North Dakota Human Rights Coalition
Working to effect change so that all people in North Dakota enjoy full human rights
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North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Working to effect change so that all people in North Dakota enjoy full human rights |
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The full PAUR report is available on the NDHRC web site at http://www.ndhrc.org/Newsletters/PAUR%202005/December%202005.htm
~North Dakota Human Rights Coalition~ PAUR Report
Programs ~ Announcements ~ Updates ~ Resources
Visit our Website at www.ndhrc.org
Hello members and friends of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition!
In this week’s PAUR Report:
Announcements 2) Patrick Atkinson Scholarships at Bismarck State College 3) Women Artist Invited to Enter Exhibition 4) Ask a Mentor with Freedom Resource Center 5) All Nations Youth Introduces New Director
Newspaper Articles 6) Native-American Nicknames/Mascots and Tribal Sovereignty 8) The Forum, Drive keeps pace 9) The Forum, Barriers hinder police diversity: Challenges abound 11) The Bismarck Tribune, ND Kurds travel far to vote 13) The Forum, Planned Parenthood opens first office in ND 14) The Bismarck Tribune, Letters to the editor by Byron Dorgan 15) The Grand Forks Herald, Dorgan's Tribal support goes back decades 16) The Fargo Forum, Dorgan returns Tribal gifts 17) The Forum, Interpreters critical link for newcomers 18) The Forum, Group helps with drug signup 19) The Bismarck Tribune, Workers comp panel hears complaints 20) The Bismarck Tribune, Workers have their say 21) UND Professor Dismissal Hearing 22) Minot Daily News, Making homes accessible to all 23) The Forum, Judge rejects Rodriguez claim that death penalty is biased 24) The Forum, Area delegations favor continuing Patriot Act 25) The Bismarck Tribune, Finding workers for jobs 26) The Forum, Local groups protest cuts
Events 27) Folk Dance Class 28) Fargo/Moorhead & West Fargo American Indian Education 29) Prominent African-American Artist's work on display at Plains Art Museum 30) Early Intervention Parent Leadership Weekend 31) New Year's Eve Event by ND American Diabetes Chapter 32) ACCC Offering Autism Training Course 33) CloserLook Conference Hosted by Anne Carlsen Center for Children 34) Hip Hop Congress Minnesota Summit to be Held at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN
Reminders 35) Help the NDHRC Protect the Rights of All People in North Dakota Become a Member! 36) Thanks to Our 2005 Members 37) Members Needed for Human Rights Commission & Nominations for Human Rights Awards 38) Applicants Sought for Fellowships & Scholarships
Please Note: The NDHRC distributes a weekly PAUR report to inform our members and friends about news, events, and other human rights related information around the state. The opinions expressed within the articles are those of the authors and are not endorsed by the NDHRC.
New NDHRC members: as a membership benefit you have received an e-mail subscription of our weekly e-mail newsletter, the NDHRC PAUR Report. If you would like to be removed from the PAUR Report mailing list, please send an email to humanrights@ndhrc.org.
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Interim Executive Director, Andrea Warren-Deegan, will be leaving the NDHRC in mid-January. Andrea will be moving to New York to work in development at the Shinnecock Nation Cultural Center & Museum. We wish Andrea all the best in her new position, and will miss her wonderful contributions to our organization and commitment to the work of human rights in North Dakota.
We’d also like to welcome our new Assistant Director, Tendai Phiri. Tendai is a North Dakota born and raised resident, originally from the Spirit Lake area. She has a Master's in Management with a concentration in Human Resources from the University of Mary and has many years experience in managing non-profit organizations. Tendai is a woman of color, married to a New American, and is honored to further the rights of all people in North Dakota.
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2) Patrick Atkinson Scholarships at Bismarck State College
Patrick Atkinson Scholarships for Enriching North Dakota $1000 per year.
Preference will be given to non-traditional students returning to continue their
educations and active volunteers in local and statewide charities, churches and
communities. Students must also demonstrate a strong commitment to academic
success in a field that has a direct and positive impact on improving health,
education and community and economic development for North Dakota residents.
Must carry a minimum of 15 credit hours and earn at least a 3.0 GPA to remain
eligible for next term. For more information, go to http://www.bismarckstate.edu/foundation/Scholarships.asp
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3) Women Artist Invited to Enter Exhibition
Forum staff report The Forum - 11/13/2005 Visual, literary, and performing arts entries are being sought for A Woman's Perspective On Mother Nature, a multimedia art exhibition. A Woman's Perspective is a noncompetitive, nonjuried exhibition for established and emerging female visual artists and performers. The show runs March 1 to April 28, at the Heritage Hjemkomst Interpretive Center, Moorhead. Other supporting venues in Fargo-Moorhead include the Plains Art Museum, Rourke Art Museum, Creative Arts Studio, Nichole's Fine Pastry, Spirit Room, and Moorhead Community Education. The deadline for submitting the visual, literary and performing arts entry form is Feb. 10. For entry information, visit awp.handworks.org or the supporting venues for a prospectus.
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4) Ask a Mentor with Freedom Resource Center Freedom Resource Center would like to invite you to visit our website www.freedomrc.org and click on Ask a Mentor to post any disability related question. With this exciting new addition to our Peer Mentor Program individuals can post questions for our mentors. Our mentors are people with disabilities who are volunteering to share their knowledge, skills, and experiences with others. The Peer Mentor program, in its simplest form, is an opportunity for people with disabilities to empower others with disabilities to live independently. It is about people utilizing personal knowledge and experiences to address the questions of others.
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5) All Nations Youth Introduces New Director
All Nations Youth introduces Andrea St. John as its new Director. St. John is an enrolled member of the Ft. Peck Assiniboine – Sioux Tribe of Poplar, Montana.
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6) Native-American Nicknames/Mascots and Tribal Sovereignty
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########################### NCAA Finds Little Middle Ground in Mascot Debate BY RYAN WHITE There needs to be
an understanding at the beginning of any discussion of Native American mascots,
imagery and the NCAA. The topic is big, the debate furious, the arguments
sincere and there is absolutely no middle ground. <snip>
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SIGN OF THE TIMES; ON THIN ICE ABC News Transcripts December 5, 2005 Monday SHOW: Nightline 12:01 AM EST ABC
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UND nickname ruling due in January Associated Press Associated Press - 11/23/2005
GRAND FORKS, N.D. The University of North Dakota's second appeal of the postseason use of its Fighting Sioux nickname will not be considered by the NCAA until early next year, school.
Phil Harmeson, a senior associate to UND President Charles Kupchella, said the NCAA told the school in a letter earlier this month that the college sports association's executive committee will consider the appeal Jan. 9.
UND is on a list of schools with Indian nicknames and logos that the NCAA considers hostile and abusive. The association is banning those nicknames and logos from postseason play.
UND says it uses the Fighting Sioux nickname with pride and respect.
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Posted on Sun, Dec. 04, 2005 Grand Forks Herald
Tribal chairman says water plan overlooks western North Dakota
Proposal has Missouri River water diverted to the Red River Valley in times of droughtAssociated Press
NEW TOWN, N.D. - Three Affiliated Tribes Chairman Tex Hall says the tribes and western North Dakota generally are being overlooked in plans to pipe Missouri River water to the Red River Valley in times of drought.
"Nobody's talked to us (about the Red River plan) so we don't know how much water would be diverted," Hall said.
"I'm not saying we're against it, I'm just saying we haven't been adequately consulted here," he said. "I'm alarmed that we're not getting consulted on this huge initiative."
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Lake land transfer report near
LAKE SAKAKAWEA - North Dakota may be just days away from learning whether 36,000
acres around Lake Sakakawea will be transferred to the Three Affiliated Tribes.
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Tribal health care project attracts funds
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Study offers hope By Mike Nowatzki James Thomas found no surprises in a recent health survey of American Indians in Fargo. He knew that they had a higher incidence of diabetes than most North Dakotans. He knew that they were less likely to have health insurance coverage. And he knew that, in general, they were in worse health than their North Dakota counterparts. “But knowing that and having documentation are two different things,” said Thomas, coordinator of Native American Programs, 324 7th St. N. Now, armed with an official survey compiled by researchers at the University of North Dakota, Thomas hopes to secure better facilities and services for American Indians. American Indians who spend more than 90 days at a time off their reservation are considered urban American Indians and are usually not eligible for health services when they return to the reservation, Thomas said.
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Fargo advocate rallying for Indian health center 11-14-2005: news-state - Bismarck
Tribune
FARGO (AP) -
An advocate for American Indians wants to use a new study to push for better
facilities and services in this city. In most states, urban American Indians can get
medical care at urban health centers funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
But no such center exists between Minneapolis and Billings, Mont. <snip>
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The Grand Forks Herald Appeals Court: Indian money accounting would be impossible
JENNIFER TALHELM Associated Press
The accounting had been ordered by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, who is overseeing a class-action lawsuit in which thousands of American Indians claim they were cheated out of more than $100 billion in oil, gas, grazing, timber and other royalties overseen by the Interior Department since 1887. In their appeals, the government and the plaintiffs have argued that the massive historical accounting Lamberth ordered would cost up to $13 billion - far more than was reasonable. <snip>
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Beat the drum for our Indian nursesRegarding the Fighting Sioux mascot controversy, a colleague once told me that he would be in favor of changing the name if there was evidence - evidence such as American Indian students staying away from UND in droves. Here are some of the reasons why American Indian students come to UND: Many Native people on reservations aren't familiar with the logo controversy. It isn't until they come to the university and experience some of the negatives that they come to a full understanding. It is also important to understand that Native students want to stay close to home. But to get a degree in fields such as law, medicine or nursing, they have few options. One of those options is UND. The most important reason why Native students come to UND is because of the excellent Native American staff. The staff does the recruiting in communities that they understand and provide support for enrolled students. <snip>
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2nd Fargo wheelchairapartment unit to open By Joe Whetham Fargo will have two all-wheelchair-accessible apartment complexes for low-income residents by Thursday, when an 18-unit building opens in the south part of town. The Northland Apartments at 1115 23rd St. S. developed by the St. Paul-based nonprofit organization Accessible Space already has a waiting list. The city’s other all-wheelchair-accessible complex – the 98-unit assisted-living New Horizons Manor on Broadway – also has people in line to live there. Complexes like these are the best option for providing accessible and affordable housing, said Ken Berry, marketing specialist for Accessible Space. Units are equipped with all the amenities of modern apartments but bolstered with raised electrical outlets and lowered light switches, 3-foot-wide doors, roll-in showers and lever-action handles.
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11-25-2005: news-state - Bismarck
Tribune
By KATIEBROWN
When people
first heard Carey McWilliams' story several years ago, most did not take it
seriously. To get his permit, McWilliams took a written test
and a shooting test. In March, a bill was passed in North Dakota that
eliminated the shooting portion of the test. <snip>
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Making homes accessible to all By KATINA TENGESDAL, Staff Writer ktengesdal@ndweb.com - Minot Daily News 12/4/05
If you build it, they will come but they have to be able to get in. Visitability is a fairly new concept, with three basic principles for making homes accessible to visitors and occupants who are disabled or may acquire a disability. The three principles of visitability design are: Having one zero-step entrance on an accessible path of travel, doorways that are 32 inches clear throughout the floor plan, and basic access to at least a half bath on the main floor. Visitability can be incorporated in new home designs, which can help plan ahead in case future occupants may acquire a disability, and help those who are currently disabled visit family and friends without worrying about getting through the door. Planning ahead makes accessibility much more affordable than renovating an existing home. "A lot of people are worrying about the future,'' said Laurie Davis, consumer liaison for the North Dakota Center for Persons with Disabilities and member of the North Dakota Medicaid Infrastructure Grant Housing Task Force. "They want to make sure they can live in that house for a long time. That's the main idea behind visitability, to plan ahead, not just for yourself, but for those who visit. As a population, we're not getting any younger, and the chances of acquiring a disability are high.'' Simple accessibility can be beneficial to a wide range of people. "If you're a mom with a stroller, you don't have to worry about steps, or a grandparent that uses a walker or a wheelchair,'' Davis said. "Some people may acquire a temporary disability and need to use crutches.'' Making housing accessible from the get-go has a lot of benefits. If current occupants of a home don't need accessibility features, they don't bother anyone, but when a house is inaccessible, many will pay the price.
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Handicapped parking issues Richard H. Epplett, Velva - Minot Daily News 12/11/05 When is the police department going to start checking the cars in the handicap parking spaces? There are people parking in the handicap spaces that have no handicap tag or handicap plates. I see some people getting out of cars with tags and running into some of the stores, and I think they are using someone else's tag just to get a parking place close to the stores. Then there are some with tags that are parking where there are strips for the handicapped people to get out of vans. The other day I parked in a handicap parking space and a woman parked in the one next to me without a tag or plate. I told her that she was in a handicap space and she said she wouldn't be long. That's how much a lot of people care about us. Also,the police should check every so often the people that park in these parking spaces to make sure the tag belongs to them not their mother, father or a friend.
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Cross at the 'beep' By Mike Nowatzki Three Fargo intersections will soon feature speakers that emit electronic “cuckoo” and “peep-peep” sounds to tell blind pedestrians when it’s safe to cross the street. The city plans to test the audible pedestrian signals at NP Avenue and Fourth Street, NP Avenue and Fifth Street and the Broadway crossing near New Horizons Manor at 2525 Broadway, said Jeremy Gorden, Fargo traffic engineer. Each intersection will receive two speakers, purchased from Wilcox Sales of Claremont, Calif., for $400 apiece. The speakers will sit atop the existing pedestrian signal boxes. “We’ll be able to put them up hopefully by the end of the year,” Gorden told the city’s Traffic Technical Advisory Committee Wednesday. Bismarck and Minot, N.D., already use audible signals at some intersections.
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County welcomes new voting machines Williston Herald
By LeAnn Eckroth, Staff Writer Visually and mobile-impaired voters will get a boost at the
June 13 Williams County primary and city/school board election through a new
ballot box that allows them to vote without the aid of clerks or judges at a
poll.
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8) The Forum, Drive keeps pace
By Dale Wetzel The Forum - 12/12/2005
BISMARCK - Supporters of a property-rights initiative say the campaign to put the measure on North Dakota's ballot next year is going well, although it has kept a low profile since it was launched last summer.
Curly Haugland, a Bismarck businessman and former state Republican chairman, estimates the petition already has collected about 7,000 names, which is one-fourth of the 25,688 minimum needed to put the measure to a vote.
"Every day, there's something in the mailbox," Haugland said. "You see them in locations all across the state, so they're getting out there pretty well." Haugland said he hopes the drive will get more names than a ballot initiative, which North Dakota voters overwhelmingly approved two years ago, to bar North Dakota government from recognizing gay marriages. That petition ha d 42,093 legal signatures, Secretary of State Al Jaeger said. Another 1,647 signatures were disqualified for a variety of reasons, including notary errors and incomplete addresses listed by signers. The property rights initiative was prompted by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, handed down in June, that upheld the efforts of the city of New London, Conn., to force some residents to sell their homes and land to make way for a luxury waterfront development. The U.S. and North Dakota constitutions say private property may not be taken for public use without just compensation to the landowner. The Supreme Court's decision, property rights advocates say, gives local governments the right to force the sale of property for another private use, if the new development makes the land more valuable. The proposed initiative would prevent local governments from forcing the sale of property for economic development projects, or to clean up areas that are considered blighted.
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9) The Forum, Barriers hinder police diversity: Challenges abound By Dave Forster The Forum - 11/07/2005 Twenty-five miles from Minneapolis, Scott Knight knows all about Fargo-Moorhead’s struggle to build a more diverse police force. Knight, the police chief in Chaska, is also frustrated. His city is about 10 percent Hispanic, but not one of his 23 officers is, Knight said. The situation is much the same elsewhere in the state and country, he and other recruiting experts said. As immediate past president of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, Knight couldn’t name one department beyond the Twin Cities that has successfully met the challenge. “It is the bane of all chiefs to access and attract minority recruits,” Knight said.
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10) The Forum, Behind the badge: Area police departments struggle to offer diversity: 'Same goals in mind'
By Dave Forster
The Forum - 11/06/2005 In a city with an overwhelmingly white population, Terry Thomason received a few extra looks when he hit the streets in a Fargo police uniform in 2001. But he said the most startled reactions came from a couple of people who were black. “They were pretty surprised, (like) ‘Wow, there’s a black police officer in Fargo,’ ” said Thomason, a 35-year-old West Fargo resident. As the Fargo-Moorhead area slowly grows more racially diverse, a trend the U.S. Census confirms, its police and sheriff’s agencies are struggling – and failing – to keep pace. Agencies across the country face the same challenge, but in some ways the departments in Fargo-Moorhead deal with more obstacles, say police chiefs and recruiting experts. Racial and ethnic diversity within law enforcement agencies – the desire to reflect the demographics of the communities they police – is invaluable, say law enforcement and community leaders.
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11) The Bismarck Tribune, ND Kurds travel far to vote
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Three men sentenced, referred to immigration
By Steven P. Wagner The Forum - 12/08/2005
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered three men to time served for being in the country illegally and referred their cases to U.S. immigration officials. The men were among 11 arrested last month near Lakota, N.D., while working for a railroad track repair company. U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson accepted guilty pleas from Luis Enrique Luna-Sierra, 18, Anselmo Hernandez-Soto, 21, and Jose David Sierra-Hernandez, 22, after explaining their rights. Each of the men appeared with their court-appointed attorneys and a Spanish-speaking interpreter. Federal prosecutors filed charges Nov. 10 against 10 men for using false documents to live and work in the United States. Another man, Jose Francisco Sanchez-Garcia, faces a charge for transporting illegal immigrants. Court records show the men were hired to work for Bledsoe Rail Services Inc. of Fargo and earned about $10 per hour. Sanchez-Garcia translated work instructions to the rest of the men, all from Mexico. A presentence investigation showed the three men appearing in court Wednesday didn't have criminal records. Federal sentencing guidelines allowed each of them to receive up to six months in prison. Erickson ordered them each to the time they've served in the Cass County Jail, to pay a $100 fee and attorneys fees up to $750. Their convictions likely mean they'll be removed from the country, he said. The men had between $1,357 and $3,136 in U.S. currency on them when they were arrested. Cases against the other eight men are pending. <snip>
########################### 11 face prison, deportation By Steven P. Wagner The Forum - 11/23/2005
Eleven men hired by a Fargo-based railroad track repair company face prison time and possible deportation after their arrests by U.S. Border Patrol agents. The arrests followed a traffic stop near Lakota, N.D., and an investigation into occupants staying at a hotel there. The men all are from Mexico and accused of being in the country illegally. The case marks another in a list of suspected illegal workers arrested in the state, including more than 30 construction workers in Bismarck since this summer and those found during an investigation into an illegal immigrant smuggling ring for Chinese restaurants. In the most recent case, federal prosecutors filed charges Nov. 10 against 10 of the railroad workers for using false Social Security numbers. Another man, Jose Francisco Sanchez-Garci a, faces a charge for transporting illegal immigrants. Court records show Sanchez-Garcia told agents he had been hired to work for Bledsoe Rail Services Inc. of Fargo and give instructions to the men in Spanish. The men earned about $10 an hour. Each of the men appeared, along with an interpreter, last week in U.S. District courts in Fargo and Grand Forks. Records also show the company provided worker documents for each man, but checks by the Border Patrol showed the men used numbers assigned to other people. One of the men, Eduardo Luna-Sierra, also faces a charge of possessing a fake green card. If convicted, each charge carries a maximum five-year prison term. The men also could face deportation, an administrative process handled separately by an immigration judge. <snip>
########################### Underground economy By Angie Wagner Associated Press - 12/05/2005 LAS VEGAS - Each morning, Israel Gonzalez rises before dawn and heads to the sidewalks around the city's plant nurseries to wait for a job. There, alongside other men, he watches for pickup trucks that slow down, hoping today he will be chosen for work. It's a morning ritual played out regularly in cities and towns as day laborers, mostly illegal immigrants, scramble for work in a country that comfortably accepts their work while disavowing their right to be here. The work is steady, the money is good, and when Gonzalez gets picked up for a job, no one asks for documents or identification. "The bosses don't care if the papers are real or not," he said, wearing a navy hat with an American flag on it. Gonzalez, 31, lives with his three brothers in an apartment; none of them is legal. They are among millions of illegal immigrants who work in obscurity, in the shadows of the American economy, quietly bringing home wages from people and companies more than willing to hire them. On paper, many don't exist. Fake Social Security numbers and birth certificates make sure of that. They are nannies, housekeepers, landscapers, construction, farm and food service workers. Cash is paid under the table, or fake documents are accepted without question. Illegal immigrants may number as high as 20 million, and they are gaining a larger share of the job market, according to Bear Stearns in New York. More and more, they are spreading beyond traditional immigrant states like California and Texas. They are spreading through the West and South, where there is tremendous growth, affordable housing and family networks. They are increasingly found in states like Utah, Washington, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Georgia and the Dakotas. And they're heading to suburbia . <snip>
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13) The Forum, Planned Parenthood opens first office in ND
By Patrick Springer The Forum - 11/13/2005
Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the national reproductive health organization, has opened an office in Fargo. Until the downtown office opened recently, North Dakota remained the last state without a Planned Parenthood presence. Although the organization has operated a clinic in Moorhead for 30 years, opening an informational office in Fargo is viewed as a milestone for the organization. "North Dakota literally is the last state in the union that has a Planned Parenthood presence," Marta Coursey, director of marketing and communications for Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. "To say we actually have a presence in North Dakota is important," Coursey said <snip>
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14) The Bismarck Tribune, Letters to the editor by Byron Dorgan
11-29-2005: news-letters - Bismarck Tribune
Letters to the editor
On Nov. 25,
there was on the front page of the Tribune a sensational, but inaccurate, news
story by an Associated Press writer that demands a response. Sen. John McCain and I are investigating Mr. Abramoff and his partner Michael Scanlon (who recently plead guilty) of bilking Indian tribes out of tens of millions of dollars. And we have uncovered a disgusting tale of greed and outright fraud. It's not surprising that from the sleazy world of those who defrauded the Indian tribes, we have see | |||||||||||||||||||||||
