The furniture for two major residence hall projects at Iowa State University was built by inmates in Iowa prisons. I-S-U Director of Residence, Randy Alexander, says Iowa Prison Industries built the furniture for the Maple Hall remodeling and the new Hawthorne Court after winning the low bid.Alexander says there’ve been no complaints about the furniture, or the low-security inmates that helped deliver it.Prison Industries Director Roger Baysden says I-S-U is an important customer. He says 16-percent of their total work comes from ISU.He says the furniture building is important to inmates, as about 25-percent of the work was done by “lifers.” He says the work gives them some self worth.
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