso are rewarded based on their work performance.

RSU students Hally Kirby of Eucha, Jay Hall of Broken Arrow and Charity Prewitt of Chelsea co-produced the upcoming program and contributed most of the research, interviewing, writing and editing.

The series is sponsored by the RSU Public Administration Program, RSU Department of History and Political Science, and RSU Radio. RSU offers a bachelor’s degree in public administration.

Housel is coordinator of the RSU Public Administration Program. He has 10 years of experience as a radio broadcaster, and earned master’s and doctoral degrees in public administration and political science.

For more information about the program or to suggest future topics, call (918) 343-7811.