Teen dance



Teens from the Gallup area dance at Red Rock State Park on Friday nights from 8 pm to midnight. There will be two dances next week, on March 16 and a dance on the 17 to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. The dances have been held for about one month, averaging more than three hundred youths each night.

Photo by Jerry W. Kelley

Former Kayenta Township Manager Peter Deswood Jr. gestures while talking about his firing and what lies ahead for him in an interview Wednesday.

Photo by Jeff Jones

Kinlichee teachers walk out, school closes
Students get 2 days off

Jim Maniaci
Dine Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — More than 180 dozen students at the tribal school in Kinlichee got two unexpected days away from class this week when seven of the nine teachers in the faculty walked out.

The incident began Tuesday night at the board meeting, according to Board Chairman Sam Billison. A majority of the four-member board declined to renew teachers' contracts until they knew Principal Lena Draper had done evaluations, Billison said.

After meetings with the teachers and principal Wednesday and Thursday morning, the board received Draper's guarantee that the evaluations existed and renewed all the teachers' contracts Thursday afternoon, Billison said.

But without anyone to instruct them, the 125 or so kindergarten through eighth graders at Kin Dah Lichi'l Olta ended up with no classes Wednesday and Thursday.

Parents demanded that the kids be taught, since that is why they enrolled them in school, Billison said.

even of nine teachers reportedly walked out and two were in Phoenix on Wednesday, the board chairman said.

Billison said some board members met with Draper on Wednesday, instructing her to request parents to send their children to school Thursday. The boys and girls returned, but negotiations continued so there were no classes held and the kids were bused home at lunch time, he said.

Draper told Billison and board member Evelyn Wilson that the faculty walked out for two reasons, that the board criticized teachers and the board does not support teachers.

Billison said he wasn't criticizing the instructors when he maintained there is a need to integrate the higher state standards, especially for reading, in the school when it converted from a Bureau of Indian Affairs institution to a combination federal grant-state public charter school.

The board chairman said the principal failed to inform the certificated personnel of the consequences of a walkout. That was backed up, he said, by two Navajo Education Division staff members on Wednesday. They told the teachers they might even lose their certificates and possibly could endanger the federal and state contracts.

In a memo to Draper, the board chairman wrote,"We cannot keep students out of classes because AIMS (Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards) tests are coming up. Our students need to be in class every day." He also wrote to Draper that it was her responsibility to see that the children were in class.

Classes resumed Friday.

The school is governed by a four-member board that includes two Navajo Nation Council delegates Billison and Calvin Kirk who are on the council's Education Committee, plus Wilson and Phil Moore.

The Peach Springs Unified School District of Mohave County sponsors the charter public school, which is grades seven and eight, while the U.S. Public Law 100-297 contract with the BIA pays for the operation of kindergarten through sixth grades.
Kin Dah Lichi'l Olta is located in Kinlichee, northeast of Ganado.

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Complaint against Bennie Joe dismissed

Jim Maniaci
Dine Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The Ethics-Rules Committee dismissed the complaint against former Sheep Springs Chapter President Bennie Joe on Friday by a 5-0-1 vote following a half-hour behind closed doors with Ron Haven of the Office of Legislative Counsel.

The decision will become formal when Chairman George Tolth signs the actual resolution.

Tolth did not vote because there was no tie. Member Lee Jack Sr. attended the first part of the meeting, but had to leave before the vote to present a resolution to the Education Committee for the building of a Holbrook Unified School District elementary school at Indian Wells. Member Duane Tsinigine abstained; Vice Chairman Daniel Peaches and members Joe Dayzie, Wallace Davis, Samuel Yazzie and Joe Lee formed the majority.

Later Tolth said the committee believed the Office of Ethics and Rules failed to show that Joe received personal gain.
Afterwards Joe issued a written statement saying:

"I believe they made the right decision. This hearing was a question of leadership, and I brought a traditional Navajo style of leadership to do a job. That traditional style was questioned by the prosecutors. Sometimes we have to take shortcuts to take care of immediate needs of the people. The charges that were brought against me were without accuracy. This short cut is a
common practice of chapter officials, to take care of immediate needs of the people. This is all I was doing. I am relieved and
now I can sleep well tonight."

In presenting the charges of conflict of interest and violation of bidding procedures, Brown maintained Joe broke the Navajo Procurement Act, the Local Governance Act and the Ethics in Government Law by interfering with the duties of the chapter
community services coordinator, not advertising the CSC and a housing project supervisor's jobs, and putting someone else
besides the person named by the chapter membership into the housing job.

Brown did not make a statement following the short meeting. But it is known that it is precisely those shortcuts, especially by
long-time local elected officials not used to the stringent new requirements for openness and honesty, that worry him. He is
afraid the dismissal will send the wrong message to chapter officials that they can do just about anything they want without
being punished for wrongdoing.

Tolth said later the fact that much of the work was done through the chapter's former secretary-treasurer, Pattie Sam, was a
major factor in the committee's decision. In January she agreed to a judgment that will keep her from holding a tribal job, or
elected office, for five years, and requires her to repay more than $3,000. Sam faced the same type of charges, plus one of
nepotism for lining up her brother to do some electrical work on the houses.

Brown called Sam as his first witness Tuesday.

Joe named Sam as the temporary CSC twice and made her the housing project manager only a week after the chapter
membership vote for someone else, all while she was the secretary-treasurer. He told the committee on Tuesday that the three
families wanted their houses finished and therefore he was only responding to community needs.

A chapter officer for 13 years, Joe also said the LGA was just beginning and he lacked training in its application. Joe claimed
chapter membership approval for what he did, although he often did not say to whom the jobs were going. Brown maintained
the minutes showed just the opposite.

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Gomez and company get testy BEFORE our children are tested

Walter Howerton Jr.
Managing Editor

I never saw a Moor—
I never saw the Sea—
Yet know I how the Heather looks
And what a Billow be.

Emily Dickinson

I guess we all should get used to hearing that whining sound coming from the general direction of the Gallup-McKinley school administration offices.

After all, Superintendent Robert Gomez just had his contract extended for a couple of years and whining about the unfairness of it all and the shortcomings of the students he is supposed to be figuring out how to educate seems to be what he does best.

Before our children could even get down to taking the required Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS also known as the Terra Nova test) this week, the front office was fiddling with things.

There even was talk about how as many as 300 students at Gallup Junior High would spend their time while they were NOT taking the test. Playing and watching basketball in the gym were suggested (now, there are activities sure to improve the
language skills of so-called "English-deficiency" students our school administrators like to single out as the source of so many
of their woes).

Administrators finally decided everyone should take the test, but not all of the scores will be reported to the state. (That is a
helpful policy at a time when the entire state is trying to figure out how to improve the quality of the education it gives our
children and where to spend the money to accomplish that goal.)

Students who registered after the 40th day and those who have difficulty with English will not have their scores turned over to
the state and the scores allegedly will be used within the district in some way, according to an administration memo (that
probably is about as helpful as allowing them to play basketball rather than taking the test).

Exactly how the school system hopes to achieve this feat remains a bit of a mystery, since CTBS grades the tests and reports the
results. Does this mean that certain students will have their tests pulled before grading? And if it does, how will that help
anyone?

And then there is all of the hoopla about holding back students who don't pass the test or don't take it for some reason.
Apparently that scared some of the students and their parents (hint, hint: fear works sometimes and might be a policy worth
exploring further).

We don't need any more high school graduates (or dropouts) who can't read, write or do basic math.

Have you ever realized the gridlock it would create right here in Gallup if many of those people who check us out at
McDonald's or any of those other paragons of consumerism actually had to figure out how much change to give us? Imagine
showing up at any local fast food eatery for lunch on the day the welfare checks come out and the electricity goes off. Let's just
say it might redefine our notion of fast food and the importance of basic education.

Welfare checks? Am I being a little too cold for your taste to bring up welfare checks?

I do not belittle the poor. But the truth is that the welfare checks will keep on showing up in Gallup in large numbers at the first
of the month as long as we allow the people running our schools to make excuses rather than educate our children.

By failing to educate our children, making excuses, fiddling with the numbers, Gomez and his underlings are denying our
children the chance to escape, or at least the choice of escape, from the welfare checks and the rest of the grim us-and-them
status quo upon which Gallup seems to exist, right down to its school system.

By not reporting all of the numbers to the state, they also are denying our children the right to participate in the education revival
the state is trying to promote.

It is Gomez's job (at least for two more unquestioned years) to find teachers who know how to teach reading, math and other
basic skills, teachers who know how to reach across the gap of English-deficiency, teachers who know how to give our
students what they deserve: the chance to learn enough to take a test (any test), do their best, pass or fail, without excuses,
blame or apologies. Then they deserve the chance to learn some more and do it again if they need to.

There is never shame in learning, even if it takes more than one try. But there is real shame in letting ignorance happen while
our school officials fiddle with numbers and make excuses (Isn't there a civil rights suit in this someplace?).

Everything else is just the sound of Gomez or some other administrator intent on keeping his or her job whining. If he really
wants the job for two more years, let's make sure he does it. Gomez's autocratic (an autocrat is sort of a bully with a good job)
controlling of the numbers is not educating our children.

And another thing (while we are on the subject of whining and tests):

What is an escalator (other than a test question local educators claim is unfair)?

An escalator is "a continuously moving stairway for carrying passengers up or down."

What is so difficult about that? Even if there is no escalator in Gallup or on the Navajo Nation, it should not be very difficult for
a teacher with a dictionary and even a little imagination to teach our children what an escalator is so they will know that answer
on the test (where I grew up, there were no mesas, but I learned what they were anyway, years before I ever saw one).

That is what teachers are supposed to do. That is what education is supposed to do: teach us what we need to know and what
we do not know we need to know.

Why teach anyone to read if we do not also teach them the power of words to conjure up the things we never have seen or the
places we never have been? No one needs to have seen an escalator to know that escalators exist.

Emily Dickinson certainly understood the power of words and the faith and confidence they can bring. And she was a woman
who rarely left her home (think of her as living on her own private reservation in Amherst, Mass.).

She never saw a moor ("a tract of open, peaty waste land, often overgrown with heath"). She never saw the sea ("the salt
waters that cover the greater part of the earth's surface"etc.). Yet, she knows how the heather looks ("any of various heaths of
England and Scotland having pinkish-purple flowers;" a heath is "a low shrub"). And what a billow is ("a great wave or surge
of the sea").

Emily did not have to see these things to know they exist. Words and definitions told her they did. That is what education is
about.

Here is the rest of Emily's little poem:

I never spoke with God
Nor visited in Heaven—
Yet certain am I of the spot
As if the Checks were given—

Emily let her faith in words lead her to where she needed to go.

Who knows where our children's educations might lead if we can only put them in the hands of people who quit making excuses and laying blame and teach them the faith and confidence real learning can bring?

They will be able to imagine an escalator until they do see one, on a test or anyplace else. That is what education does. It is what
we should demand.

Without education there is nothing left to do but blame the test, blame the children and hope the electricity at the fast food
checkout counter never goes off at lunch hour on one of the days the welfare checks keep coming out.

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Injured LeMoine watches Panthers lose in consolation

Santiago Ramos
Staff Sports Writer

ALBUQUERQUE — With senior forward Marshall LeMoine, the floor leader and heart of the Panther team, sitting on the sidelines with his right hand in a cast, Gallup Catholic was unable to match up with Mesilla Valley Christian.

Mesilla Valley Christian took advantage of a LeMoine-less Gallup Catholic lineup to cruise to a 86-64 win Friday afternoon in the Class A third place game at University Arena.

"He gives everything he has," Gallup Catholic coach Vince Lonetree said of LeMoine who plays with a relentless drive while pumping in an average of 15-20 points per game. "We just couldn't do anything without our floor leader."

LeMoine was injured in the final minute during a 76-62 state semifinal loss to top-ranked Melrose Thursday night when he came crashing to the floor after driving to the hoop for an off-balanced layup. LeMoine suffered two broken finger bones in his right hand.

The Panthers (23-3) had LeMoine's jersey number "22" taped on their jersey in tribute for their injured teammate but Gallup
Catholic could not overcome the loss of double-digit production and leadership that LeMoine generated.

Mesilla Valley coach Claud Gobble agreed about the huge loss of LeMoine for the Panthers.

"He's awesome," Gobble said of LeMoine. "That was a tough blow for them not to have him."

For Gallup Catholic it marked its first trip to state in 41 years.

"I just hope that it doesn't take another 41 years," Lonetree joked.

The Panthers started senior Carl Georges for LeMoine at his usual forward spot but he was unable to come close to filling in his huge assignment.

The SonBlazers (24-4) only trailed once in the third place game against the Panthers at 5-4 after senior guard Michael Estrada, who finished with a strong 18 points, scored on a layup and added a free throw. But the lead was short-lived as Mesilla Valley
Christian, which was making only its second ever state trip (but second in a row), stole the lead back and never gave it up the
rest of the way.

Mesilla Valley outscored Gallup Catholic 15 to 3 with six different players sharing in the outburst to open up a commanding 19-
8 lead.

The Panthers stopped the run and closed the gap with seven unanswered points capped by an old-fashioned three-point play by
Bryan Sparks. The senior foward led the team with 27 points in a losing effort.

But Mesilla Valley had another quick run with three straight three-pointers with junior guard Luke Olson nailing successive treys and sophomore guard Andy Marquez popping one in for a 32-19 advantage.

With Sparks and Estrada combining for 45 of the 64 points, the Panthers pulled to within seven points, 44-37, after five straight points by Sparks.

But that would be the closest Gallup Catholic would get.

Mesilla Valley tallied 24 points in each of the third and fourth periods to win by a 22-point margin.

"Last year at state we got our feet wet when we finished fourth," Mesilla Valley coach Gobble said. "We had some fire today."
"I thought we'd come back," Lonetree said. "We didn't know how much a leadership role Marshall (LeMoine) had on the floor until today. I was disappointed with the way the season ended but we've done pretty good this season. Hopefully this will
prove we do have a basketball program and get some transfers next year."

Gallup Catholic, which normally has a balanced scoring attack, had just two players score in double figures with Sparks with 27 points and Estrada with 19. Brian Morris chipped in nine points and D.J. Biava added seven.

Mesilla Valley had 11 of 12 players score with Jared Wallis with 22 points, Luke Olson 14 and Joe Moon 10.

The SonBlazers had a slight edge on the boards, 54 to 51. Sparks and Morris each grabbed 11 boards for Gallup Catholic with Wallis leading Mesilla Valley with 10.

Gallup Catholic hit on 36 percent from the field (18 of 50) while Mesilla Valley shot 45 percent, 35 of 78.

The Panthers did not take advantage of their free throw opportunities, sinking just 27 of 44 free throws for 61 percent while the Blazers made 12 of 25 for 48 percent.

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Senate OKs one prescription drug bill, kills another

SANTA FE (AP) — The Senate on Friday unanimously endorsed a plan to extend prescription drug coverage to poor senior citizens, but killed another measure aimed at driving down drug prices.

The bill the Senate passed would create a program under Medicaid to pay for prescription drugs for New Mexicans 65 and over who live at or below the federal poverty level.

That would cover individuals who earn less than about $8,000 and families of two with incomes of less than about $11,000.

An estimated 18,000 residents would qualify, although only about half would be expected to use the program, the bill's sponsor, Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, said...

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Mock deaths show another reality

Andrea Egger Rider
Staff Writer

GALLUP — New Mexico State Police Sgt. Phil Sexton has been coping and "copping" in Gallup since October. Now he's ready to get serious in a program that just might change the face of Gallup.

Or at least the program might change expressions on faces of students and parents and permanently change attitudes. The program promises to involve the schools, counselors, fire officials, emergency medical technicians, the hospitals, and of course, the community in general.

It's going to cut to the heart of everyone's emotions. But nobody knows about the program yet.

And Sexton, who worked the program at the Roswell state police district, wants to keep everyone especially students in the dark as much as possible about the nature of the program...

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Deaths

Seth T. Begay Sr.

SAINT MICHEALS, Ariz. — Services for Seth Begay Sr., 91, will be held at 10 a.m., Monday, March 12 at the Saint Michaels Catholic Church. Father Meldon Hickey will officiate. Burial will follow Veteran's Memorial Cemetery.

Begay Sr. died March 7 in Fort Defiance, Ariz. he was born April 14, 1909 in Pinon, Ariz. into the Towering House Clan.

Begay Sr. was employed with ONEO Vocational Training as a painter and Navajo Tribe as a Journeyman painter. He served in the U.S. Army, he was honorable discharged. He was a Yei-Bi-Che dancer for the healing ceremonies. His hobby was
painting.

Survivors include his son, Seth Begay Jr.; daughters, Mary Ann Joe of Phoenix, Alice Begay, Shirley Begay and Virginia Joe all of Saint Micheals; 12 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

Begay Jr. was preceded in death by sons, Allen Begay and Anthony Begay and a grandson.

Pallbearers will be Willie Bia Jr., Eric Joe, James Joe Jr., Bradley John, Richard Chester and Earl Jim.

The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Saint Michaels Parish Hall.

Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Fannie Silversmith

GANADO, Ariz. — Services for Fannie Silversmith, 78, will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday March 10 at All Saints Hall Catholic Church. Burial will follow in Kinlichee, Ariz.

Silversmith died March 5. She was born March 17, 1923 in Kinlichee, Ariz. into the Honeycombed People Clan for the Bitter Water People Clan.

Silversmith was a rugweaver.

Survivors include her husband, Wallace Thomas; daughter, Bernice Albert and sister, Eunice Kee.

Silversmith was preceded in death by her parents, Mae and Keith Yazzie; brothers, Justin Jim, Francis Brown and James
Yazzie; sister, Bessie Lee.

Pallbearers will be Albert Anderson, Carl Stark, Ignacio Rico, Wilton Davis, Raymond Kee and Davidson Damon.

The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Kinlichee Chapter House.

Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.