In a shocking move by Haskell Indian Nations University’s acting president Venita Chenault, haskellnews commentary has been informed that Dr. Chenault has taken the student senate building Stidham away from Haskell’s student senate.
The building was given to them to operate by Haskell Indian Nations University’s President Dr.Linda Sue Warner so that students could raise some money on their own and Haskell’s student senate be a little more self suffice.
The students have run the building without incident for the past two years and were planning to add a small store that would have items for Haskell students to purchase that are not available to them elsewhere on campus such as toiletries, at a reasonable cost.
The move is seen by many as just one more vindictive act by Dr. Chenault to remove any programs initiated by Dr.Warner at any cost, even to the Haskell students themselves.
Surely the Bureau of Indian Education in Washington D.C. cannot sanction this move.
Haskell is there to benefit it’s students and if there were any problems with the student senate running the building then for the sake of the students,The Bureau of Indian Education should be ordering Dr.Chanault to work with Haskell’s student senate and help them out anyway that she can or better yet detail Dr.Chenault as far away from Haskell as they can before there is nothing left of it and return Dr.Warner ASAP.
We wonder where Mr.Larry Echohawk is during all of this. First of all he left Stephanie Birdwell-Bighorn a social worker in charge of Haskell and now he sit’s by and watches as Haskell is torn apart one program at a time by Venita Chenault.
Haskell’s reputation and programs are now being so badly damaged we fear it may never recover.
haskellnews commentary January 15, 2010
Haskellnews Commentary Blog 
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haskellnews (Anonymous) says…
haskellnews commentary fully supports Haskell’s student senate.
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patrickfreeland (Patrick Freeland) says…
HaskellNews, it seems you’re wrong again. Dr. Chenault didn’t take Stidham away from us, she simply relayed a message from the office of the Solicitor that the Memorandum of Agreement between the Associated Students and the US Government concerning the operation and custody of Stidham Union had been voided due to the reasoning that students cannot profit from nor control Federal Property. Seems simple enough, and Dr. Warner would have done the same thing. Does this mean that it’s over for us as students? Not at all. We can always draft a new MOA, or file through the office of the President if we need to use the building, the same as if we wanted to use Tecumseh or the Auditorium.
I appreciate your support nonetheless, however the best thing you can do for us is provide facts, not rants.
Peace and Love
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millie (Anonymous) says…
@ patrickfreeland Doesn’t seem like haskellnews is on a rant to me, besides have you noticed the word commentary. Who are you? Are you the president of the Haskell student senate? That is who I would like to hear from. Who contacted the office of the Solicitor? Seems odd to me that after Venita Chenault took charge all of the sudden this issue came up.Why can’t students profit from a federal property? It’s their school after all and is a new MOA being drafted? Seems like someone came in and just took the building from from underneath the students. Have you talked to Dr.Warner lately? Do you know what she would have done? The students had the building when she was in charge.
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millie (Anonymous) says…
P.S. Who is your student senate president?
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littlebird (Anonymous) says…
Something sounds fishy. Private organizations have control of federal property all the time and profit from it and there is never a problem. How and why all of a sudden is this an issue with the students now? Patrickfreeland, have you seen the actual message from the Office of the Solicitor, or are you just parroting what you were told? You yourself actually acknowledge that you could draft a new MOA so you appear to acknowledge the fact that such an arrangement can exist.
If you have access to the message from the Solicitor’s Office please post it so that we can better understand what is going on.
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patrickfreeland (Patrick Freeland) says…
By profit I mean charge rent for utilization of space. Sorry, should have been more clear.
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snowing (Anonymous) says…
This whole thing doesn’t sound right to me. Why can’t they make a profit? They are poor college students trying to make a dime.
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geekin_topekan (Anonymous) says…
So this action was taken in order to be in compliance with a federal policy or a Haskell policy?
What about concessions at home games or the burrito sales throughout the month? Would these not be considered making a profit on federal property?
What I see is a mother hen complex in action. Leadership development be damned. Ya gotta keep the kids down because they don’t know what’s best for themselves. Mother will keep you safe right here under her wing.
She won’t let you fly but she might let you sing…(from Pink Floyd’s_ The Wall)
Leadership quality and development by permission on approved activities only.
I would suggest growing a pair and re-writing that MOA with certain provisions and always question authority.
I could be way off base too. I would stand to be corrected. This is meant to be a third party perspective only. Feel free to tell me where to put it.
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geekin_topekan (Anonymous) says…
Oops-a-daisy! Should have read Patrickfreeland’s second post.
I can see where authorities may have a problem with students charging rent for other groups using the building.
I am sure that your new MOA could provide for a maintenance fee in the form of a free will donation.
The store is a great idea by the way. Perhaps it could be sanctioned as a learning tool for CBA student’s benefit.
Have a great day!
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littlebird (Anonymous) says…
The federal government allows private parties to use federal facilities all the time to produce revenue so that isn’t a problem.
The other item that strikes me as odd is that from working with both the Federal and State government, any MOA/MOU is vetted by the respective agencies legal offices. The only reason I can think of that a MOA would be voided would be if the federal or state agency changed their mind.
The MOA is a public record and so would the opinion letter canceling or voiding the agreement and I would be interested in Haskellnews getting copies of both and postinig so we might better be able to discern the truth.
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speakyoursoul10 (Anonymous) says…
I agree, a copy of an MOA should be available for the public.
And while someone is looking for a copy of the MOA here are some more issues that need to be checked out.
Is it true the Union is comprised of members from AIS faculty (the same ones who have not provided actual facts to students about issues on campus) who are like ‘a sister’ and close friends with the acting President/VP?
Is it true these same people are also leading faculty senate? Doesn’t this sound like unethical activity that might need more investigation?
Is it true the acting President’s/VP ‘AIS sister’ is in charge of curriculum committee? Are all these things coincidence? Strategy?
Can haskellnews obtain public information and share with the general public who Haskell unions reps, faculty senate and curriculum committee are? Let’s start putting these pieces together so we can get to the bottom of this chaos. Open your eyes BIA, BIE and Haskell community!
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Caesarea (Anonymous) says…
miss chenault is getting more press than the Haitian refugees…in a surprising move, AIS and and her sister Julia Goodfox are not going to help indigenous people in a disaster. They are more willing to spend time and energy working with governments that want to overthrow the US government than native people in this country or hemisphere who have real issues of survival.
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justme2 (Anonymous) says…
I find it increasingly hilarious that the dimwits who write this blog have to also comment in the discussion area to keep the “drama” going. Not very credible, but very funny.
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screen_name (Anonymous) says…
I hope they do keep this blog going, and add to it as more information surfaces. The current acting administration is behaving as if they answer to no one, and can do whatever they please. And whats worse, they don’t care how bad they look to the world, as long as they get their own agendas taken care of.