I commend Bill Cosby for trying to convince these inmates to become reformed and work harder and be more responsible in society, but come on, and ex-inmate being able to attend Yale; more than likely at the tax payers expense. It does not seem fair or just to people who work hard all their young lives just to realize a dream of attending Yale is not possible because his or her parents had to pay for the education of people who wanted a free ride.

Andrés: Como hispano que soy, estoy muy orgulloso de ti. Tu caso es digno de ejemplarizarlo a todos los jovenes latinos que han escogido el mal camino en sus vidas. Como periodista por mas de 30 anos, en mis editoriales y columnas siempre he inculcado a los jovenes a que se preparen para el futuro. Lamento no haber asistido a la ceremonia de hoy en el ACI debido a motivos ajenos a mi voluntad. Te deseo muchos exitos en la Universidad Yale y estoy muy seguro que en el ano 2011 tendremos el primer abogado colombiano residente en Rhode Island graduado en la facultad de Leyes de la Universidad mas famosa de los Estados Unidos. Espero conocerte en un futuro cercano para compartir ideas y consejos para nuestra comunidad.Saludos a tus familiares, me imagino estaran muy orgullosos de ti.
Atentamente,
Jaime A. Salazar
Publisher
"Nuevos Horizontes"
El Primer Periodico Hispano de Rhode Island

Cosby has been a positive influence for as long as I can remember. I loved him when I was a kid, and now, I respect him more than ever.

Good for him,how can one judge for doing good, would you have rather hr had gottrn out and commited more crime or even worse.
Congrats to him getting his head together.

Ellie: A quote from today's article
"Idarraga estimates he’ll be $140,000 in debt by the time he gets out of law school. He hopes to some day begin paying his loans off as a lawyer for advocacy agencies fighting for better education for the poor."

My understanding is that he will be using student loans to pay for his education, much like the rest of us. I don't think he's going on a free ride to Yale.

I'm amazed at how people look beyond the positive message in stories like this.

I know Mr. Idarraga from being a fellow member of the RI Young Professionals. www.riyp.org He is a great person and he did not let his past hinder his future. I commend Mr. Cosby for coming and taking on tough topics.

To Ellie D:

If you had read the article related specifically to Andres Idarrage, you would note that he is picking up the bill for his education - not the taxpayers. Upon completion of Yale, Idarraga will be in more than $100,000 of debt. Idarraga fairly through his own merit earned his spots at both Brown University and Yale. I commend him for turning his life around and showing the world what he has to offer.

Ellie, what the HECK are you talking about? No one attends Yale Law School "at the tax payers expense". It's a private university and provides its own NEED-based financial aid.

How spiteful to begrudge this brilliant and accomplished Brown graduate his joy in going on to a prestigious law school. We should all be applauding his amazing journey, not sneering about it. You sound jealous, sorry to say. I wish you could feel some happiness that a former prisoner is doing so much for himself and eventually for society.

Andres, I would like to congratulate you on what you have accomplished. There are too many people in this world that take second chances for granted. I wish you the best of luck in your studies and future goals. Que dios lo bendiga a usted y a su familia, hoy y siempre.

Bill is my idol i would have love to here him speech. the man can talk on any level,and to anyone.College is the only way out and to stay out. if a person can get accepted to yale anything is possible.

You are setting a positive role model for others to see that it is not impossible to pull yourself up from the bottom, pay for your mistakes, and go on to something positive, so that you will not make the same mistakes again. Good for you.

I'm as pro-prosecution and pro-law enforcement as you can get. I am also a current law student. I'm happy for this kid. He's paid his debt to society. Good for you kid. Best of luck. If all inmates were like you we wouldn't have the recidivisim rate that we have. Keep your nose to the books and keep your eyes on the prize.

It shouldn't be of anyone's concern on how he will pay for Yale and if you read the article thoroughly you would have read how much he will owe in student loans once he graduates from Yale.

Idarraga is a success story and good for him for being able to turn his life around!

Everyone does wrong at some point in their life. Who are we to judge.

Mr. Idarraga, if you are reading this...I commend you for turning your life around and reaching out to others to help them do the same. You will not be a part of the statistics of career criminals who go in and out of jail. Instead you have taken something negative that has happened in your life and turned it around for the good. Who knows, going to jail may have been the best thing that has ever happened to you because if you did not, then you may not be where you are today. Keep on going and keep on achieving!

What a wonderful story. I congratulate that gentleman for turning his life around. I have been in law enforcement for many years and it is always heartening to see people change their lives for the better.

As for Bill Cosby, what a better role model. He understands that education is the key to success.

This comment is for Ellie I hope he or she reads it thoroughly so that it can be understood. Mr. Idarraga’s journey has been far from a “free ride”! He has been able to focus on the positive things set a goals and has reached every single one that he has set his mind too. How many of us can say that? And we haven’t gone through half of what he has gone through. How many of you are sitting at your computer right now hoping that you can do something better for yourself, but in turn always find excuses on why you can’t, we don’t have time, we don’t have money etc.. Well Mr. Idarraga could have come up with all the excuses in the world to stop him, yet he hasn’t. On the contrary he is now setting an example not only for present inmates but for the youth of this society who needs to see a real role model that has gone thru some of the same situations that they go through, and not a rap artist or all these other popular socialites they are so rapidly being polluted with. According to an article printed in projo in January of 2007 it costs over 39,000 a year per inmate for incarceration at the Aci. So I ask you Ellie is that were you prefer your tax money to go? Or should we have an Andres Idarraga that is so diligently working towards making a change. Ellie you never know maybe one day a Dr. Idarraga might be representing you towards reaching your goals. I believe I don’t speak for myself when saying that Andres is an inspiration and I applaud all if his success.
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Ellie D,

It seems your a bit bitter about something that may have happened to you in the past. I personally think it is great that someone after being incarcerated can reform their lives and move forward in a positive manner. Its a sad fact to society that people like you would belittle the accomplishment of Andres Idarraga. Applaud this young mans accomplishment and hope that other inmates can learn from him and become a better part of society. The short sightedness of your reply shows the total ignorance of yourself and the lack of desire to read the ENTIRE article so to better understand that Andres will be in total debt at the conclusion of his education.

Congratulations Andres, don't let the ignorance of people sell you short in life.