Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • Page 3

ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL Monday, March 6, 1995 A3 Dollar Facing 'Free Hits Record Low in Tokyo THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Juvenile bald eagles cruise over a sand bar on the Wisconsin River in Prairie du Sac, Wis. Along with nine bald eagles having died mysteriously this. year in the state, 27 have died in Arkansas. day and also far below its level of 94.04 yen in late New York trading Friday. The dollar was trading at 1.4030, German marks, below L4245 marks' late Friday in New York and 1.4425 marks in Tokyo late Friday.

Fears over the falling dollar dampened trading today on Pacific markets overshadowing! an announcement in London that a Dutch group had struck a deal to take over the failed Barings Brothers Co. bank. Traders said Japan's central bank was intervening, buying lrge amounts of the American currency in a largely ineffective attempt to stem the dollar's fall. TOKYO The flagging American dollar continued its free fall against the Japanese yen and the German mark this morning's trading in Tokyo, despite intervention by the Bank of Japan. "The dollar is facing a free-fall," said Cho Narushisa, a dealer with Citibank in Tokyo.

At one point in early trading in Tokyo, the dollar slid to 92.90 yen, its lowest level against the yen anywhere in the world since the modern exchange rate system was established in the late 1940s. The dollar traded at 93.25 yen at noon, down 2.03 yen from late Fri- A THE ASSOCIATED PRESS U.S. Judge Burciaga Dies Suddenly at 65 CONTINUED FROM PAGE A1 Eagle Deaths A Mystery Burciaga was a stickler for courtroom decorum and didn't hesitate to tell attorneys if he tnought they were ill-prepared or moving too slowly. By James A. Carlson THE ASSOCIATED PRESS er chemicals ingested through their prey weakened the birds' shells, hampering reproduction.

In another 15 eagle deaths in northwestern Wisconsin last April, investigators blame poison possibly laid by fishermen or hunters irked at the birds' fish- and game-eating habits. The national symbol, instantly recognizable by its cap of snowy white feathers and up to 7-foot wingspan, was declared an endangered species in 1967. It retains that status in most of the country, but in Washington, Oregon, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan the population has increased enough to boost its status to protected. In Arkansas, the eagle deaths involved some toxin that damaged the b'irds' brains, while the Wisconsin deaths this year involved one that harmed the birds' livers, Roffe said. The mass deaths involve otherwise healthy birds, Roffe said, unlike the 20 to 25 documented Wisconsin eagle deaths each year that are due to lead poisoning or other easily explained causes.

Tests ruled out lead poisoning, pesticides and biological causes, and the center is trying to figure out what's going on. One thing ruled out early was the toxic farm pesticide carbofuran the chemical that killed the 15 eagles last April, said Lynn Creekmore, a disease research specialist with the wildlife health center. One eagle was found dead in its nest. Its mate and the others were found on the ground below. A skinned muskrat carcass laced with poison had been set out for bait.

"We believe the two nesting eagles were the targeted eagles, and the remainder was overkill," said Lucinda Schroeder of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Madison. A $25,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the bait-setter. Killing an eagle carries up to a one-year prison term and a $100,000 fine. MILWAUKEE The death of more than 50 bald eagles in two states has scientists looking for answers before more harm comes to the majestic birds brought back from near-extinction over the past 20 years." "Something is killing them quickly," said Thomas Roffe, a veterinary medical officer in charge of field investigations at the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison.

Nine birds died this year in southern Wisconsin and 27 more have died in southwestern Arkansas since November. No one knows why. "Why only bald eagles? It worries us that we might be seeing something here that's only the tip of the iceberg," Roffe said. Environmentalists express the same concern, recalling the drop in raptor populations before DDT was banned in 1972. The pesticide and oth abuse, a controversial selection of a site for a new federal courthouse in Albuquerque and a civil rights case in which Hispanic meatcuttersisuc-cessfully challenged Kirtland; Air Force Base.

"He was a great jurist and a good friend," Sen. Jeff Bingaman, said Sunday. "His death; will be a loss to all New Mexicans." Sen. Pete Domenici, also said he was a close friend of Burciaga. "I've known Judge Burciaga for a lot longer than he has been a judge," Domenici said.

"I have been pleased to have been his friend for all these and believe that he has been a real credit to the federal bench and the United States government. I'm sorry that death took him at such an early age, but his family and friends can be very proud of his accomplishment." He married the former Carolyn Sylvia Jacoby of Pittsburgh, who died in 1973, leaving him a widower with five children. He is survived by his wife, Dolores Burciaga of Santa Fe; his children from his first marriage, daughters Lisa Segura and her husband Steve; Lora Trujillo and; her husband Dr. Angelo Trujillo of Flagstaff, Amy Nieto and her husband Ron of Las Cruces; Pam Kirchner; and a son, Charles "Chip" Anthony of Dallas, Texas. There are 10 grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements are flend-, ing through French Mortuary, a family spokeswoman said. He was an avid reader who enjoyed a good mystery as well as history and sociology, and a cook who prided himself on his green chile. Burciaga handled some of the most lengthy and complex cases before the court, including the Duran consent decree governing conditions in New Mexico's prisons, a class-action lawsuit attacking the quality of care for children in foster care and dozens of lawsuits related to deaths and injuries of workers from asbestos poisoning. Burciaga could be conservative in criminal matters, but in 1991 he attacked the excesses of the war on drugs in an opinion that upheld the religious freedom rights of an Anglo member of the Native American Church who had been arrested for possession of peyote. "To us in the Southwest, this freedom of religion has singular significance because it affects diverse cultures," he wrote in the opinion.

"It is as much of us as the rain on our hair, the wind on the grass and the sun on our faces. It is so naturally a part of us that when the joy of this beautiful freedom sings in our souls, we find it hard to conceive that it could ever be imperilled." In another widely publicized opinion, he took on Attorney General Richard Thornburgh on the question of whether federal prosecutors could be disciplined by the states in which they're licensed, or had to answer only to the Justice Department. Most recently, Burciaga has been involved in cases involving Roman Catholic priests and alleged sex Internet Users Get Virtual Shuttle Tour CONTINUED FROM PAGE A1 There have been complaints. One woman in Florida griped about the deaths of a great horned owl and three hatchlings at the launch pad when Endeavour lifted off. Another questioned whether the money might be better spent on food for the poor.

Bray prefers to dwell on the positive majority. She's already preparing for the next on-line shuttle flight in September. "It almost brings tears to my eyes experiencing the excitement," she said. "It's wonderful to know they're out there and they support us." sations are private. In addition, the astronomers involved in the 15V2-day mission are reluctant to send out their ultraviolet measurements of stars, galaxies and quasars.

"It's an open book other than that," Bray said. Questions from computer users, many of them youngsters, range from astronaut pay and stellar discoveries to provisions for a shuttle search and rescue operation "if the need, heaven forbid, arises." Each inquiry is directed to a ground controller or scientist who responds by computer. Bray periodically sends up a question for the astronauts to answer. Among the information available on the World Wide Web: Endeavour's exact location over Earth, stellar observations by the Astro telescopes and sky charts, crew and ground control team photographs, snapshots of the cockpit, taped conversations from four of the astronauts, even NASA-TV broadcasts of the mission that appear in a one-inch square. About the only thing missing is a live view out the shuttle windows.

"The technology is there," Bray said. "We'd like to do that, but it's always the dollar sign." As always, the astronauts' medical conferences and family conver realm of my wildest dreams," Bray said Sunday. An engineer in Bray's software branch tapped into the Iniernet at work last summer, about the time NASA's public affairs office went on-line with news releases. The next thing Bray knew, she was organizing NASA's first on-line shuttle mission. NASA scientist Robert Stachnik calls it "a virtual reality tour of the shuttle." "It's an opportunity to share our excitement in this exploration," he said.

Journal staff writers Steve Shoup and Andrea Schoellkopf and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Navajos Say County's Busing Hurts Reservation Schools CONTINUED FROM PAGE A1 I i Gallup PINE HILL SCHOOLS "We don't mind competition. We think competition is great," says Cohoe, who acknowledges the earlier agreement to allow public school buses to make two; stops on the reservation. But Cohoe says parents could meet buses on the public highway, if they want thejr children to attend school in town. RAMAH NAVAJO I jo" RESERVATION -i I Wi 1 1 JAIbuquerquel XV Mi--" iO miles areaf CAROL COOPERRIDER JOURNAL ROSE PALMISANOJOURNAL Bennie Cohoe, executive director of the Ramah Navajo School Board, says the county schools are illegally sending their buses onto the reservation and depriving reservation schools of students.

amounts to nearly $250,000 in federal funds annually, according to the lawsuit. If the Navajo students all returned to Pine Hill schools, the public schools could lose $200,000 under their funding formula. The superintendent of the Gallup-McKinley County school district says that charges of student-stealing are overblown and denies that his district is trying to make money by sending its buses onto reservation land. "We don't propose that a student should attend either school," Superintendent Ramon Vigil says. "We simply feel that students should be given the option of attending a public school if they wish." Busing has been an issue between the Gallup schools and the Ramah Navajo government since 1983, when the public school in Ramah reopened after being closed for 15 years.

The reservation is in Cibola County. But because the nearest public schools in the county are in Grants 50 miles away the Cibola and McKinley County school districts, with the approval of the state Department of Education, arranged for students to go to school in Ramah, just outside the reservation. Buses have run several miles into the reservation for the past 10 years. And last summer, the school districts and the Ramah chapter negotiated a formal agreement that allowed public school buses to make two stops on the reservation one about four miles south of the NM 53 at the chapter house and a second another four miles farther south. As required under state policy, state Superintendent Alan Morgan approved the agreement.

After complaints from parents that those stops were crowded and dangerous, Morgan approved changes in the routes. The buses began running the length of the Ramah Navajo reservation Dec. 19, with new stops at a tribally run housing complex and across the road from the Pine Hill schools. It is those new stops that have riled the Ramah Navajo school board. It was one thing, they say, to give buses the opportunity to pick up students at two sites, another to run buses all over reservation.

Two weeks later, the Ramah Navajo Education Key to Future Although a Pine Hill schools bus would come to her door, Charlene Rafelito drves 10 miles from her home deep in the reservation to the parking lot of the Pine Hill Market twice a day so her 5-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter can take the bus into Ramah Elementary School. She transferred her children from the Pine Hill school earlier this year after her daughter, Tanya, complained about her teacher and was going to be held back. Rafelito says her daughter is doing at Ramah Elementary, and she does not mind the drive or the longer bus "She says her teacher is nicer," says Rafelito. "She likes Ramah better." Pine Hill schools stress discipline arid attendance, according to Superintendent William Reese. The lawsuit alleges that some students choose to attend public schools because they are less demanding than the Pine Hill schools, an allegation that Vigil denies.

Although school buses driving another 10 to 20 miles to pick up a few students may not seem like an issue to battle over, the Ramah Navajos feel it is key to their future. Bennie Cohoe's father, Chavez Coho, was one of the founding members of the Ramah Navajo school board. Cohoe (the was added to his name by someone filling out military paperwork) grew up listening to his parents stress the link between education and independence. "What we have been asking all along is for this community to be self-sufficient," school board and tribal government sued the Gallup school district and the New Mexico Department of Education in federal court, then withdrew that lawsuit after the jurisdiction was challenged and sued in state court in Santa Fe. The lawsuit claims the Gallup school board is intruding on the sovereignty of the Ramah Navajo reservation, impairing operations at Pine Hill schools and encouraging students to switch back and forth between the reservation and non-reservation schools "depending on the ups and downs of their individual experiences causing administrative and funding problems at both schools." The lawsuit asks that the Gallup-McKin-ley school district be prohibited from bringing its buses onto reservation land although Ramah Navajo students who wanted to attend public school could meet the bus on NM 53, which runs through the north end of the reservation.

Strife To Keep Kids Near To understand the tension that has propelled the issue into court, it is important to look at the history of the Ramah Navajo people and education. Like most Indian communities, the Ramah reservation one of three satellite chunks of Navajo reservation lands has struggled with the formal education of its children since the Bureau of Indian Affairs began opening day schools in reservation communities in the 1930s. In 1943, the BIA opened its first school on the Ramah reservation for 30 children in kindergarten through third grade. Children who could not attend the day school spent 10 months out of each year at boarding schools in Albuquerque or Santa Fe or farther from home in Arizona and Oklahoma, It wasn't until the 1950s that a dormitory was built at the public school in the village of Ramah, some 20 miles from the center of the reservation, and the bulk of Ramah students could stay closer to home. When that school building was condemned and closed in 1968, Ramah Navajo students had the choice of being bused once again, this time to Zuni or Fort Wingate.

The Ramah chapter, the local government of the tribe, went to the Navajo Nation tribal council for help, asked for relief from the BIA and unsuccessfully sued the state to reopen the public school. Finally, in 1970, parents got together and formed a school board the nation's first independent Indian board of education and made plans to open their own school. "The parents wanted their kids back with them," says Cohoe. "It was kind of a do-or-die situation." With money from private foundations and the BJA, community members camped out at the old school in Ramah all summer and rebuilt it, opening it as their own that fall. Five years later, they built a new high school on a tree-studded rise in the middle of the reservation, the site today of a complex of schools and school board offices.

Their achievement made history and led to the passage of the Indian Self -Determination and Education Assistance Act in 1974, which gives tribes the right to administer the federal government's Indian programs on reservations. The Ramah Navajo school district has never stood in the way of transfers to public school. i says Cohoe. "As long as our school is 1 around, that goal won't be abandoned.".