The Haskell Rocketry Club recently hosted a competition at Haskell in which four teams from Lawrence and Topeka including Boy Scouts and a 4H team got a chance to experience all the various aspects of a real rocket competition, very similar to the one our Haskell students will be competing in a few weeks from now.

The rockets these young men and women were shooting off were estimated to travel a height of around 800 feet before parachuting to the ground. By comparison, the rocket Haskell plans to launch is anticipated to approach 10,000 feet, depending on wind conditions.

The Rocketry Club will travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin on April 25-27 for the First Nations Launch. They recently joined an exhibition hosted by the KloudBusters in Argonia, Kansas.

For all those who want to stay in the loop and help cheer the team on, you can follow the club’s official Twitter feed at #haskellrocket. They plan to update this with photos and announcements throughout the competition. Good luck and Onward Haskell!

On May 1st at 10:00am, Haskell Indian Nations University’s Facilities Management, in coordination with the Lawrence Police Department and Lawrence Fire Department, will be conducting a drill on campus designed to simulate an on-campus active shooter. This will take place mainly in Sequoyah Hall, but other portions of the campus will react accordingly and follow other emergency procedures.

The purpose of this drill is to educate students and faculty on how to handle a similar situation if it ever occurs in the future. In addition, this gives the Police and Fire Departments the opportunity to practice their responses and to familiarize themselves with the layout of our campus, should they ever need to answer such a call.

One of the biggest concerns on the minds of Facilities Management and the Police Department is communication. Students need to contact their families and friends, as well as other students in case they do not know, and make them aware of the drill. Parents, families, and friends can easily mistake the drill for an actual event, and none of us want to put our families through that situation. This was a reality at a recent drill held at Charlotte Amalie High School in Virginia, where unnotified parents became worried and phoned the school and police with their concerns, according to an article in the Virginia Islands Daily News. In that case, students and parents were told of an upcoming drill, but were not given the exact time and date, presumably to help simulate a real occurrence.

Facilities Management wants to ensure that this does not happen here and in order to help disseminate the information, as well as receive any questions or concerns that students may have, they are holding a General Assembly on Wednesday, April 26th at 3:30pm in the Auditorium. Students and Faculty are encouraged to attend to get more information about the drill if at all possible. Those that cannot attend, or if you have additional questions or concerns, are encouraged to contact Leah Pahcoddy, Director of Facilities Management, at (785)749-8467.

Please note that in order to maintain a safe area for all the individuals involved, including students, faculty, police, and paramedics, students backpacks and other similar items will be secured prior to the drill, and may be subject to search to prevent any weapons from entering the area. It is extremely important that no one is injured or hurt in this drill, and preventing any weapons from entering this area is vital to the success of this drill.

International Slam Dunk Champion Kenny Dobbs and KU’s Angel Goodrich took a few minutes to play with a few of the younger fans in the crowd tonight at the Bane Battle National Championship Tournament being held at Haskell Indian Nations University in memory of Ralph Tecumseh and Phil Homeratha.

College is a stressful time for most college students in one way or another. Stress is a normal part of everyday life and in many cases can be beneficial. However, if not managed properly stress can become unhealthy and dangerous.

According to MentalHealthAmerica.net, too much stress in your life can “cause relatively minor illnesses like insomnia, backaches, or headaches, and can contribute to potentially life-threatening diseases like high blood pressure and heart disease.” It is important to effectively manage stress and take steps to reduce it whenever possible.

WebMD says that stress can come from many places, such as anxiety about work-related situations like promotions and deadlines, to general life situations such as an increase in financial obligations, changing routines or schedules, and moving into a new residence. You can even be the source of your own stress, such as creating unrealistic expectations of yourself.

As you can see, college students clearly deal with several of these issues every semester. For some of us, just coming to college can drastically alter our financial stability, and with changing schedules every semester comes the need to alter our routines, sometimes dramatically. In addition, the constant moving in and out of dormitories and moving back and forth from home to school can be very stressful.

In order to deal with stress properly, however, it is important to identify where it comes from. Once you identify the source of the stress, you can figure out a better way to handle those situations. Luckily there are a few general tips that can help just about anyone with any situation. Baldwin Wallace University suggests students exercise regularly, eat healthy foods, get plenty of rest, and avoid drugs and alcohol. The number one tip? Proper time management. Constantly being in a rush combines several areas of stress.

Stress can sometimes be a helpful tool to push us towards our goals, but we have to make sure we are managing our stress, not allowing our stress to manage us.

OKLAHOMA CITY – The drive was no more than four hours, and the excitement was up. It was a last minute decision to go watch Louisville Cardinals vs Tennessee; However this would be the second time I’ve seen Shoni, and Jude Schimmel play. But for any Native this would be a moment to play Rez Ball.

Shoni, and Jude Schimmel

While walking towards the arena it was raining and a bit windy but you could hear the sound of hand drums, and singing. A group of Natives from the area gathered out in front of the arena to sing in honor of Shoni, and Jude. One quick glance at the crowd you can see many Natives coming together to support the Schimmel Sisters, handmade fan signs displayed, “Show them how to Schimmel!”, or “Umatilla Thrilla!”

Louisville vs Tennessee game was another win, Shoni (23) had 24 points, and Jude (22) had 15 points. The final score for Louisville 86-78, and the crowd was wild for the Schimmel sisters. In the stands you can feel the excitement of the Indian country’s very own Shoni, and Jude Schimmel heading to play in the Final Four in New Orleans, Louisiana. At the end of the game the last few spectators were Natives from the area waiting to have the opportunity to take pictures with the Schimmel Sisters.

Later on I had the opportunity to interview Shoni Schimmel.

Starting out with the interview I asked, How does it feel to be one of the first few Native American athletes at a D-1 level to head off to the Final Four?

Shoni Schimmel: “It just shows you that can go out there do it yourself. You can go out there to live your dreams because that’s exactly what I’m doing right now.”

A lot of Natives have taken to a quote online, “You can take girl off the Rez! But you can’t take the Rez out of the Girl!” how does that fall into play?

Shoni Cutting the Net.

Shoni Schimmel: “The reservation is alway going to be apart of me. I was born on the Rez, and come from the Rez. That’s all I do is play Rez Ball!”

How was your transition of playing basketball from the rez to a collegiate level?

Shoni Schimmel: “My Parents have instilled in my head that you can go see the world, and live your dreams.”

Shoni what do you think about the talent that hasn’t left the Rez?

Shoni Schimmel: “It’s sad to see that because there are so many talented Native’s out there in whatever it is. I want to see a lot of Native’s go out there, and show them because it’s our time to shine!”

For being Native, and being a female athlete how do you deal with the stereotype of a Native American?

Shoni Schimmel: “It’s different because there has never been a Division 1 Native, Besides Tahnee that’s all I really know of. We gotta go out there and prove that we can be on top. That’s what I’m trying to do right now is to be a role model.”

Shoni, and her sister Jude have proven to a lot of people, that you can go off the Reservation, and follow your dreams.

Did you hear just before the game a group of Natives from the area gathered out in front of the arena, and had a small round dance for you, your sister Jude?

Shoni Schimmel: “I heard about that later on, it’s an honor to be apart of that. Even though I’m not there, it’s still a big thing to me.”

Schimmel sisters are members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, from Pendleton, Oregon. Both Schimmel’s are excited to head to the NCAA Final Four in New Orleans, Louisiana. – “Show them how to Schimmel!”

A new group surfaced on Facebook a few months ago called “Native Americans Against Bullying.” This group, started by Andrea Spotted Horse, is setting out to make people more aware of the realities faced by children today. The group now has nearly 500 members and is growing everyday. People get together to share stories of how they or their family members and friends have been affected by bullying, and many of their stories are simply amazing.

 For Andrea, this all started in January of 2013 when her 5 year old son began coming home from school showing the telltale signs of bullying. He had bruises all over him and said that he “never wanted to go back” to school. She was astonished that something like that could be happening to her son, and realized that no child should have to deal with something like that.

 Andrea began the Native Americans Against Bullying group to spread awareness of bullying. Many people do not even know it takes place, and those that do often underestimate the effect that it has on kids and their families. According to Andrea, 33% of all Native American students are bullied at one point or another, and 33% of those students drop out entirely. Another 3% eventually commit suicide because of the bullying, or what Andrea referred to as “bullycide.”

 Her group is hosting some awareness events in April and they are encouraging everyone to get involved. Her goal is to spread this cause as far as she can, and to bring all the various members of the community together to “bridge the gap” between the ignorance and lack of knowledge about the issue and what causes it.

 The week in April is set to have many great events that everyone is welcome to participate in. The week kicks off with a potluck dinner on April 8th at the Indian Avenue Baptist Church and will feature an “open mic” session for anyone wanting to share his or her personal stories or spread inspiration. On Wednesday, April 10th, participants will gather at New York Elementary School to help decorate bags for the luminary that will take place on Friday. Members of the Lawrence Youth Hoop Dance Program will be on hand to perform for the volunteers. The week culminates with an awareness walk on Saturday, April 13th at 10am, starting and ending at Central Junior High.

 Andrea is asking for you to join in the fight to protect the next generation so that they can enjoy their education without unnecessary interference and can grow up to fulfill their destinies as the next leaders.

 Her next step for this group is to keep moving forward and spreading awareness about bullying. She plans to hold even more events this October, during National Bullying Prevention Month.

The Facebook group name is “Native Americans Against Bullying”

If you were to ask a random group of individuals what led to the demise of Indian people in the Revolutionary times, without a doubt many would point to smallpox. And in many cases, they would be correct. But Dr. Paul Kelton, Associate Professor of History at The University of Kansas, would disagree, at least in the case of the Cherokee.

Dr. Paul Kelton, Associate Professor of History at The University of Kansas.

 Dr. Kelton argues that smallpox is just the scapegoat for the real problem: the colonists. From his point of view, the Cherokee people would never have been as susceptible to smallpox had they not already been through several violent conflicts with the colonists beforehand. He says that “germs get too much credit,” and not enough is “given to colonists.” And such a simple and forward answer actually makes sense.

 The story goes, according to Dr. Kelton, that the Cherokee had faced significant battles with the settlers and were forced from their homelands because of it. People who are hungry and moving from place to place would certainly find themselves more easily affected by smallpox and other diseases. Dr. Kelton mentions that were the Cherokee people not being engaged in war by the settlers, they would have not been affected by smallpox any more than any other indigenous people around the world who have had no exposure to it.

 In any case, the Cherokee, and many other tribal people, were already aware that smallpox existed, at least to the point of knowing that there was a sickness around. They would exercise preventative measures whenever they knew a smallpox epidemic to be nearby, closing off the villages and avoiding affected areas.

 So how does smallpox keep getting the blame? Because people keep saying it. Dr. Kelton points out that time and time again people of academic authority, such as professors and authors, continue to cite and recite earlier false sources, perpetuating the cycle. According to Dr. Kelton, we need to be honest and realistic about what the true cause of the damage to Indian peoples was – the colonists and settlers, not germs. In his words, “when we simplify it, we minimize it.”

As any college student will tell you, communication is key to a successful academic career. Unfortunately, the school’s technology cannot always keep up with the demand students place on it. Many students have been expressing their concerns over recent unexpected outages in the Haskell email system and indicating the irregularity is affecting their ability to complete homework assignments.

Mr. Joshua Arce, Haskell’s Chief Information Officer, explained that the current system Haskell uses is unable to keep up today, causing the temporary service outages. The system was installed 10 years ago when there were far fewer students and less email users. Since then, the school has grown and the number of email accounts is adding up fast.

The problem is the number of emails that are constantly being processed and the type of multimedia they contain. Larger emails, such as those with PDFs, images, and files are gaining in popularity and being sent and received more and more. Students and other email account holders fail to maintain their inboxes and allow hundreds of these emails to accumulate and inadvertently put extra stress on the system.

The solution is simple: keep your mailboxes clean and efficiency will follow. It is easy to take technology for granted and to expect it to “just work” but in truth the virtual mailbox is very similar to physical mailboxes. Mr. Arce pointed out that if you ignore your physical mailbox at the post office, eventually it will fill up and no more mail will be able to be delivered. Without being able to deliver the mail, the post office would eventually back up and be unable to function. Students should delete emails regularly and can either download them or forward them to another email address if they want to keep them. Emails must also be deleted from the Trash folder in order to remove them from the system, so anyone wondering why their email will still not function after deleting emails should check to see if their Trash folder is empty.

There are other plans in the works, however. Mr. Arce explained that his department is currently reviewing various options for outsourcing the email system, such as utilizing Google’s Gmail or Microsoft’s Live program. Another option is to eliminate Haskell’s email service entirely and simply utilize student’s personal email accounts. They are currently seeking feedback from instructors on how they would like to use the educational features that these systems provide, such as sharing documents and folders and creating presentations for use during class. He said his department is happy to provide whatever service the students and instructors want to use and are comfortable with, but need input to decide which system would be more beneficial.

In the meantime, students using Haskell’s email system to complete, submit, or archive homework can set Blackboard to use a personal email account and save their instructor’s email addresses and contact information outside of the Haskell system. This way homework can still be submitted if Haskell’s email system goes down on the weekends or holidays, when offices may be closed and repairs may take longer than normal.

Several students were contacted for comments, but none responded.

Photo Courtesy of Empowerment Club