Federal fact-finders visit tribal college

Rick Stephens, an official with The Boeing Company, talks with Kathy Isaacson of Navajo Technical College on Tuesday at the school. [photo by Brian Leddy / Independent]

By Karen Francis
Diné Bureau

CROWNPOINT — Advisors on tribal colleges and universities to President George W. Bush were at Navajo Technical College on Tuesday for a board meeting and to hear about the college’s Internet to Hogan initiative.

The White House Initiative on Tribal Colleges and Universities heard a presentation from college and tribal officials in the morning, ate a seven-course luncheon prepared by the school’s beginning culinary arts program and held its board meeting in the afternoon. The WHITCU will continue its board meeting at Southwestern Indian Polytechnical Institute in Albuquerque today.

Anselm G. Davis Jr., a Navajo, was appointed executive director of the WHITCU in May. He accompanied seven board members to the meeting.

The WHITCU has two meetings per year. The first is usually held in Washington and the second is held in the field, he said.

Davis said that the meeting was being held at NTC for the board members to learn about the Internet to Hogan initiative and to actually see a tribal college.

“For some of the board members, it’s their first time visiting a tribal college,” Davis said. “It’s beneficial in the sense that board members have an opportunity to see the campus, talk to the people, and what issues they’re involved in.”

Elmer Guy, president of NTC, said, “We want to have them get an idea of what a tribal college is really like.”

The college was also seeking support for a proposed amendment that has been passed by the House and the Senate which would provide funding for the college annually. The bill it is attached to is now in conference, Guy said.

The amendment is necessary because, as a result of a provision in the Higher Education Act, NTC gets zeroed out and must fight for funding every year. The amendment would change that and allow for NTC and United Tribes Technical College to receive funding regularly.

“After conference — when they agree — then it goes to President Bush,” Guy said. He added that the amendment language is identical in both the House and Senate versions.
The WHITCU board members also heard presentations on the Internet to Hogan initiative — an ambitious project that aims to provide Internet access across the Navajo Nation. To help make Internet to Hogan a reality, the college is developing supercomputers and the Diné Grid.

Tom Davis, dean of instruction said that the college is working to put the supercomputers at the Navajo chapters.
According to NTC, the Dine Grid, which is the applications that the college is developing, enables advanced technology to serve Navajo needs in the areas of education, telemedicine, public safety, e-government, economic development, remote sensing and research.

Alumni from the college are also instrumental in developing Internet to Hogan — which is why it has taken four years to begin implementing, Davis said. The NTC is building skills in technology that are in demand worldwide, he added.

The first phase of the initiative — which would serve mostly the eastern side of the Navajo Nation — will soon be ready with NTC looking to implement it around September, Guy said.

“We have plans for the whole Navajo Nation,” Davis said.
The initiative would allow for the student in the hogan to interact with professors at school. In time, Davis said that NTC will use the technology to provide classes via televideo to its branch in Chinle.

The entire venture is costly and there would most likely be a service charge, Davis said.

The WHITCU officials were interested in the initiative and wanted more information.

The board members were also shown the PCR research station where NTC alumnus Malanie Begay is helping to extract DNA from piñon pine trees to study the effect of high radiation levels on them. Researchers will also be extracting samples from normal trees and comparing the samples.

The seven-course meal served by “Baker” Joe and his culinary arts students won several rounds of applause from the visiting officials. They were served Juno Alaska native seafood appetizer, garden salad, wild mushroom soup, buffalo New York steak, wild rice pilaf, focaccia bread and for dessert, apple and raspberry hot crisp.