OR. COLL.
E
75
.S68
v. 9
no. 4
February
19, 004
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February 19, 2004 Vol. 29, No. 4
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Spilygy
ivroc
i
Deschutes
permit
controversy
continues
By Bill Rhoades
Spilyay Tymoo
Last week's meeting of the
Deschutes River Managers group made
it obvious there are still differences of
opinion between the Confederated
Tribes of Warm Springs and local gov
ernments regarding management strat
egies for the river.
A number of differences surfaced
last week when the managers met for
the first time since a tentative settle
ment agreement was reached last No
vember. The setdement agreement forstalled
a lawsuit filed by Mark Shuholm of
Tualitan, to force federal and state
agencjes to implement a permit system
for boaters, as agreed to in the Lower
Deschutes River Management Plan.
The Confederated Tribes joined the
lawsuit as interveners on Shuholm's
behalf.
The settlement agreement, which
was moderated by a federal judge in
Portland, calls for a permit system to
be implemented on Segment One of
the river, an area from Warm Springs
to Harpham Flat, beginning in 2005.
The agreement in principal was
reached between state and federal rep
resentatives on one side, and Shuholm
and the Confederated Tribes on the
other. It will not become official until
it is signed by the U.S. Department of
Justice.
Differences between individual
members of the Deschutes River Man
agers Group came to a head last week
during a discussion over whether or not
to close the boat launch at Wapinitia.
Bureau of Land Management rep
resentatives suggested closing the site,
because there are two other alterna
tives within the general vicinity. Offi
cials representing local governments
and their representatives did not think
the launch site should be closed because
a number of local anglers apparently
prefer it to the other options.
They argued the launch site should
remain open unless there is some justi
fication for closing it.
See DESCHUTES on page 1 1
Love of radio inspires KWSO's The Wilman
By D. "Bing" Bingham
Spilyay Tymoo
Meeting KWSO's "The Wilman"
for the first time is quite an experience.
He's a large man with a voice that
has the strength of the mountains. It's
a voice with depth and expression. A
listener can tell when there's a twinkle
in his eye or a tear in his heart. In short
his voice is a radio man's dream.
William "The Wilman" Robbins
started thinking about radio when he
was young. It was a friend, a connec
tion. It kept his loneliness at bay.
As a child The Wilman was raised
by his grandmother. She bought him a
tiny transistor radio. As children do, he
resisted his grandmother's attempts to
get him in bed by nine at night. He
would put the radio under his pillow
and stick the earplug in to listen to his
nightly shows.
"I used to listen to the Wolfman
Jack show. I remember listening to him
every single night and thinking, 'Man,
this guy is having fun and getting paid
for it! This is his job and everybody
knows him. That'd be cool to do that"'
However radio became more than
a job opportunity for The Wilman.
The radio was something I could
rely on, it was there for me, it was my
;:::.:s ?....-, wj Av- rrtfrx Sy 'V..
Dave McMechanSpllyay
Young dancer prepares for competition on Saturday at the Lincoln's
Birthday Powwow, held at the Simnasho Longhouse.
Lawmakers seek information
on Chemawa student's death
SALEM (AP) - Oregon lawmakers,
upset over the death of a student at
the Chemawa Indian boarding school,
are probing the school's safety policies
and pressing federal regulators for
more information.
Sen. Ron Wyden's office has called
the BIA and sent letters to Indian
Health Services seeking information
about the safety and use of the Salem
school's holding cells, where drunk stu
dents were once placed to sober up.
Sixteen-year-old Cindy 'Gilbert
Sohappy died in one of those cells on
Dec. 6. Autopsy results released by the
FBI last month revealed that Sohappy
died of acute alcohol poisoning. I ler
death was ruled accidental.
Rep. Darlcne Hooley, meanwhile,
wants the school to be monitored by
an agency that is closer by than the
Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washing
ton, D.C. The school does not have
adequate oversight of its policies and
procedures, said Travis Brouwer, a
spokesman for Hooley.
The Department of Interior inspec
tor general's office launched an admin
istrative investigation late last month into
Sohappy's death. The office oversees
the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which
governs the school and has been re
I I -ssir ) III
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William The Wilman" Robbins
source of entertainment, my compan- was there with me at the same rime."
ion," he says. "Even though 1 was there After high school The Wilman fin
by myself, my little radio and the voice ished radio college. I le even tried a
moved from the investigation.
Two dormitory managers, one se
curity staff member and a school ad
ministrator remain on administrative
leave as the investigation continues.
School officials have refused to iden
tify them.
Chemawa school officials and the
Bureau of Indian Affairs have repeat
edly refused to release information
about the holding cells or any changes
to policies governing how intoxicated
students are bandied.
I lowever, Geoff Stuckart, a spokes
man for Wyden, said the bureau told
the senator that the holding cells at the
boarding school no longer were being
used. Wyden's office began making in
quires to Indian Health Services and
the Bureau of Indian Affairs last month.
In a Jan. 8 letter to Doni Wilder,
director of Indian Health Services,
Wyden asked for all documents and
correspondence relating to the safety
and use of the holding cells at
Chemawa. Stuckart said that the Indian
I lealth Services has not responded.
Roselyn Tso, a spokeswoman for
The Wilman Indian Health Service of
Portland, said that Wyden's office must
file a Freedom of Information Act
request to receive the documents.
Bmg BmghatnSptlyay
New school?
Project is taking a lot
longer than first thought
By Dave McMechan
Spilyay Tymoo
For several years - at least since the
late 1980s - tribal and school district
officials have discussed the need for a
new elementary school at Warm
Springs.
A few years ago - in 2001, when
tribal members approved an $8 million
elementary school construction plan -it
seemed like a new school was close
at hand.
After passage of the 2001 referen
dum, there was talk that a new elemen
tary school would "be open by the fall
of 2003," according to a news account
at the time.
But the 2001-02 school year ended
and the project was still in negotiation
between the tribes and the school dis
trict. In the winter of 2002 the gymna
sium at Warm Springs Elementary
School burned down. This event raised
an important issue, as the district was
to receive quite a bit of fire insurance
money - over f 1 million - to replace
the gym,
Some thought the new gym should
be built where the new school originally
was planned for construction, away
from the campus area and the existing
elementary school.
However, the issue became compli
cated by budgets, both the tribal and
the school district budgets.
To build a new school away from
the existing school would cost about $13
million, according to district officials.
This price is well beyond the $8 million
approved by the membership, and be
yond the budget capacities of the school
district and the tribes.
Meanwhile, as negotiations contin
ued, the students at the elementary
school - without a gymnasium - were
using the cafeteria for physical educa
tion activities.
And the fifth-graders from Warm
Springs were still at the middle school,
while all other fifth-graders in the dis
trict were at elementary schools.
Rather than prolong this situation,
the school district board is moving for
ward with a construction plan for a new
short stint as a commercial deejay. That
taught him two things: He didn't like
commercial radio and the real world
was catching up with him. By now The
Wilman was married and had kids on
the way. He needed more money than
the radio world paid.
For years The Wilman supported his
family by driving a tow truck. After
moving to Oregon, he read a help
wanted ad for an announcer's job at
KWSO. And the rest - as they say - is
history.
Engaging the listener
The Wilman spends three hours each
weekday on the air during his afternoon
show. "They taught me in radio school
that the best radio isn't, 'I ley, what are
all of you doing out there in radio
land?'" he says. 'The best communica
tion in radio is to say something like,
'It's twenty after three o'clock, nice day
isn't it?' Ask a question and get the lis
tener to respond in their mind."
Engaging the listener is important to
The Wilman.
"You can throw out little things like,
'It's probably going to rain today, you
might want to bring an umbrella or a
raincoat.' Or, 'It's foggy out there, keep
your speed down.' It's just a way of
gymnasium. The new gym will be built
on the site of the old gym.
The plan includes improvements to
the classroom area adjacent to the gym
nasium site.
This area was made unsafe by the
fire that destroyed the gym.
The improvements to the adjacent
classroom are should allow the Warm
Springs fifth-graders to attend Warm
Springs Elementary in the fall, said Phil
Riley, district superintendent.
Jeff Sanders, 509-J board chairman,
said the district - after a significant
lapse of time since the fire that de
stroyed the gym - is responding to the
needs of the students.
"We're moving forward with build
ing the gym, and hoping the contract
ing (toward the new school) will take
care of itself in a relatively short time,"
said Sanders.
Moving forward with the new gym
nasium should accomplish the goals of
providing a place for school PE activi
ties, and also returning the Warm
Springs fifth-graders to the elementary
school at the start of the next school
year, he said.
Meanwhile, the school district and
the tribes will continue working toward
a construction agreement for a new
school.
Because of the present budget con
ditions, the existing elementary school
site is the viable option for a new school,
said Sanders. Cost of building at this
site is now in the range of $9.5 million,
he said.
The new gym will cost between $1
and $1.4 million, said superintendent
Riley.
He said the district hopes to have
an architect hired within 45 days.
Elementary school principal Dawn
Smith said she is feeling discouraged
about when a new elementary school
might be built.
Riley said he can understand why
people who support a new school might
feel discouraged, as the project is tak
ing a long time.
But, he said, "I'm still choosing to
be optimistic."
communicating with people, like you're
really there. Like you're really talking
to them."
Every afternoon when The Wilman
steps up to the microphone, he alters
his voice slightly to let the listeners un
derstand that even though they might
be alone in the world, he's there for
them and everything's okay.
For most people the afternoon show
on KWSO sounds like The Wilman just
walked into the studio, sat down at the
microphone, and started talking like he
was their best buddy. The Wilman's
ability to do that doesn't come easily
or naturally.
"If you're on the air for three hours,"
he says, "you take the other five hours
of the day and spend that time making
preparation to go on the air. You don't
want to flip the switch and not know
what to say."
Some of the stories and elements
of his program are looked up at least a
week ahead of rime. An element is that
little piece of speech he does between
songs. A lot of it is friendly banter like,
"Hello. How ya doing? It's a great af
ternoon and don't forget, there's no
school today." Or it might be some
thing longer.
See THE WILMAN ptgt 1 1