8A = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2002
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Native Status
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
paved the way for citizenship and financial assistance in many tribes, is more feasible than attempting to gage cultural bonds.
Still, Sturm said, "it would be ideal if everyone also maintained tribal affiliation."
Sturm pointed out that many Indian nations required some level of involvement and even blood quantum to qualify for certain positions within the tribe.
In Blood Politics, Sturm addresses the dilemma tribes face in instituting a cut-off, or minimum blood quantum, for citizenship.
Olivia Standing Bear, who is one-quarter Osage and co-president of KU First Nations Student Association, said a minimum
"I think it's kind of unfair that some people are claiming this native blood and then just take the money and don't acknowledge their tribe. You should have more respect than that," said Standing Bear, Pawhuska, Okla., junior and student assistant at the Office of Multicultural Research. "I don't think there should be a cut-off," she said.
blood quantum might exclude students dedicated to Native-American culture despite being several generations removed from a full-blood native.
But Davis said too many people took advantage of the benefits Native Americans could receive at universities.
"We're a product of our society." Davis said. "I don't see how they can be raised one way and then find out they have Indian in them and think somebody owes them something."
Standing Bear, who receives aid from tribal funds allocated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, said she had been immersed in native culture as a child.
"I grew up with my great grandparents," she said. "They influenced me a lot. They grew up in sod houses. They taught me the ways."
Winds of Change magazine's latest "College Guide for American Indians" profiles the University of Kansas and features a photo of the KU Natural History Museum on its cover. The guide provides data on 200 schools selected for their Native American communities and retention.
KU provides assistance to Native Americans with several programs through University offices and organizations, including the Freshman-Sophomore Advising Center, First Nations Student Association.
the Kansas University Endowment Association and the School of Social Welfare and Education, said Lisa Pinamonti, interim director of the Office of Admissions and Scholarships. The Office of Research and Institutional Planning reported 204 enrolled Native American students.
In light of the Supreme Court's recent decision to revisit the subject of affirmative action in higher education, Sturm said any decision would affect Native Americans' lineage-based financial aid less than general affirmative action programs.
"The distinguishing characteristic between Native Americans and other minorities is the tribe's sovereign right to determine its own citizenship," Sturm said.
Edited by Amanda Sears and Erin Ohm
Minority health care disparate in Kansas
The Associated Press
WICHITA — Infant mortality among African Americans in Kansas is double the statewide average, and African-American men have the highest rates of prostate cancer, lung cancer and colorectal cancer, according to a study on minorities and health care released yesterday.
The study, entitled Minority Health Disparities in Kansas, prepared by the Kansas Health Institute and the state Department of Health and Environment, also found that although African Americans comprise less than 8 percent of the state's population, they constitute almost 18 percent of the diagnosed AIDS cases.
access to medical providers had created a health care gulf between minorities and whites in Kansas.
The study was released at a summit on minority health issues. It was funded by the Kansas Health Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
More broadly, the study's authors said language barriers, poverty, lack of insurance and
The study looked at minority communities in Wichita, Garden City and Kansas City, Kansas.
The former surgeon general also criticized the nation's health care system, saying there are major gaps in health care for
"It is a very important summit that you here in Kansas may be getting a jump on in regards to what is going on in the other states," former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders told the group. "You are no different from the rest of this country," Elders said.
minorities.
In Kansas, the leading causes of death are related to cardiovascular health.
The study documented that 30 percent of African Americans and 35 percent of Native Americans reported they have high blood pressure.
These minority groups also die from coronary heart disease at a higher rate than the rest of the population.
By contrast, Hispanics have a much lower incidence of coronary heart disease. But that is affected by the state's relatively young Hispanic population their median age is 23 years, compared to 35 years for the state as a whole, the study found.
Some of the causes of the disparities were linked to socioeconomic factors such as the cost of health care, unemployment and
poverty.
Almost 100,000 Kansans cannot communicate well enough in English to share their medical histories, symptoms and health concerns with their doctors,the study said.
Different minority groups participate at varying levels in public health insurance programs such as Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. African Americans were the most likely to enroll, Hispanics the least.
Penney Schwab, executive director of United Methodist Mexican-American Ministries in Garden City, said the needs of new immigrants — many from rural areas of Mexico, Central America and Asia — are sometimes quite different from those of more established minority communities.
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