Oglala Lakota College Is Changing Lives, Upholding Traditions Story-Date: 12:20 p.m. PST Sunday , October 5, 1997 ------------------------------------------------------------ Oglala Lakota College Is Changing Lives, Upholding Traditions By K. Marie Porterfield, Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D. Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News KYLE, S.D.--Oct. 6--Two and a half years ago, the Oyate Consortium headed by Oglala Lakota College received a five-year grant for 12.35 million dollars to develop bachelor's degree programs in science, math and medicine. Today the program does more than inspire students to pursue an education that may someday lead them to high-paying jobs. The National Science Foundation funding has given at least three of Pine Ridge's OLC students desire to apply what they are learning toward solving environmental problems on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. "When I see our people abusing the land, it really bothers me," said Edwina Fillspipe, an OLC sophomore. "The land used to mean so much to our people. Now you see people dumping garbage anywhere." When she graduates with her B.S. in environmental science, she wants to teach science at the elementary school level. "I want to give back what's been given to me in some way," she said. Her interest in science is recent. As a senior, a counselor asked if she would be interested in the field based on her test scores. "I laughed and told them, 'No,"' she said. A chance to attend a summer science program funded by the NSF grant changed her attitude. "I went because I had no plans for the summer," she said. What started out as a way to kill time quickly turned into something else. "We studied trees and did tracking and trapping," she said. "It was something I never did. It was interesting. I enjoyed myself." Carly Shangreau, a senior at Pine Ridge High School, is taking a Biology and a Speech Class from OLC. The courses count as credit toward her high school diploma and an eventual college degree. She said that she has always been interested in science and wants to major in medicine. Involved in the gifted and talented program at Pine Ridge High School, Ms. Shangreau said she is grateful for the opportunities the NSF grant have provided her. Jennifer Yellow Boy-Franks, at 27, is in her final year of study for a B.S. in Interdisciplinary and Environmental Science. After time in the military and attending school in El Paso, Texas, she wanted to return to Pine Ridge to live. Because of OLC's new four-year degree plan, she is able to pursue her dream of becoming a scientist without leaving home. "The quality of instructors and the education stacks up with other courses I've taken off the reservation," she said. "In some ways they are better. The upper level classes are smaller and we get more of a chance to have hands-on experiences." In one of her classes, for example, students are constructing a nature trail through the Badlands. She plans to go to graduate school and after that to work on Pine Ridge. "Environment affects health," she said. "It's good to get my degree here because OLC deals with issues on the reservation." Those issues include the Badlands bombing restoration project, the contamination at the Oglala dam, the potential contamination of the Oglala Aquifer and what to do with solid waste. According to Stacy Phelps, director of the Models Institutions for Excellence program at the college that coordinates projects funded by NSF, local issues are a big focus for students. "They're being trained by people who grew up here," he said. OLC is the contractor for the NSF grant. The other colleges that make up the Oyate Consortium are subcontractors. They are: Sitting Bull College, Sisseton/Wahpeton Community College, Cheyenne River Community College and Sinte Gleska. "Caring about the environment is making me more aware of my own cultural values from a long time ago," said Ms. Fillspipe, who is a teachers' aid at Loneman School. "We need to get back our respect for the land." ----- Visit Indian Country Today on the World Wide Web at http://www.indiancountry.com/ ----- (c) 1997, Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. ------------------------------------------------------------