Legal aid attorneys ride emotional roller coaster

Posted on March 26, 2009 by comm5775

by MADISON MURPHY

The story of a mother under domestic violence is quite harrowing. What about the attorney or paralegal that assists her? Along with their client, employees of the Legal Aid Society of Salt Lake look trauma right in the face. Being skilled to separate their work from their personal lives is a necessity.

“There are no happy cases. We don’t do adoptions, it is just degrees of misery. Some [employees] just can’t take it … they can’t deal with the misery all of the time,” said Stewart Ralphs, executive director of the Legal Aid Society of Salt Lake.

Most LAS employees deal with 120 cases at one time, each client thrown in a situation they never expected to be in. The results of their cases are rewarding, but the process can be an emotional roller coaster. Because their clients are often disconsolate, the LAS employees can become miserable, too.

“I try really hard to make sure there is a good separation, that I’m able to leave work and enjoy my personal time. But there is definitely overlap and I find myself thinking about it at home. I try not to let it affect me, or my job would be even more overwhelming,” said Jen Ungvichian, a paralegal for the LAS.

Ralphs said many of the clients are “basket cases.” They seek legal aid after dealing with one of the most traumatic experiences of their lives, so who can blame them? Ungvichian said that dealing with their state of trauma takes a massive amount of listening skills to make sure the client understands what his or her options are.

“We are helping people navigate the legal system, who have no idea what the rules are and the procedures. Really knowing how to understand and communicate with the client is the whole function of our organization,” Ungvichian said.

The most common client LAS encounters is a middle-aged mother suffering domestic violence. She desperately needs to file for a protective order or civil stalking injunction, divorce, or custody for her children, but cannot afford it. By approaching LAS, she will receive financial and legal assistance to regain her rights.

A protective order limits the husband from going to specific locations, seeing certain people or obtaining specific objects such as phones, computers or money. Ninety percent of the cases are domestic violence and about 90 percent of protective orders are not violated, according to LAS statistics.

“Protective orders are helpful, but they don’t stop a bullet,” Ralphs said. To prevent clients from encountering further abuse or possible murder, they are trained to keep doors locked and to always have a cell phone nearby.

LAS is further helpful when it comes to people who are representing themselves (pro se). Ralphs said they are often inarticulate and have trouble filling out their paperwork. “We like to provide these services from start to finish to make sure we are giving them all that the government can provide them,” he said.

For the employees, domestic violence cases are not about winning or losing, but simply discussing the issue and coming up with a solution. In order to give proper aid, employees are trained in law, finances and family issues. They also must be culturally sensitive. They make it a priority to avoid trial. Avoiding trial with a judge means dodging high costs and saving time. Ralphs is proud to say that he only goes to about one trial every 12 months, and he has been working for LAS for more than 20 years.

Clearly, working for the LAS can be very stressful, but employees find themselves in love with their job. They love helping their clients escape from physical and emotional slums, and changing their lives for the better.

“Sometimes it is the first time in my client’s life that someone has stuck up for them…. There is something really nice with doing something absolutely necessary for somebody and to not worry about money,” Ralphs said.

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Madison Rice

Posted on March 26, 2009 by comm5775

MY STORIES:img_1065


MY BLOG:

My assigned beat, legal aid, couldn’t have come at a better time. I had just finished a course on communication law, and I thought, “Now’s my time to really put that knowledge to work.”

Throughout the process of the semester, I have really come to appreciate pro bono work and the different coalitions across the state of Utah whose only reason for existing is to help the less fortunate and provide aid to those who need it most.

“One of our legal system’s shortcomings is that utilizing it is unreasonably expensive,” Bruce Maak, attorney and founding member of Parr Brown Gee and Loveless, told me. “Even middle-income American people cannot afford to use the legal system, even though they may need it, because it is beyond the expense that their budgets can sustain.”

From my experience this semester with Legal Aid Society of Salt Lake, the Disability Law Center, “…And Justice For All”, the YWCA, and more organizations, I have become aware of this ironic conundrum that our government, created by the people and for the people, seems completely inaccessible for so many.

Our pledge of allegiance reads: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America…with liberty and justice for all.”

It has been amazing to meet the people who are striving to live what our forefathers wanted so badly for our country: justice for all.

ABOUT ME:

I am a 20-year-old woman getting ready to enter the world as a college graduate. I currently work as a freelance copywriter. I’m also a member of Absolute Communication, the University of Utah’s first and only student-run strategic communication agency. I love a good challenge and will take any writing experience I can get.

Not only do I write, I love exercising and playing racquetball with my husband. If I were to follow any other profession, I’d be a baker or a pilates instructor. Actually, I think I could do them all simultaneously.

As I look back on college, the most memorable experiences I’ve had have also been the most challenging, and I am better for it. I’ll miss walking on campus, doing forced group work, and that crazy roommate I had my freshman year.

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Victims of violence find refuge in county programs

Posted on March 26, 2009 by comm5775

by MADISON RICE

“I love being able to help people. I get to level the playing field,” said Stewart Ralphs, executive director of the Legal Aid Society of Salt Lake. Ralphs said his nonprofit agency is committed to ensuring the safety of victims of domestic violence in Salt Lake City by offering low-cost legal representation.

“It’s sometimes the first time that someone [has] stuck up for them and they get to have a fair deal. Someone to go to bat for them,” he said.

Founded in 1922, the Legal Aid Society of Salt Lake is among 22 domestic violence coalitions across the state of Utah. The Legal Aid Society provides low-cost legal representation to low-income individuals in family law cases. It also works with the Multi-Cultural Legal Center, the Division of Child and Family Services, the Department of Workforce Services, the Salt Lake City Police Department and the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA). The Utah Domestic Violence Council provides resources, too.

Victims of domestic violence and abuse are encouraged by the Legal Aid Society to get immediate help at one of four locations, found on its Web site. But Ralphs admits the visit may take a while.

“It takes four to five hours to do that process if you are at the front of the line. You can’t go do this on a lunch hour,” Ralphs said.

However, the wait can be worth it. Persons seeking help are ensured a safe environment and are given the tools necessary to obtain a protective order or stalking injunction.

Protective orders are for people who are defined as cohabitants. “Cohabitants are currently or formerly married, related by blood, have a child together, or if they just live with someone else, like a roommate,” Ralphs said. “People who are not cohabitants can get a stalking injunction.”

Protective orders can last forever, while stalking injunctions last three years.

According to 50 responses received by the Legal Aid Society, 90 percent of protective orders are not violated.

“But we do know violations happen,” Ralphs said. “We tell all our clients: protective orders are very effective, but we will give them advice to keep them safe. Lock your doors at night, have an escape route in your house, have a suitcase packed and copies of important documents in case you have to flee on a moment’s notice.”

Women and children can find a safe haven at the YWCA in downtown Salt Lake City. It also provides safety plans for victims who arrive seeking help.

“We are a completely free, nonprofit agency,” said Lam Nguyen, director of Women’s Services and Diversity Services at the YWCA. “We provide crisis intervention and basic items and needs.”

The average length of stay at the YWCA’s Crisis Shelter is about 20 days, according to Nguyen. Groups for children are available while they are at the shelter. “We have an academic specialist that can do lessons with the kids. We have support groups to cope with what has happened and we have recreational programs,” Nguyen said.

The shelter is available to 75 women and children at one time and the program serves more than 500 women and children each year. The YWCA helps connect victims with the Legal Aid Society to file for a protective order. The YWCA will then check in with the victim weekly to see how she is doing and assess her goals.

The Legal Aid Society offers full legal representation throughout the process the victim is going through. “It is very important, we feel, to provide [for them] from start to finish so they are sure they are getting all the protections the law affords them,” Ralphs said. “There’s something really nice about doing whatever is necessary for someone. If it takes two months, great. If it takes five years, it doesn’t matter. I will do what’s necessary.”

For more domestic abuse help, call the Utah Domestic Violence Link Line at 1-800-897-LINK (5465) or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).

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University of Utah students build house of dreams

Posted on December 11, 2008 by comm5775

by LANA GROVES

On the Navajo Reservation in southern Utah, Suzie Whitehorse lives with her four children in a Hogan, a traditional American Indian-style home.

The 44-year-old woman managed to escape with her children from an alcoholic husband but can’t find a job and does all her cooking and cleaning in the 15-foot wide dome-shaped hut. She is cramped in there with beds, a small stove and refrigerator.

However, thanks to the work of 18 graduate students from the University of Utah’s College of Architecture and Planning, Whitehorse will be getting a home for herself and her four children.

The students signed up for the DesignBuildBLUFF program that was organized by architecture professor Hank Louis in 2001.

Louis set up the program to give graduate students hands-on experience with designing and building a home, as well as help them give back to the community.

The students spent fall semester picking a family that lives on the Navajo Reservation near Bluff, Utah, and began designing a home for them.

After several interviews, the students chose Whitehorse as the 2008-09 recipient.

“What separated Suzie from all the candidates was her and her family’s living situation,” said Sean Baron, a DesignBuildBLUFF student. “It was far worse than the others, and it was for this reason that she was the main focus of our roundtable discussion about which family to build for. “

At the end of November 2008, the students paired off into groups and presented blueprints and design models of what they think the design should be.

Louis said one element many of the students are trying to incorporate into their design plans is parts of the Navajo culture, considering what kind of house Suzie would enjoy the most.

Christian Falazar, another DesignBuildBLUFF student, worked with two other students designing a possible house and tried to consider what Whitehorse wanted for living space.

“She definitely didn’t want a mud or dirt home like she has now, but I don’t think she wants something too modern,” Falazar said.

The students have an even more difficult task. Like a lot of the land on the Navajo Reservation that U graduate students build on, Whitehorse’s plot of land lacks water and most other utilities.

“We’re very fortunate that she has electricity,” said Mitch McComb, a former student of Louis’s who now works on the project as an assistant. “She has no sewage, heat [or] water. She has to haul water 30 to 40 miles away.”

To solve the utility problem, students have to think and design creatively to give Whitehorse a house that gives her water and heating in a natural way.

About three years ago, students in the program won an award from the American Institute of Architects in the western mountain region for their unique design on a house for Rosie Joe, a Navajo woman.

The house used a butterfly-roof design to capture and store water, as well as solar panels and heat-trapping materials to keep the house relatively warm through winter weather.

Students are considering a similar design for Whitehorse’s house while also trying to consider what she wants.

Graduate student Sean Baron and his teammate, Zack Tanner, decided to focus their design around the four elements — earth, wind, water and fire — which can represent healing in the Navajo culture.

Baron said they have also considered where Whitehorse wants to sleep and where the kitchen should be.

“She said she wanted her own room and a separate room for her boys, maybe upstairs in a loft,” Baron said.

Most of the students tried to separate the bedrooms from kitchen and a bathroom, and left the living room in the center so the family could congregate and enjoy the house together.

Louis said that many of the clients don’t want anything fancy or modern in their home, they want the simple things that many people take for granted.

“A [former client], Dora Benali, said that she would want shelves in her bathroom,” Louis said. “That’s the one thing she really wanted for her dream house.”

Louis said he’s excited his current students picked Whitehorse because of how bad her living conditions were. He said that in the past, students have chosen a hard-working person they can relate to who speaks fluent English.

Whitehorse, however, speaks little English so students will have to overcome that language barrier to communicate with her, Louis said.

The students are also beginning to realize “how spoiled we all are,” Louis said. By considering Whitehorse’s situation, students can appreciate the small things they take for granted, like indoor plumbing.

McComb said all students will move in January 2009 to a house about 40 miles away from Whitehorse’s plot of land in Bluff and stay there for two weeks at a time working on the house.

The students take a week off after that to stay with family or work back home near the U, but for the rest of that time they eat, sleep and work as a group to finish the house by May.

“Usually they’re not finished completely by the time the semester ends,” McComb said. “We’ll hire some of the students as interns to finish the house over the summer. There’s usually one or two who aren’t traveling and don’t have families they need to visit.”

As the months approach closer to May, the students will work up to 11 hours on the house trying to finish in time, and all of it for free, McComb said.

Students aren’t paid but instead pay for the DesignBuildBLUFF class they take as part of their graduate degree.

Louis said that despite the hours and labor, many students enjoy the work and bond with the family so much that they will occasionally return to check on the house they built.

“For the Rosie Joe house, the students came back from five years ago to ask her if there’s any maintenance issues that need to be taken care of,” Louis said. “As a group they’ll come back. It’s pretty amazing. That’s what keeps me going.”

And the program has the support of the Navajo Reservation and city councils in Bluff, Louis said.

Kenneth Maryboy, a commissioner for San Juan County, said Louis and the graduate students do amazing work.

“There are many things members of the community do every year for members of the Navajo Tribe, but the work the students accomplish is a bright hope,” he said.

He said the students come out every year to build a house for a family that needs it, without asking for any money in return.

The program is funded by various donations throughout the year. McComb said that not counting the free student labor, it costs about $60,000 to build a house every year.

“There’s a running joke that these homes cost $900,000 because of all the work students do,” he said.

For the students involved, knowing they can give Whitehorse that gift is more than enough payment.

“She’s such a sweet woman,” Falazar said. “We want to do this for her.”

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American Indian mascots

Posted on December 10, 2008 by comm5775

by RITA TOTTEN

The use of American Indian tribal names as mascots and team names is widespread across the sports world. From high school to college to professional athletics, the names and images of American Indians have, in some cases, been exploited for novelty use.

The Atlanta Braves, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Washington Redskins and the Cleveland Indians are just a few of the well-known sports teams that use American Indian tribe names and stereotypes.

The National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media has been working for years to combat the trend of using tribal names and stereotypical names for mascots. The Coalition believes that not only are these names offensive, they also are harmful to native and non-native children. Images that represent Indians as savages and warriors teach youth that people are less than human.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association released a statement that stated it is the right of the university to choose whatever mascot it wants to represent its school. However, if that mascot is deemed hostile or abusive regarding race or national origin, the association will not allow that particular mascot to be visible at national championships. The ban of racially insensitive mascots went into effect Feb. 1, 2006. The decision to exclude offensive mascots from NCAA championships was made after the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee meet and redefined the boundaries.

Over the past 30 years about 30 schools were asked to reevaluate their use of American Indian imagery and name for mascot purposes. The schools then submitted a report to the NCAA. Those wishing to continue the use of the Indian name are now subject to the new NCAA policy that forbids their mascot’s presences at NCAA championships. The University of Utah is among the schools subject to that policy.

But there is support for the use of American Indian names and symbols. Fred Esplin, vice president of Institutional Advancement at the University of Utah, said the use of the Ute name was consented to by members of the Ute Indian Tribe. Tribal leaders agreed to have their name associated with the university as long as no imagery was used along with it, such as cartoon Indians and headdresses.

However, the road to this agreement was not simple. Until about the 1950s or 1960s, the university had used the name Running Redskins for its sports teams. Costumes and headdresses worn by cheerleaders accompanied this name. Conversations began with tribal leaders concerning the use of the Indian image, during which the tribe formally agreed to let their name be used, Esplin said.

Even with formal consent tension from the tribe relating to the insensitive way the Ute name was being portrayed continued, Esplin recalls. In 1984, he said an attempt was made to honor the Tribe in a seemingly sensitive way. A student, who was assumed to be of Ute Indian descent, was selected to don war paint and a headdress and ride bare-chested on a horse from one end of the football stadium to the other carrying a spear. This feeble attempt at honoring the Tribe was abandoned after one season, Esplin said.

The U was in need of a mascot that would be culturally sensitive and appeal to the masses. In 1986 the U formally adopted Swoop, the red tailed hawk, as its mascot. However, the Ute Tribe agreed to allow the use of the Ute name to continue. This agreement included that the U would not use any American Indian imagery, except for the drum and feathers logo, which Esplin said is slowly being phased out.

Since his involvement with the Ute tribe began in 1999, Esplin said he has met with tribal leaders many times about the use of the name. “The Ute Tribe has a sense of pride about being connected to the university through their name,” he said.

He acknowledges that not everyone on campus agrees with the use of the name, but says the decision was made by tribal leaders. If at anytime they are dissatisfied with how the name is portrayed, they have the right to ask the university to discontinue using the name.

Before coming to the U for graduate school, Debra Yazzie, a member of the Navajo Nation, hadn’t been concerned with the use of tribal names as mascots. Her attention was only drawn to it after a photo was published in the sports section of the Daily Utah Chronicle that depicted a racial remark made at a woman’s volleyball game.

In fall 2007, Brigham Young University and the University of Utah met to face off in a women’s volleyball game. Students on the BYU campus are allowed to bring dry-erase boards to games and write messages on them. At this particular match a female student wrote on her whiteboard an offensive phrase that resonated with Yazzie. A photographer from the Chronicle captured one of the offensive images in a photo that later ran in the sports section of the newspaper.

Yazzie said this is an example of why using the Ute name is a bad idea. People misrepresent the Utes and it leaves the Tribe open to cruel comments. But Esplin maintains that it is the right of the Ute Tribe to dictate how and when its name is used.

“It seems to me that other tribes may have a problem with the use of the Ute name, but the Utes themselves have approved it,” Esplin said.

More recently, students at the U sold T-shirts that depicted an American Indian roasting a horned frog over a fire. The image was of a cartoon character of a Ute and the horned frog, the mascot of Texas Christian University, a rival school. The shirts were sold on campus days leading up to football game on Nov. 6, 2008.

Amie Hammond, a U student and a member of the Ute Tribe, saw students on campus selling shirts on her way to class. She called Yazzie and other American Indian students, who asked the vendors to stop selling the shirts. The Indian students then explained to the vendors that the imagery was offensive and that in their culture the horned frog or toad was considered representative of their ancestors.

The students selling the shirts apologized to Yazzie and the rest of the Indian students but moved their operation to the tailgate lot located across campus. There, they were again confronted by a group of angry Indian students who requested that they be more sensitive and refrain from selling the shirts. Hammond said she wanted disciplinary action taken against the students for the misrepresentation of her people.

Esplin said that the students involved have been notified of their offensive behavior and have issued a sincere apology. He said he believes they honestly didn’t know they would offend anyone. Incidences like these are few and far between, he said. But when they do occur the university takes immediate action to correct the problems.

Esplin reiterated how proud the U is to be associated with the Tribe. “They have an honorable, rich tradition and we recognize that,” Esplin said.

Filed under: American Indian, Education, Sports & Recreation | Leave a comment »

American Indians are undervalued because of miseducation

Posted on December 10, 2008 by comm5775

by BRYNN TOLMAN

  • Meet Nola Lodge and Forrest S. Cuch (slideshow best viewed in full-screen mode)

Many American Indians today say their culture and history have been lost. They are now fighting to restore truth to the curriculum.

For years, elementary school students have been taught that Columbus discovered a new land, America — a land of promise, a land of riches, a land of hope. But many American Indians do not find that promise, those riches or that hope. Instead, they reflect on the stories of their childhood education and cringe with feelings of hopelessness, confusion and displacement.

“The truth isn’t out there, you have to dig for it. … American Indians were always portrayed as in the way,” says Nola Lodge, professor of multicultural education at the University of Utah and a member of the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin.

And marginalization for some creates privileges for others.

An article by Ruth Anne Olson titled, “White Privilege in Schools,” explains how today’s culture provides specific privileges to certain students. Olson lists many of these privileges, including, “My children take for granted that the color of any crayons, bandages, or other supplies in their classroom labeled ‘flesh’ will be similar to their own.” After listing several more of these privileges she writes, “My family never asked for these privileges; principals and teachers didn’t purposely create them for us; and, frankly neither they nor we have been consciously aware these privileges exist.” If the privileged students didn’t ask for the privileges, and the principals and teachers didn’t create them on purpose, and if no one has been consciously aware of the privileges, then why do they exist?

Lodge teaches classes on diversity so she is very aware of issues of privilege related to skin tone. She firmly believes that when children are taught early what difference is, their perceptions of who is valued changes. In addition, prejudice and stereotypes carry on into adulthood. She still experiences them today as a successful woman.

Lodge is helping to prepare many American Indian students begin their careers in education. It is not only important to get the truth about history out there, but to also get a variety of people teaching that history to help students understand difference at a young age, she says. When white students go to school they understand they can succeed. They see people just like themselves succeeding. The teachers know how to teach white students, they can relate. What about the other students? Children from different backgrounds learn differently and when they relate personally to their teacher, they succeed at a must faster rate.

“It should be K-12 students who should … accept that there is diversity. Difference is not change. This is why we need to change the curriculum,” Lodge says. She continues to tell a story from the Civil War, a subject commonly covered in history classes. When students learn about General Ulysses S. Grant they seldom learn that Ely Parker, his adjunct, his right-hand man, was a chief’s son and like Grant, an alumnus of West Point. They were equals in education. Their histories were equally important because they were both fighting for their country, for their land and for their beliefs. These small yet significant details are the ones left out of history books. These details are the ones that could give American Indian students, those fighting for recognition and truth, someone to emulate as they strive for success.

Forrest S. Cuch, executive director of the Utah Division of Indian Affairs, is very concerned about the education of children. Cuch, a member of the Ute Tribe, wants them to understand the truth about American Indians, but knows they often hear very little about Indians in school. In a recent interview he quoted Thomas Jefferson as saying, “Our democracy hinges upon an educated public.” Cuch explained that children are the future of the country. They are tomorrow’s leaders and when part of the history of their own country is omitted from history books, lessons and much needed education is left behind as well. He believes this knowledge is part of the identity of each student and without it some are getting lost.

“Without an education there is no identity, no foundation. If I am ashamed of my history or my people, if I am not part of my own culture, I am lost. If I am part of nothing then I lose that identity,” Cuch says. He believes that this identity is being taken away from all students today.

Lodge has also thought about her own identity and how the knowledge of the truth plays a part in it. She takes a different stand, however, saying, “[The truth] informs you about that identity. It doesn’t give you an identity.” Lodge understands that life and one’s own culture build who you are, and the knowledge acquired along the way adds to it.

The most important thing Lodge has learned through teaching multicultural education and American Indian education “is how much still needs to be done.” She knows there are ways to improve what is being taught in schools; she knows that with effort, the truth will get out there.

American Indians have a past that teaches all who are willing to learn. They hold the stories and the truths that history books have omitted. Cuch says his “original culture is hanging on, barely. But it is covered with layers and layers of scars.” Like Lodge, he knows that when the truth of American Indians is in the school curricula in Utah, those scars will fade and the culture that is slipping away will return and become stronger. “I am not hopeless,” Cuch says.

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Vanessa Nelson

Posted on December 10, 2008 by comm5775

MY STORIES:

 

ABOUT ME:

I am a University of Utah student majoring in electronic journalism. My love for writing was innate. With a vivid imagination at a young age I dreamed up stories and made books for playtime. Keeping a journal was never a task for me, but rather a means of retaining my sanity.

As a freshman in college I had no plans for my career, only knowing it should have little to do with math. But after taking a radio journalism class in my sophomore year, I found my passion.

Having my own radio show on K-UTE for two hours a week gave me a thrill. I realized that I spent all of time and energy on creating my show rather than doing my homework. I enjoyed finding music, making playlists, writing the news and satire. I decided that a career in writing and broadcasting was my calling.

During spring 2007 I will transfer to Boise State University for a semester to complete a sports broadcasting internship. I plan to graduate in December 2008. Where my passion for writing will take me after graduation is still unknown, but I know it will take me somewhere.

 

Filed under: Blogs & Bios, Student-Journalists | Leave a comment »

Preserving the Navajo language

Posted on December 10, 2008 by comm5775

  • Hear from the teacher of a Navajo-language class and her students (audio slideshow best viewed in full-screen mode)

According to the 2004 United States Census, 381,000 people age 5 or older speak a North American native language. Navajo is the most common with 178,014 speakers. The Census also reported that 28 percent of Native Americans and Alaska Natives speak a language other than English at home, but the percentage is dropping in some areas. This means that the number of Native American languages spoken at home is dropping and some languages are in danger of extinction.

Alex Griffin and Geoff Sink, two students in the intermediate Navajo-language class at the University of Utah, participated in a program offered by the Lowell Bennion Community Service Center that sends Navajo-language students to a reservation during spring break to stay with a Navajo family. Both Griffin and Sink went to Navajo Mountain, Utah, a small town on the border of Utah and Arizona. 

They noticed differences among age groups when it came to speaking the language..

“A lot of people who are old enough to be my grandparents only spoke Navajo, or if they spoke English it was very limited,” Griffin said. “The people who were old enough to be my parents spoke both equally well, although some were more comfortable with Navajo. Anyone my age and younger was kind of a mixed bag. There were some kids who spoke Navajo pretty well, but there were a lot who didn’t or they understood it but they couldn’t speak it.”

One woman Griffin met while on the reservation felt it important for her 3-year-old son to start learning Navajo. She decided to leave him with his grandmother before going to work so that he would have more exposure to the language.

Sharee Varela, a graduate student in the U’s Department of Languages and Literature who teaches Navajo, feels the reasons the language is not being passed on to the younger generations is because they go to live in the city where Navajo is not spoken. And on the reservation, most schools do not teach it at early ages.

“There are some bilingual schools that will teach children both English and Navajo,” she said.

One project that does this is the Puente de Hózhǭ revitalization project in Flagstaff, Ariz. This project focuses on teaching children both English and Navajo or Spanish and English, depending on the student. Varela said she also knows of other schools that do the same in Fort Defiance and Windowrock, Ariz., as well as in Shiprock, N.M.

However, Varela said some Navajos believe that schools shouldn’t waste their time teaching Navajo.

“My father is old-school and he believes that Navajo language should not be taught in school,” she said. “He believes that parents should be responsible for teaching their children the Navajo language.”

But she asks her father, “What about the other kids that want to learn? What if the parents speak Navajo but don’t really know how to read or write it? Then who teaches them [the children]?”

Varela believes the reason the Navajo language is possibly becoming endangered is a combination of these two ideas: parents not teaching it to their children and most teachers not teaching it in schools. She also blamed governmental actions. Both California and Arizona have English-only initiatives banning bilingual education for virtually all children learning English as a second language. Even students whose English is limited are prohibited from learning in any language other than English. Nevertheless, Varela said some schools in rural areas of Arizona continue using bilingual programs.

Hotki Miles, the former Miss Utah Navajo, also participates in the Navajo language class at the U. She decided to take the class to better connect with her culture and to communicate more easily with her grandparents and other relatives who speak Navajo. Miles’ mother is Navajo but her father is not. Her mother does not speak the language very well, so Miles never learned it growing up. While participating in Navajo cultural events such as Miss Utah Navajo, she was sometimes disappointed that she could not communicate with those who spoke only Navajo. She is excited to be able to understand and speak some Navajo with her relatives.

“My relatives don’t look at me anymore as a stupid kid that doesn’t know Navajo,” she said.

Because of the effort Miles has put into learning the language and her culture, she said the older generations are more accepting and respectful of her. Many times after speaking or performing at an event, some of the older Navajo women came up to her, congratulated her and call her “shideezhi,” which means little sister.

Varela has had other Navajo students, like Miles, who have taken her classes to learn Navajo in hopes of connecting with relatives and understanding their culture. Varela said older Navajos are always very happy when her students come to them and try speaking the language. Even if the students say something the wrong way or with the wrong accent, it still makes them happy that students are learning their native language. 

Filed under: American Indian, Education | Tagged: , | Leave a comment »

Many campus, community services available to American Indians

Posted on December 10, 2008 by comm5775

by RITA TOTTEN

American Indians and anyone interested in learning more about Indian culture can visit the many centers in Salt Lake City and at the University of Utah campus.

Transitioning from high school to college or from one college to another can be a difficult process. Assisting in that transition is the American Indian Resource Center at the U. Becky McKean, an administrative assistant at AIRC, said staff work with different offices on campus to establish partnerships.

“We draw from each other,” McKean said.

Some of the groups working with the AIRC are academic, such as the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. Others, like the Inter Tribal Student Association, focus on student life. The Center for Ethnic Student Affairs has within its office a Native American coordinator who advises students and helps with scholarships, McKean said.

She said this year, AIRC Director Beverly Fenton was able to get the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in-state tuition for its students.

“The Ute Mountain Utes are located in Colorado, but since they are part of the Ute Tribe they were granted in-state tuition thanks to Beverly’s work,” McKean said.

AIRC is located near the dorms in a house donated by Fort Douglas. McKean said that when the Fort downsized 15 years ago, the house was given to the American Indians.

AIRC encourages students to use the building as a meeting place for groups and activities and strengthens connections with the community. It also helps students get involved with internships and work-study programs.

McKean said they are trying to be active in bringing people into the center. Twice a week a writing tutor comes to the AIRC to assist students with papers and homework assignments and to help improve their writing, McKean said. The AIRC also has a computer lab available for students and McKean hopes to get a grant to purchase more computers.

“The goal of the Center is to act as a liaison between the U and tribal communities,” McKean said. The Center is currently working on developing a brochure and a Web site to advertise the available services throughout the community. McKean said she hopes to bring the community into the center. This fall, while visiting the U, tribal leaders from across Utah and neighboring states were welcomed into the Center. A potluck was also hosted which brought a sizeable crowd of students and faculty to the Center.

Other on-campus resources include the American West Center, which is working with the Utah Division of Indian Affairs to develop teaching guides for grade school children to inform and educate them on current issues and history of Utah’s American Indians. Also, the Center for American Indian Languages focuses on the study of indigenous languages.

The state of Utah gets its name from the Ute Tribe. Support for members of the Tribe and other American Indian tribes come from a variety of places.

A local resource available to tribal members is the Indian Walk-In Center.

Brenda Chambers, an employee and health specialist for the center, said in an e-mail that the purpose of the Walk-In Center is to support and provide wellness services to people with respect to values and heritage of American Indians and Alaska Natives.

The Walk-In Center sees members from tribes all over Utah, including the Utes, Paiutes, Goshute, Shoshone and Navajo. Chambers said the Walk-In Center serves as a meeting place. In addition, anyone who wants to learn more about American Indians can gather at the Center and take advantage of the services and information available.

Chambers said the Center offers services in many different areas, including health services, counseling, community outreach, events and general assistance. Within each area different services are available to the community. For example, people seeking housing can take advantage of housing referral services. Children visiting the center can take part in the literacy project and attend leadership meetings.

A major issue for American Indians is health-related problems such as diabetes. The Walk-In Center offers nutrition information and presentations as well as screenings for diabetes. Health promotion and prevention is a big part of what the Walk-In Center does.

Supporting all aspects of native life is important, but it’s also important to inform non-native people as well. McKean said she hopes the resources available on and off campus will “help educate the community and bring us closer together.”

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Salt Lake Community College welcomes refugees with open arms, minds

Posted on December 10, 2008 by comm5775

by REED NELSON

The South City campus of Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) is teeming with students, some ambitious, some reluctantly present, some looking to further their education, some looking to quiet nagging parents. Then there are those who come from far away, one group to whom this confusion seems mundane. With all the diverse qualities that envelope the students at SLCC, there is one group that shares a mutual bond far deeper than the institution could provide on its own. They are the refugee population.

The refugees are not all from the same place, the same region even, but they do share the same difficult past that brought them to Salt Lake. Now that they are here, however, their opportunities will not be hindered.

One of the main reasons refugees have found so much success in Salt Lake City is because of the opportunity to receive encouragement and development at SLCC. The school has made a point of welcoming the students with open arms, even with the language barrier.

“We have only had a little trouble incorporating the refugee students into a normal student life,” said Cindy Clark, an early-enrollment advisor who is also in charge of the Sudanese Student Association at SLCC. “But that is made easier by the wearing down of the language barrier. That is why our ESL [English as a Second Language] Program is so essential.”

Clark said English is one of the biggest issues that an incoming refugee student will face at school. Other issues usually are individualized. This could mean culture shock for one student or finances for another. This is why she has to remain close with the students.

“A lot of these kids are used to never having anywhere to turn, never having someone to ask how to handle a tough situation,” Clark said. “My job with them is to make sure that they don’t slip off the grid due to simple neglect. I never want to lose one that could have been avoided.”

SLCC has even included space on its application to denote refugee status, which might include long-standing documented refugees to people who have lived here for 24 months or less. This can allow someone like Clark to identify who requires more attention in the beginning.

Refugees come from an extremely adverse political, religious, environmental, or social situation. This makes it very difficult from the outset to proceed with what is considered a traditional Western education.

A war-torn state can produce an exponential amount of refugees, depending on the group being persecuted. When these refugees are exiled, it is a long road before they are granted the chance to start over.

This process can often take years to sort out, depending on the gravity of the situation, and can frequently lead to disheartening times.

“I was only 5 years old when we were told to leave our home,” said George Artsistas, a student at the University of Utah. Artsistas was born to Greek parents in Croatia in 1989, two years before the war broke out. By 1994, his parents were being forced out of the country and were made to stay in camps. Because of some work by his father, George ended up in Marin County, Calif., in 1996.

“I was introduced to a life in which formal schooling was nonexistent,” Artsistas said. “It was the polar opposite to what I had been told, and I lost a few key years in my schooling. When we came in, I had to play catch up, but thanks to my parents, that wasn’t too difficult.”

Now these students are in an environment that is conducive to learning and interacting, rather than destructive. Artsistas is working to become a film major at the University of Utah after a brief stint at SLCC.

“I have the opportunity that I would have never been afforded, and my parents are beyond excited,” Artsistas said. “They never thought in a million years that they would see their son go to college.”

The genuine thirst for an education is not uncommon among refugee students, and it is this attribute that could serve them well, especially now that they are making life decisions.

“I was told everything that I was allowed to do my whole life,” said Sean Keranovic of Prijedor, Bosnia. “When I went, it was the first time that I was told that I could do something that I wanted to do.”

Keranovic is about to graduate and has found work through connections he made while at SLCC. He met a speaker in a business class, and through frequent contact eventually landed a job with POWDR Corp., a holding company, based in Park City, that operates eight winter resorts.

“Sean has showed a phenomenal work ethic, a yes-man through and through, you can tell this job means a lot to him,” said Rick DesVaux, the former CFO of POWDR, and the man who hired Keranovic. “We have him in a type of quasi-internship, one that allows him the flexibility to continue school, if he chooses to, but also become competent in the work place. He has really shown that he cares not only about his job, but his future as well.”

Keranovic is only putting together presentations, in which he often will construct the display pieces, but he enjoys the responsibility. “I didn’t learn that I could go to college until I heard about Salt Lake Community College’s refugee program,” Keranovic said. “I mean I come from Bosnia, Clinton’s only political blemish,” he said, laughing.

Keranovic is one of a handful of SLCC graduates who have found work in the corporate world.

Another successful graduate is Simon Kuay, 33, a Sudanese “Lost Boy” who owns K&K African Market. The store doubles as a hangout for other Sudanese refugees. He has managed to fuse old and new traditions.

“This started as a business for me,” Kuay said. “Who would have thought it would become some sort of center for us.”

And while K&K might be one social and cultural center for the Sudanese, the, like other refugees, are happy to settle on SLCC as a rallying point.

“That is what we try to do here,” Clark said. “We embrace them with open arms. They receive no special academic treatment while they are here, mind you, but as far as everything else goes, we are here for them 100 percent. They are always worth it.”

So the bustle around the SLCC campus continues, stretching all across the valley, from campus to campus, classroom to classroom. Now, however, that bustle includes those who feel fortunate to have access to education.

“Granted I was very young, but my family came over here under refugee circumstances, which immediately put us at a disadvantage,” Keranovic said. “But now, I go to school and have a job where I have to wear a tie. That is a pretty cool change.” 

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