Offering a Helping Hanf

Monday, October 19, 1998

Offering a Helping Hanf

CLUBS: Students who travel to Indian reservations to tutor and
counsel high schoolers do it to make up for prejudice and instill
hope

By Michelle Navarro

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

While thousands of students sat cheering at the Rose Bowl on
Saturday, eight Bruins were teaching high-school students from the
Tule River Indian Reservation what their ‘a-f’ requirements are in
order to be considered for a UC or Cal State education.

‘I had bought season tickets and I was planning to go to the
football game,’ said Flavia Silva, a third-year civil engineering
student and American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES)
member. ‘But when you have to choose between fun and work, if
you’re responsible, caring and want to make a difference, you’ll
choose to work.’

‘I had no doubt in my mind (the football players) aren’t my
idols anyway. I admire those who are struggling ­ they are my
idols,’ she added.

The two-and-a-half-hour trip up north was planned by the AISES
on campus, a group that supports American Indian culture and
values.

The outing was an addition to a mentor-student project that
began last year when AISES wrote letters to the students at the
reservation and brought them down to UCLA for the annual
powwow.

‘Last year they just got to see us as role models and to visit
UCLA,’ said Silva. ‘Now we are going make sure they take the
classes they need to get in. We’re actually sitting down with them
­ hopefully they’ll feel comfortable talking with us.’

AISES members left UCLA hours before the sun would rise that
morning. And as the city lights gave way to silhouetted hills and
blazing stars, it took music from the ‘Wedding Singer’ and
conversations about pets to keep one of the sleepy drivers
awake.

They had to make it up to Porterville, California where eight
Native American high school students were waiting to be counseled
on college preparation ­ something that, according to AISES
President Tiffani Devine, they do not adequately receive.

‘(Administrators) have a general attitude about Indians,’ Devine
said with frustration. ‘They think they’re bad and not bright
­ you have to prove yourself.’

She said counselors automatically stick American Indian students
in basic courses that are not college preparatory.

Devine herself lived on the reservation and had problems with
the lack of assistance from high-school counselors.

‘It’s sad to see the guidance counselors and principals not
helping,’ she said. ‘I’ve seen it firsthand, and I don’t like
it.’

Nevertheless, the Yokut AISES president graduated from high
school, along with four other American Indians in her class ­
and was the only one to go on to a four-year university.

‘I did it all on my own,’ Devine said. ‘The students now need
someone to help them out. I’m in a position to do that.’

When everyone arrived at the Tule River Reservation, it was
evident how much the high-school students looked up to and trusted
Devine.

The land itself consisted of dry, rolling foothills. The brown
and dead grass didn’t look friendly to the touch of small bodies
tumbling down the hills it sat on. Big piles of cow dung peppered
the grounds.

The only things alive and thriving were the young students
themselves, most of whom piled up in the back of a pickup truck on
the way to the retreat site at the reservation.

They pounded a low, steady beat on a drum part of the way up
there. The actual site was up into the mountains where pine trees,
green grass and a rocky river flourished. It was quite a contrast
to the other part of the reservation.

It was a place reserved for the annual ceremonial gathering of
the elders. A ‘harbor,’ or open-air, circular structure made of
thin tree trunks and cut pine branches, was there, surrounding a
fire pit.

The best part? No tourists.

As the rhythm of the running river pounded on the rocks nearby,
introductions were made.

‘Hi, my name is Tracie,’ said Devine’s younger sister. ‘I’m a
junior at Porterville and I want to go to the army and become
famous and get a Lexus.’

Whatever it was, they all had a dream ­ just like any other
student out there.

Martin shyly told the group that his favorite subject was art.
His ninth-grade friend, Vance, excitedly shared that he wanted to
go to UCLA and that his favorite subject in school was engineering
design.

They had a lot of questions, even when AISES member Monica
Campos went over what the ‘a-f’ requirements were to qualify for UC
or Cal State admission.

The third-year electrical engineering student dedicated her
Saturday to these kids because she knew about the indifference they
were treated with by school counselors.

‘I heard about the prejudice they face,’ Campos said. ‘Sometimes
we’re so removed that we think what people say is exaggerated. I
met the students last year and it’s true, the counselors do have
biases against them. They work to discourage rather than
encourage.’

‘We have to go and play the part of the counselors and encourage
the kids, because they are bright kids,’ she added.

When each of the mentors actually sat down with a student for a
one-on-one look at their course schedules for the rest of their
high school years, it was clear how they could easily be blocked
out from the race to college.

Several, more attractive courses were offered that would count
to satisfy their graduation requirements ­ but not UC or Cal
State ones.

Doesn’t health or agricultural science sound more attractive
than chemistry or biology?

They did to the kids from the reservation. But the students
learned on Saturday that those courses wouldn’t get them into an
institution like UCLA.

‘They can’t get in with the classes they offer at Porterville
(High School),’ Devine said. ‘When universities look at their
applications, they won’t be impressed.’

Hopefully after Saturday they may have a chance when the time
comes to send out applications. But with the loss of affirmative
action at the UCs, Devine is still skeptical about their
chances.

‘It’s hard to be the first one to leave from your family,’ she
said, ‘especially when all they know is each other.’

She knows how difficult it was for her to get into UCLA,
especially compared with another student living hundreds of miles
away and going to a school where many classes are offered with
Advanced Placement credit and where the counselors believe in their
potential.

AISES went to let the American Indian students know that someone
believed in them ­ in more than one way, too.

Saturday wasn’t just spent mulling over what classes to take; it
also involved hiking up to a waterfall with the students from the
reservation as guides to get there.

Zelma Santos, who led the hike like a drill sergeant, was in
charge of the group this reporter was in. Santos decided the
already made path was too easy.

No, her crew was to take a harder route instead. So up rocks,
down dirt hills and through the near freezing river they went for
an hour, putting all faith in their leader who kept shouting for
everyone to hurry up.

Seeing the waterfall made the adventure worth it, even though
several people, such as second-year computer science and
engineering student Kai Kaahaaina, had a few frightening slips down
boulders.

One Bruin had an even more frightening experience on the way
there ­ almost being tipped over in a port-o-potty.

By the end of the day, the two groups from different parts of
California had meshed into one.

All were caked with mud and freezing, but having fun
nonetheless.

Sitting around a campfire, they listened to some songs the kids
had learned on the drum, while Martin and Vance burned sage to ward
off the evil spirits.

‘I enjoyed myself,’ Martin grinned. ‘I got to meet all these new
people. They’re really cool.’ When asked if he planned on going to
college, he gave an enthusiastic affirmative.

Next quarter AISES plans to come back and see the students
again, and in spring quarter the youths will come to UCLA for the
annual powwow celebration.

‘It takes time to change things,’ Devine said on the road
leading out of the retreat site. ‘But at least someone is doing
it.’FLAVIA SILVA

Students from Porterville High School are counseled by UCLA
students.

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