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March 17, 2011     Navajo Times
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March 17, 2011
 
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ALL RIGH'IS RESERVED ' Vot. LNo. 11 * TmrtmEr, MCH 17, rl.1 THE NEWSPAPER OF THE NAVAIO PEOPLE WINDOW ROCK, N^VAJO NATION, ARIZONA 86515-0310 II I II I I'5 .... - LETTER OFTHE W00K: Where & the water for Twin Arrows Casino? Page A-6 Shirley refusing to release info to prosecutor BY BILL DONOVAN ' SPECIAL TO THE TIMES WINDOW ROCK - Former President Joe Shirley Jr., is suing the Navajo Nation's special prosecutor to prevent his access to computer hard drives that might reveal wrongdoing by Shirley and members of his administration. In the last weeks of thel Shirley admim'stration,lawyers for Shirley filed a suit: so far unnoticed by the local media - that would hinder Special Prosecutor Alan Balaran's probe of two costly business deals the former president had backed. But Shirley is gone now, replaced by his estranged former vice president, Ben Shelly.And in a Feb.: 22 couit filing, Balaran wondered why the tribe is still spending tens of thousands of dollars to "undermine" his investigation. ., Balaran raised the question in a procedural motion. The lawsuit was initiated by the Shirley administration Nov. 29, 2010, after Balaran "demanded" that his office "immediately turn over hard drives that were previously searched for responsive documents." The lawsuit referred to a document that Balaran presented, demanding all responsive documents, both paper and electronic, within the See SHIRLEY, Page A-3 Shiprock officials furloughed for ignoring audit BY BILL DONOVAN management methods. SPECIAL TO TIlE TIMES Shiprock would go its own way, - : " ..... ..... . they said ............................ W I N D O W R O C K The Office oftheAuditorGeneral has not yet released the follow-up audit report, but the Navajo Times learned that chapter officials were in talks all day Wednesday with the auditors. The issue, now as then, is financial management. The biggest chapter in the Navajo Nation, Shiprock gets about $1.5 million a year from the tribe. The audit released in 2008 - a year before the current chapter officials took office - showed serious problems. When "auditors looked at a sampling of disbursements - cheeks written on the chapter bank Administration of Shiprock Chapter has been taken over by, a tribal agency after auditors found that chapter officials were still not tracking expenditures properly two years after promising to mend their ways. The Local Governance Support Center in Shiprock quietly took over chapter financial affairs Oct. 1 after auditors said reforms recommended in a 2008 audit had not been implemented. Shiprock is not certified under the tribe's Local Governance Act, and chapter officials in the past made it a point of pride to not apply for certification, which would require adopting modern See SHIPROCK, Page A-3 Rise in HD: cases ' alarming,' IHS says are HIV-positive, 34 percent have AIDS and 25 percent have died. "One of the biggest risk factors are men who have sex with men," Harrison said. Another risk factor is substance abuse, he said. "People lose inhibitions when they are drinking and drugging and don't take any precautions." Harrison said 10 years ago, most HIV cases were contracted away from the reservation. Since 2003, however, many of the cases are "Navajo infecting Navajo," he said. "It's a scary thought." "People have to realize that HIV does exist on the Navajo Nation," Harrison said. He is especially concerned with the increasing number of women being diagnosed with HIV. If left untreated, HIV develops • into AIDS, which is fatal unless treated with expensive medications, so health authorities are once again stepping up preventive efforts. The Navajo Aids Network See HIV, Page A-3 BY CAROLYN CALVIN NAVAJO T.S WINDOW ROCK - The Navajo Area Indian Health Service on Monday reported an "alarming" increase in new HIV cases diagnosed each year. "The number of new HIV cases diagnosed at Navajo Area Indian Health Service and tribal service units has increased dramatically since 2000," said Dr. Jonathan Iralu, an infectious disease consultant for the agency. "In 2000, approximately 15 cases were diagnosed per year at Navajo area facilities," Iralu said in a press release. "In 2009, there were 40 new cases and in 2010, there were 35 new HIV cases. These figures are very alarming." Melvin Harrison, executive director of the nonprofit Navajo AIDS Network, agreed with Iralu. "From 1987 to 2009, there were 315 cases treated in Navajo Area IHS facilities - 255 males and 50 females," Harrison said. Of those 315 cases, 41 percent sta,te champsl The Navajo Pine Lady Warriors celebrate with the Class 2A state championship trophy after defeating Texico, 45-41, March 11 at the UN'M PR tn Albuquei;que. (Specl to theTImes- Donovan Quintero) ........... _, Few high schoolers entered science fair BY ERNY ZAn NAVAJO TIMES WINDOW ROCK - Educators have long believed there's no better way to learn the basics of science that by creating a hypothesis and then testing it. That's the philosophy behind the annual Navajo Nation Science Fair held each March, but student participation suggested the older kids aren't buying it. Entries are divided into categories togive kids of all ages a fair chance to compete for ribbons and prizes: K-4, 5-6, and 7-12. But this year, high school students were a virtual no-show. Of more than 350 projects exhibited during the three-day event, only three came from high school students. All three were joint projects from sophomores at one school, T6hajiilee High School. It raises the question, is science interest down among Navajo high school students? Science fair organizer Johansen Phillips doesn't think so. "I think high.school students are just too busy," he said. Some educators agree, while others say the problem is the growing emphasis placed on standardized achievement testing, which is required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The six Navajo Nation Science Fair entrants from T6hajiilee High did their science projects to fulfill a class assignment, said their teacher, Brandy Russell. She said the school usually holds its own science fair, but this year the administration is making a push to achieve higher reading and math scores in state testing, and cancelled the fair so students could concentrate on the tests. Sanders Middle School teacher Kim Haddou, who brought some of her "blue ribbon" seventh-graders' projects to the science fair in Window Rock this year, said she's found in 28 years of teaching that just the word "science fair project" can be intimidating to students. "For whatever reason, when students hear 'science fair project,' they get nervous," she said, adding that generally once they get into it, the intimidation dissolves into excitement and they have'"a lot of fun" with their projects. Seth Hodges, a physics teacher at St. Michael High School, noted that the science fair took place the same week that his school was administering the AIMS test. He said the low participation rate by high schoolers doesn't mean they are losing interest in science, adding that much of the responsibility rests with the teacher to make science relevant to their lives. Most of the students in his class plan to major in science when they enter college .and said they wish they had time to devote to a science project, Hodges said. St. Michael High senior Melissa Segay, 18, had' ambitious plans for a science project that would address a chronic problem on the Navajo Reservation - road washouts tluring monsoon season. She wanted to look at cost-effective portable bridges. But Segay said she never had time to develop her idea because between classes and ter-school commitments, her time was already fully booked. "My AP calculus class, all rny time has gone to that," she said, adding that she averages about five hours of sleep a night and seldom hts a weekend off. "I would've done it if I had the time." •For whatever reason, when students hear 'science fair project" they get nervous." The Navajo Nation SCience Fair is not the only one with a decli0e in participation. The national American Indian Science and Engineering Fair, held annually by the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, has seen a decrease in entries over the past few years, according to Rozella Kennedy, AISES business development director. AISES is a nonprofit organization established in 1977 whose mission is to increase American Indian representation in science, engineering and other related fields, and the membership considers its annual science fair "extremely important," Kennedy said. Organizers of the AISES fair do not have one explanation for decreased participation, but say the economy, ox, erburdened teachers with less time to help students with science fair projects, and stringent tests because of No Child Left Behind all play a role, Kennedy said. Although science fairs might not be a measuring stick for science knowledge, the trend there seems to line up with the mediocre international standing of U.S. high school students in that area. According a 2006 survey by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, American 15-year-dials tested 29th out of 57 among countries surveyed in the Programme for International Student Assessment. The survey also factored in reading, mathematical skills and economic factors and adjusted the standingL but the U.S. rose only a few rungs, to between 20th and 27th in the world. Data regarding Navajos isn't available but overall, Native American 12th-graders rank last in science among U.S. students, according a 20,09 survey by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Neither the Department of Din6 Education nor an online search could turn up research linking science projects to academic ranking, but for Haddou - who requires all her students to do a project - they are the very foundation of learning. "I think a science fair project is what science is all about," she said. WW •  ,,• 1 April 2 3, 2011 w.navajonauonparKs.org