Getting ready for
the real thing


Hazardous material specialists from the Gallup Fire Department and 64th Civilian Support Team Army National Guard inspect a railroad tanker car that sustained a simulated terrorist explosion during the disaster drill of Tuesday in Gallup. The drill was conducted by the Center for National Response of Gallagher, WV.

Photo by Douglas Tesner

---

---

City joins county for plaza plan

Bill Donovan
Staff Writer

GALLUP - The city council Tuesday made it official, agreeing to go along with the county to get a state community
development grant to look at the idea of creating a park or plaza as part of the remodeling of the county courthouse.

The county has already agreed to match whatever the city contributes toward the planning grant. The city council decided on $12,500 as their share which means that with the county's $12,500 and the state's $25,000, the city will have $50,000 to pay for the study.

The city only had to contribute $1,250 but decided to go higher in order to get a study that would be more comprehensive.
The county commission Tuesday agreed to seek as much as $15 million from a state finance loan fund to remodel the courthouse and create a plaza or park.

It's still uncertain exactly what the plaza or park will look like. Architects hired by the county are now preparing to draw up
proposal once the county holds public hearings to determine what the area voters want.

But the decision Tuesday by the city ends some speculation on which of four proposals the council would approve for the
community development grant.

The council was told that they could only get approval from the state for one grant and for one project but once this grant had
been spent, it could seek funding for another.

Mayor John Pena said that this would give the city time to get more information on the other three proposals and possibly approve one or more of them in the near future.

The other proposals called for grants to study the possibility of creating a Borderland Boys & Girls Club and a project to eliminate slum and blight in Gallup. There was also a proposal to set up an economic initiative in the area to help low income families set aside some of their funds for things like education, new cars or to create a new business.

Council members decided that the information they had received on the other three proposals was too sketchy at this time but agreed to reconsider them in the future if the city was able to go after more grants.

| Top |

---

Diné parents slam disabled youth program

Larry Di Giovanni
Staff Writer

SHIPROCK — Navajo parents representing four of the most severely physically and mentally disabled of 16 high school youths in a special needs program are expressing fear for their children's safety, and outrage that their children have been moved into two small, cramped rooms at Shiprock High School without giving parents proper notification.

The parents, speaking Tuesday night before the Central Consolidated school board and Superintendent Linda Besett, have children who belong in the district's Community Based Instruction (CIT) program, which provides the developmentally disabled high schoolers with independent living and job training skills. A plan to matriculate CIT students into a mainstream high school environment has been in the works since Aug. 29 of last year to meet requirements of a federal mandate called "inclusion." Inclusion requires that developmentally disabled students be placed in the "least restrictive environment" possible.

For Central's 16 Community-Based students, "inclusion" means the district's plan is to move them from the spacious CIT center — a yellow building next to the district offices beside Career Prep Alternative High School — onto Shiprock High School grounds. The center they are leaving is large and contains a full kitchen. It will become new office space for the district.
Parents are highly upset that instead of what they thought meant moving their children into a new, handicap-accessible portable building, their children have been moved over the past week into two small classrooms where there is no hot water tapped into the sink, unpacked boxes make moving around difficult, children wait up to 45 minutes to use one bathroom, and "you can't even put a wheelchair through the door."

What's just as bad, parents told the board that the mainstream high school students have harassed and belittled CIT students, resulting in one instance where a CIT student was attacked and received — according to Navajo Nation Council Delegate Wallace Charley (Shiprock) — a "black eye." Parents said a doctor's report confirmed the incident. However, Shiprock High Assistant Principal Tarra Ramcharan, who assigned a case manager to the CIT student involved, said there was no attack.

"I have not seen (CIT students) being harassed or belittled by anyone," Ramcharan told parents.

The parents have the strong backing of Charley and Shiprock Chapter President Duane "Chili" Yazzie. Yazzie presented a chapter resolution passed 55-0 and signed Sunday by all three Shiprock council delegates. The resolution repeatedly refers to last week's move as "forced relocation," and requests that the district move students back to their established location.

Parents Elizabeth and Alfred Curley Sr. of Shiprock have a niece with Down's Syndrome. "In our own culture, she's my daughter," Elizabeth said.

Many of the most severely physically disabled CIT students have serious congenital defects resulting in medical problems including heart conditions, she said. Yet, when Curley said she asked the high school's only security guard if he knows CPR, his answer was "no."

Another parent, Rita Goodluck, also has a child with Down's Syndrome, a son. She said she has taken her son out of Central's CIT program until the relocation issue is resolved. Goodluck said she questions how Shiprock-based CIT students can be moved into two small classrooms while "20 miles down the road," Kirtland Central High School has several large classrooms for its CIT students plus a wood shop.

"We're wondering why they're doing this to us," Elizabeth Curley said before the board meeting. "We're thinking maybe it's because we're Navajo."

Community concerns among Shiprock Diné often surface espousing a contention that the Central Consolidated district condones a "subtle" form of anti-Navajo racism manifested by the fact that the district's five Kirtland schools often seem to get better accommodations, access to new programs and equipment before Shiprock schools do.

Yazzie went one step further Tuesday, calling the abrupt move of Shiprock CIT students another example of American society perpetrating "cultural genocide" on a Diné people struggling to maintain their way of life. Yazzie said it is apparent to him and CIT parents that Central is placing its office space needs ahead of the needs of severely disabled Navajo students. Alternating his points between Navajo and English, Yazzie said he sympathized with father Roger Shaggy, who speaks only Navajo, and his fear of sending his son into a school environment where children's safety is at issue.

"The problem we have here is the way that you made this move," Yazzie told Besett and the school board.

"The administration seems to be uncaring to us," said Vernon Goodluck, Rita's husband, who added that in addition to an ironing board in students' way and clothes strewn on the floor, their students' cramped classrooms require them to "eat right by the bathroom."

Elizabeth Curley, who burst into tears before the Central board, said "We're not sleeping on this until this thing is settled."

Besett apologized to the parents, offering that she had no knowledge of the move to the high school until Thursday, when Yazzie contacted her. Besett said she will start solving the issue "today" by touring the CIT facilities and incorporating parents' concerns into her site visits — the main concern being why a newly placed, handicap-fitted portable on Shiprock High grounds is being used by mainstream students, not CIT students.

"I respect promises made to parents, and I expect promises to be fulfilled to parents," Besett said.

Besett said she had "no knowledge whatsoever" of last week's move but had been assured by Pat Emrick, director of Central's Exceptional Programs, that the process proceeding along since Aug. 29 was one of "total cooperation" involving CIT parents.
"Mr. Yazzie and I agree, moving students in the middle of the school year is not good timing, period," Besett said. She told parents she would try to have a decision on relocation within a few weeks.

Parent Sharee Varela's son, Jeremiah, was born with H-flu meningitis, resulting in multiple handicaps such as vision problems, hearing problems and slow learning. She said her son was coming into his own at the established CIT center, excelling at skills to "braid ropes" and complete a ropes-training course. Now he's afraid of school, and she fears for his safety.

Bernadette Todoacheene, whose nephew has Down's Syndrome, said his parents hear the same thing. "They say he doesn't
like school anymore," she said. Her nephew has undergone multiple heart surgeries that left him with speech problems. "He can't speak up to defend himself," Todacheene said.

| Top |

---

Buses not meeting safety standards

Zsombor Peter
Staff Writer

GALLUP — The state's School Transportation Unit found service violations on two thirds of the district school buses it inspected during a visit in mid January. Gilbert Perea, the unit's director, called it the worst record among the 15 districts the state was most concerned about (New Mexico has 89 districts). He also noted that the state keeps its school buses to a higher safety standard than the average private vehicle.

During its visit to Gallup, Crownpoint and Tohatchi on January 14, the state randomly inspected 33 of the district's 160-bus fleet, about 20 percent. According to the recently released report, 18 of those buses were found to have "out-of-service"
violations, which Perea described as serious deficiencies. Although he did not have a record of the particular violations, he said they might include insufficient tire tread depth, malfunctioning lights, loosely- fastened seats and faulty breaks. Break related violations, said Perea, were by far the most serious; the report cited seven buses with the violation. "There is no reason to have breaks out of adjustment," he said.

The report also cited 12 of the 33 buses with "restricted service" violations, which are less serious and, unlike out-of-service violations, needn't be reinspected.

The report said that all but one of the violations were corrected the day of the inspection, and before those buses returned to service. The one bus not repaired that day, said Perea, was held back until repaired shortly afterwards.

That all but one of the buses were repaired the same day, said the district's Director of Special Services, Ben Chavez, suggests that those violations were likely minor.

"We have some of the roughest roads in the state," said Chavez, to which he attributes much of the challenge of maintaining brakes, noting that some of the routs can cause significant wear after only a few trips.

Chavez placed much of the blame on the bus drivers, who he said are responsible for inspecting the inside and outside of their buses before and after every trip. All drivers must take eight hours of service training per semester. The district is also placing greater emphasis on reminding drivers to carry out their inspections, said Chavez.

Since the state's visit in January, Chavez says he has become "a little more conscious" of the transportation concerns facing the district, which he hopes will soon shorten the cycles in which the buses are thoroughly inspected.

Perea, however, said the McKinley district has been at the bottom of the state's list for sever years. Of the 165 buses it has inspected over the past sever visits, over 50 percent have had out-of-service violations — the state average is 17 percent. Instead of the bus drivers, Perea believes efforts should focus more on shortening service intervals, tightening maintenance supervision and generating more certified mechanics. As of now, the state does not require that school district mechanics be certified, something Perea would like to see changed.

"That would be good," agreed Chavez, but added that the district would also need additional funds to train their uncertified mechanics and raise salaries to attract certified ones. He said the district is "short handed" as it is. With salaries as low as they are, Chavez believes that skilled labor is likelier to funnel into the more lucrative private market.

And as buses get older, keeping them up to standard becomes increasingly difficult and costly. Ideally, the state tries to replace all buses over 13 years old. Unable to always meet that target, older buses may continue to run so long as they pass inspection.
The 24 new buses the district will receive this year is a "Godsend" said Chavez compared to the four or five it traditionally gets annually, a rate he says that can't keep up with the state's turnover goal. The one bus withheld for more than one day after the state's most recent visit, for example, began service in 1982. "There's never enough funding," said Chavez, noting an ever present concern.

Perea said districts have an unfortunate tendency to cut corners, despite the availability of what he referred to as "emergency funds" to cover the most serious budget shortfalls.

"I don't think it is a matter of a lack of funding," he said and called it "more of an effort issue."

Chavez said the district is in the middle of inspecting the entire fleet itself, as it is required to do twice a year, and hopes the data will help the transportation department improve its record.

| Top |

---

Sec. Giron talks state with students

Bill Donovan
Staff Writer

GALLUP — While she has no power in the matter, Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron said Tuesday that she can understand why the people in Gallup are not happy with the current redistricting plans.

Vigil-Giron, who faced no opposition in the Democratic primary for re-election, was here Tuesday as a guest speaker at the UNM-Gallup campus, invited by political science professor Dr. Dale Mason and one of his students, Christopher Morris, to speak at the school.

Her primary topic was election reform not only here but throughout the United States in the aftermath of what occurred in the last presidential election in Florida and, to a lesser extent, New Mexico when both candidates for president at one time or another were declared the winner.

But she talked in an interview before going to speak at UNM-Gallup about Gallup's redistricting problems and the concerns that city leaders and Gallup residents have expressed about being in districts that are controlled (by a population of 65 percent or more) by Navajo voters.

She said she could understand Gallup's fears that whoever is elected to represent them will cater more to his or her Navajo constituents than to the voters in the city.

As secretary of state, her only role in this matter is to make sure that people know what precinct that they will be voting in during upcoming elections and to make sure the counties comply with all state laws.

But since it appears that the redistricting plan that has been approved by the court will be in effect for the next 10 years, the only option the city has is to make a greater effort to make sure whoever is elected to represent Gallup knows what the needs of the city voters are.

"It's a matter of lobbying," she said.

As for election reform, she said that while New Mexico had some problems, all caused by human error, in the last presidential election, it had nowhere near the problems that Florida encountered.

Part of this was caused by the fact that Florida's 67 counties all had different election laws, while New Mexico's 33 counties were governed by the same set of laws and standards.

New Mexico also benefited from the fact that it did not use the same kind of balloting system that Florida did and that most of New Mexico's was through electronic balloting.

That doesn't mean that the voting machines here are perfect.

She said that there was some discussions recently about having everyone in the state who wanted to vote have to show proof, either through a driver's license or state-issued photo ID, of who they were.

While this isn't a problem in communities like Gallup where the poll judges will know most of those who come to vote, it's become a major problem in bigger cities like Albuquerque where people move from one precinct to another frequently.
But creating a photo ID system in New Mexico for those who don't have a driver's license would be prohibitively expensive.

So what the state has come up with, she said, is a computer system that identifies signatures.

"This will cost some money but it's nowhere near as expensive as using photo identifications," she said.

The state is also looking at a system that allows voters to touch the screen and hear the ballot, for those who are handicapped.
This would also allow those who don't understand the constitutional amendments or bond proposals to touch the screen and
get a verbal message about what the amendment calls for.

One of the questions asked by students at the college concerned a very traditional matter affecting Navajo voters.

The student said that some elderly Navajos don't like to say their name, which is a problem since poll workers ask the person's name in order to check if they are registered to vote. He said that some elderly would rather just write out their name.

Vigil-Giron said that there are no state laws that deal with this but if this is a problem, all the person has to do is to bring it to the attention of County Clerk Carol Sloan and she can make a decision whether procedures in this county need to be changed to address this concern.

| Top |

---