Reasons for the Governor to form a Interagency DOC/DMH Advisory Board

Up to 20% of the inmates at DOC [Dept of Corrections] have serious mental illness [SMI]. 95% of these inmates will be eventually released into society.  They frequentfully drop out of treatment, violate their parole, commit a psychotic crime, or are arrested on nuisance charges.

Up to 80% of the in-patients in the DMH [Division of Mental Health] have court issues. This can be relatively minor charges to very serious charges like murder and cannibalism. A high percentage of this SMI patients are released to the community for follow up in group homes. If the SMI patient refuses to cooperate, he is either re-admitted to the hospital or is re-arrested on another charge and is sent to jail, prison, or released to the streets.

Most civil commitments for psychiatric treatment eventually end up treated in the community on an out-patient commitment. Fifty percent to Two thirds of psych patients on outpatient commitment are non-compliant. There is no regular supervision with realistic consequences of patients on an out- patient commitment.

SMI patients on commitments are frequently arrested and the criminal court or police have no knowledge of the person’s civil commitment of psychiatric treatment.

There are no resources to hospitalize all of these non-compliant persons on outpatient commitments. At any given time there are about one thousand dangerous and SMI court committed patients living in the community who are non-compliant with treatment and supervision. Many of these SMI patients are arrested for a wide range of crimes and the criminal court does not know that the civil court has placed this individual on a civil commitment.

SMI inmates at DOC tend to stay longer and are much more expensive to manage. It is very common for SMI inmates to go to jail or prison on minor charges and then get much more serious charges while in custody and stretch out a sentence of a few months to sometimes ten years.

The Incompetent to Stand Trial [ICST] laws are out of date and cause many problems and expense. For example, a SMI is arrested. He is held in jail many months till a court date. He is then found incompetent.  He is sent to Logansport State Hospital to be treated. Most of the time with treatment, the SMI patient becomes competent and is returned to jail.  He has to wait at jail several months for a court date.  He quits taking his medications and by the time he goes to court he is psychotic and incompetent again.  He may be in this revolving door for years.

The “Guilty But Mentally Ill” laws are out of date and inefficient.

Sex Offenders my benefit from life long civil commitments.

There are more injuries from SMI patients. SMI inmates get injured more frequently. Staff are injured more frequently by SMI.

There is no routine monitoring or reporting of the dangerous and serious mentally ill.  A SMI with a court commitment could buy a gun legally and get a gun permit.

We have to do something. We need change now.

Why I Like the Quakers

  Sept. 1, 2012



I was recently at the library researching a bit on the Quakers, the Holy Spirit, and contemplative prayer.  My table is full with stacks of books.  Most I have rejected for one thing or another.

I settled on seven books of modest size. Four are on Quakerism, one is on Pentecostalism, one is on Contemplative Prayer, and one is on an International Perspective on the Holy Spirit.

I have a thirst, a hunger to learn as much about Quakerism as I can.  As quick as I can. There are several reasons for this.  First is that this belief system values everything which I value and it is as if this faith was written for me from my deep beliefs.  Second, the belief system is  one of darma in that there is a consistency of belief and outward behavior.  Third I am drawn by the universality of the inward light which shines on each individual's path to God, if only one can be quiet and look. And finally,  the fourth reason is its emphasis on love and peace.

Visiting a Quaker Meeting for the First Time

I went to a Quaker Meeting today.   This is my second entrance into a place of worship since I quit my boycott of churches last week. My boycott had lasted almost ten years following the death of my girlfriend.

This was my first meeting. I went to the Valley Mills Friends Meeting House on the southwest side of Indianapolis. It is a very simple building and does not have much of a sign out front. It does not look like a church. There are no stained glass windows or crosses. It is a simple white building with a more modern addition to the side.

I entered the building and went to the fellowship hall. There were about one dozen persons there. Almost everyone seemed to be 70 years old or older. Everyone was White.   There seemed to be more women than men.  I introduced myself and everyone was very friendly.  What impressed me initially was how smart these people seemed to be.

I had just enough time for a sip of coffee and we were called to the worship hall. I was told after the service that this building was made in 1856.  It was a plain room with old fashion pews. If the room was packed, it would only hold about 200.  It appeared to be about to comfortablely hold a hundred or less.  There was a podium with a lectern. There was a hand hewed floor of dark wood.   All of the wood work was stained or was naturally dark.  The walls and ceilings were off colors of white.

There were two concessions to comfort.  One was a simple two inch think red cloth  colored pad and three ceiling fans.  There was no air conditioning and this part of Indiana was in the middle of an unprecedented drought and heat wave.  It had stormed hard last night which done little to lower the temperature, but raised the humidity and discomfort level a lot.

At the beginning of the service, a lady came over and told me I could  move to the center and I would be cooler due to being directly under the ceiling fans.  I declined.  It took about fifteen minutes for me to start cooking and I then understood the wisdom of her offer.

The service had three songs, an offering, a short sermon, and a three to four short periods of silence for about five or so minutes.  A few of the members were moved to speak and give a short testimony.

I must say, that this service was a very enjoyable experience [except for the heat]. I should say I was the only one dressed in a black shirt and gray slacks. everyone else was dressed in a normal fashion in colors of the rainbow. The lone young twentysomething male [the preacher's kid] was dressed in shorts.

I was invited back and was told I would probably enjoy the study discussions which begin after Labor Day.

I plan to go back.  I seek the comfort there and want to be of service where I can.

I liked it very much at the Valley Mills Friends Meeting in Indianapolis.

Diane L. Hart Haines Died

Diane Hart on Left. Vickie Henry on Right. Around 1979

By reports she died of liver failure.

Diane L. Hart Haines

Nov. 3, 2009

Diane L. Hart Haines died Tuesday at her Avon home. She was 51.

Born Oct. 31, 1958, in Indianapolis, she was the daughter of Roy and Unis Eden Hart. She married Kurt Haines on Dec. 2, 1991, in Indianapolis, and he survives.

Mrs. Haines worked 23 years as a lab technician at Sensient Flavors.

She was an avid bird lover and belonged to the Blue Bird Society, Purple Martin Mentor, and was a Master Gardener. She was also very active in 4-H.

Survivors include daughters Somer Jones of Camby, Candice Haines of Avon, and Crystal Lassiter of Greenwood; a son, Brandon Haines of Indianapolis; a brother, Kenneth Hart of Indianapolis; sisters Carol Butler of Florida and Barbara Wood of Indianapolis; granddaughters Kylie and Sierra; and her mother-in-law, Reva Haines of Brownsburg.

Services are 1 p.m. Saturday at Baker Funeral Home in Danville. Interment will follow at West Ridge Park Cemetery in Indianapolis.

Calling at the funeral home is for two hours prior to the service.

Online condolences may be made at www.bakerfuneralservice.com.

Healthy Fellow

I am working online with Amazon's Mechanical Turk. You make money by completing online tasks. It doesn't pay a lot, but it is legit.

For example, I have been asked to review Healthfellow.com . It is a web site/ blog about assorted health concerns. This review of 100 words or more will pay me $2.00. So I thought I would give it a whirl.

Healthy Fellow is also available in email subscriptions and with an RSS feed. Healthy Fellow promotes natural solutions to health problems.

Some categories are: Alternative Therapies, Bone and Joint Health, Childrens' Health, Dental Health, Detoxification, Diabetes, Diet and Weight Loss, Exercise, Food and Drink, General Health, Heart Health, Memory, Men's Health, Mental Health, Movies, Nutrition, Nutritional Supplements, Product reviews, and Women' Health.

The site seems to be laid out professional and is written in easily understood language. The comments section offers many suggestions for a particular problem from you the people. The site gives cutting edge warnings on problems substances and practices. It also gives up to the minute news on new therapies.

Subash Rai

Nepali Student Arrested in USA
By dreamnepal

Student at the University of Indianapolis, Subash Rai, a Nepali national has been arrested in relation to a shooting incident which led to the death of Ghamdan Abolohom from the same university. Police believe that the shooting was accidental and that the friends involved had no hatred against each other. Subash Rai was charged with reckless homicide, University of Indianapolis reports in its mourning speech.

According to the University, Ghamdan Mohammed Abolohom, 23, of Yemen was a senior majoring in international business and economics/finance. Subash Rai, however was a senior majoring in economics/finance and also was enrolled in a spring term course.

Because the incident occurred at a residence a mile from campus, near Troy Avenue, we do not have all the details. According to police, however, the fatal shooting was accidental, and the two men involved were friends who bore each other no animosity. Rai was arrested on an initial charge of reckless homicide.

Our condolences to the bereaved families and we hope Subash will be able to make it out soon as this was all but an accident.

source:University of Indianapolis



* Ghamdan Mohammed Abolohom is the second son of Mohammed Abdallah Abolohom and Najla Hussein Alahmar. He has an elder brother Ghassan and a younger brother Mohammed. He also has two older sisters.
* Ghamdan was born on Sunday 13th of June 1982, in Sana'a Yemen.
* In 1986, he was enrolled in Azal School, Sana'a Yemen, he studied there kindergarden till third grade.
* In 1991, the family moved to live in Paris where Ghamdan took grade four in the Iraqi School.
* Between the years 1992-1995, Ghamdan studied from fifth grade until seventh grade in the American School in Sana'a.
* In 1995, he went back to the Iraqi School in Paris where he took eighth grade.
* Ghamdan went back to Yemen in 1996 where he studied high School till his Graduation in the year 2000.
* In September 2000, he moved to the State of Indiana to study in the University of Indianapolis.
* Ghamdan visited Yemen from June 2003 till December 2003.
* He graduated from the University of Indiana on the 6th of May 2006 with a double major in Economics/Finance and International Business.
* Tragically he passed away on sunday 14th of May 2006 (15th in Yemen due to the time difference).


The University of Indianapolis community is stunned and saddened by the tragic accident May 14 that claimed the life of student Ghamdan Abolohom and led to the arrest of another student, Subash Rai.

Because the incident occurred at a residence a mile from campus, near Troy Avenue, we do not have all the details. According to police, however, the fatal shooting was accidental, and the two men involved were friends who bore each other no animosity. Subash was arrested on an initial charge of reckless homicide. He remains in custody but has been in contact with family, friends and the university.

Our thoughts and prayers are with him and with both families, and our counseling center and chaplains’ office are available for students, faculty and staff who are struggling with grief. Memorial services for Ghamdan were conducted May 16 in the campus chapel and at a local mosque.

Ghamdan Mohammed Abolohom, 23, of Yemen was a senior majoring in international business and economics/finance. He participated in commencement May 6, but still had a requirement to complete before receiving his diploma. He was not enrolled for summer or fall courses.

Subash Chandra Rai, 21, of Nepal is a senior majoring in economics/finance.





By Vic Ryckaert
vic.ryckaert@...
A University of Indianapolis student is dead and another student is under arrest
after an accidental shooting at a Southside apartment.




Counselors are helping University of Indianapolis students after
Ghamdan Mohammed Abolohom, 23, was fatally shot near his home. - Photo provided
by the University of Indanapolis

Ghamdan Mohammed Abolohom, 23, was shot in the chest and died at Wishard
Memorial Hospital on Sunday night, Indianapolis police said.
Police arrested Subash Chandra Rai, 21, on an initial charge of reckless
homicide. Both men are foreign students attending the University of
Indianapolis, police said.

Abolohom, who was from Yemen, was a senior with a double major in
economics/finance and international business, school spokesman Scott Hall said.

Rai, from Nepal, is a senior majoring in economics/finance, Hall said.

The two men involved were friends, Indianapolis police Maj. Lloyd Crowe said.
Police are not releasing details of the incident, but Lloyd said the shooting
was an accident.

"The activity they were involved in with the gun was irresponsible," Crowe said.

Abolohom participated in the May 6 commencement ceremony, Hall said, but still
had one requirement to complete before formal graduation.

"The University of Indianapolis community is stunned and saddened by the tragic
accident," Hall said in a statement released today. "Our thoughts and prayers
are with both families."

The school is offering counseling for students, faculty and staff, Hall said.


The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Call Star reporter Vic Ryckaert at (317) 444-2761



Yemeni student shot dead by a college mate
http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/06/05/17/10040522.html

05/17/2006 07:48 PM | AP

Indianapolis: A University of Indianapolis student was charged with reckless homicide after authorities say he accidentally shot a fellow student to death outside an apartment.

Ghamdan Mohammad Abolohom, 23, of Yemen was shot in the chest and died on Sunday night at Wishard Memorial Hospital, Indianapolis police said.

Police arrested Subash Chandra Rai, 21, of Nepal, and charged him in Abolohom's death, which police said resulted from an accidental shooting outside an off-campus apartment.

Both were students at the University of Indianapolis. Indianapolis police Major Lloyd Crowe would not release details of the shooting outside the apartment about 1.6 kilometers from campus, but said the men were friends and the shooting was an accident.

"The activity they were involved in with the gun was irresponsible," Crowe said.

When officers arrived on Indianapolis' southeast side, they found Abolohom lying on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound to his chest. They also found another man performing CPR.

Abolohom was a senior with a double major in economics/finance and international business. Rai, also a senior, is majoring in economics.

School spokesman Scott Hall said two memorial services would be held for Abolohom one on campus and another at an Indianapolis-area mosque.

Nepali student in US pleads guilty in fellow student�s death
Kantipur Report
KATHMANDU, Sept 16 - A Nepali student Subash Chandra Rai has pleaded guilty to reckless homicide in what police said was the accidental shooting to death of a fellow University of Indianapolis student, news report said Saturday.

Police said they believe Rai accidentally shot Ghamdan Mohammed Abolohom, a 23-year-old UIndy student from Yemen, in the 3000 block of Carson Avenue in May, according to www.theindychannel.com.

Both were playing with a loaded handgun when the weapon fired, police said.

Rai, a 21-year-old who was studying at UIndy, is scheduled to be sentenced in October



Man Pleads Guilty In Student's Accidental Shooting Death

POSTED: 8:09 pm EDT September 15, 2006
[BUZZ: Man Pleads Guilty In Student's Accidental Shooting Death] [DELICIOUS: Man Pleads Guilty In Student's Accidental Shooting Death] [DIGG: Man Pleads Guilty In Student's Accidental Shooting Death] [FACEBOOK: Man Pleads Guilty In Student's Accidental Shooting Death] [REDDIT: Man Pleads Guilty In Student's Accidental Shooting Death] [RSS] [PRINT: Man Pleads Guilty In Student's Accidental Shooting Death] [EMAIL: Man Pleads Guilty In Student's Accidental Shooting Death]
INDIANAPOLIS -- A man has pleaded guilty to reckless homicide in what police said was the accidental shooting death of a fellow University of Indianapolis student.

Police said they believe Subash Chandra Rai accidentally shot Ghamdan Mohammed Abolohom, a 23-year-old UIndy student from Yemen, in the 3000 block of Carson Avenue in May.

Both were playing with a loaded handgun when the weapon fired, police said.

My Brother's Good Friend Dies

Fuller, co-founder of Habitat for Humanity, dies

Jeff Cardwell, my brother, is pictured on the left. He was involved in many projects will Millard, and is enroute to Americus, GA. on this Tuesday.


By DORIE TURNER – 2 hours ago

ATLANTA (AP) — Millard Fuller, the millionaire entrepreneur who gave it all away to help found the Christian house-building charity Habitat for Humanity, died Tuesday. He was 74.

Fuller died about 3 a.m. after being taken to a hospital emergency room, according to his wife, Linda. The cause of death was not immediately known.

Linda Fuller, in a telephone interview from the couple's home in Americus, said her husband was complaining of chest pains, headache and difficulty swallowing.

The couple was to have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in August with a 100-house "blitz build" across the globe, she said.

"We'll probably go ahead with the 'blitz build.' Millard would not want people to mourn his death," she said. "He would be more interested in having people put on a tool belt and build a house for people in need."

One of Habitat's highest-profile volunteers, former President Jimmy Carter, called Fuller "one of the most extraordinary people I have ever known.

"He used his remarkable gifts as an entrepreneur for the benefit of millions of needy people around the world by providing them with decent housing," Carter said in a statement. "As the founder of Habitat for Humanity and later the Fuller Center, he was an inspiration to me, other members of our family and an untold number of volunteers who worked side-by-side under his leadership."

After running Habitat for Humanity with his wife for nearly three decades, Fuller lost control of the charity in a conflict with its board. When ousted in January 2005, he and his wife vowed to continue working on housing the poor and started The Fuller Center for Housing to raise money for Habitat affiliates.

The son of a widower farmer in the cotton-mill town of Lanett, Ala., Fuller earned his first profit at age 6, selling a pig. While studying law at the University of Alabama, he formed a direct-marketing company with Morris Dees — later founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center — focusing on selling cookbooks and candy to high school chapters of the Future Homemakers of America. That business would make them millionaires before they were 30.

When Fuller's capitalist drive threatened to kill his marriage, Fuller and his wife, who wed in college, decided to sell everything and devote themselves to the Christian values they grew up with.

"I gave away about $1 million," Fuller said in a 2004 interview with The Associated Press. "I wasn't a multimillionaire; I was a poor millionaire."

The couple's search for a mission led them to Koinonia, an interracial agricultural collective outside Americus in south Georgia. It was there with Koinonia founder Clarence Jordan that the Fullers developed the concept of building no-interest housing for the poor — an idea that eventually grew into Habitat for Humanity.

Founded in 1976, Habitat's first headquarters was a tiny gray frame house on Americus' Church Street, which doubled as Fuller's law office. For the first 14 years, Fuller's salary was just $15,000; his wife worked 10 years for free.

Habitat grew from those humble beginnings to a worldwide network that has built more than 300,000 houses, providing shelter to more than 1.5 million people. Preaching the "theology of the hammer," Fuller built an army of volunteers that included former U.S. presidents, other world leaders and Hollywood celebrities.

"The Bible says, 'The Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,'" he told the AP in 2004. "That covers just about everything. God's money is just in the pockets of people, and we've got to extract it."

People receiving homes from the charity are required to work on their own houses, investing what the Fullers called "sweat equity" in their own futures.

Fuller's works won him numerous accolades, including a 1996 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. For nearly three decades, he was the public face of Habitat, traveling the world to hammer nails and press bricks from local clay alongside some of the Earth's poorest.

But a scandal that had smoldered for years flared anew in 2004 to sully Fuller's legacy.

Habitat's international board moved to oust Fuller from his position of chief executive officer after allegations surfaced that he had sexually harassed a female staff member in 2003. The move came despite the board's conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the charge.

However, the allegations of inappropriate behavior mirrored complaints in 1990 from female staffers and volunteers that led to Fuller's yearlong exile from the organization's headquarters.

Fuller acknowledged he had kissed and hugged the women who made the 1990 complaints, but argued they had misinterpreted his actions. But he categorically denied the later charge, telling the AP in 2004 that "there's not even the tiniest element of truth in it."

President Carter had to intervene in both of those instances to prevent the board from ousting Fuller.

In 2004, Fuller reached a compromise that allowed him to stay on in the largely ceremonial role of "founder and president." However, the Fullers backed out of an agreement not to discuss the situation publicly, and the board voted in January 2005 to oust Fuller and his wife.

Months later, the Fullers and their supporters formed The Fuller Center for Housing, a fundraising group for charitable home-building efforts. The new group was originally called Building Habitat, but that name was quickly dropped after Habitat for Humanity sued over Fuller's use of the word "Habitat," arguing it was a trademark infringement and could interfere with Habitat's business and fundraising.

Fuller attributed his ouster to disagreements with the board over whether to slow the charity's growth. He argued Habitat was becoming more bureaucracy than mission.

"If we lose the 'movement mentality' we will not go out of existence, but we will stagnate and become just 'another nonprofit' doing good work across the county and around the world," he wrote in a letter to the committee that searched for his successor as CEO.

Throughout the scandal, Fuller insisted that he did not want to do anything that would compromise Habitat's mission.

"I've always felt that this is God's work," he said. "And it's always been bigger than me, from day one."

Fuller is survived by his wife and four children. Funeral arrangements are pending.

Associated Press Writer Allen G. Breed in Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this report.