10 APRIL . 2004
Smoke Signals
Tribe Now Brings In A Profit From Cell Phone Tower
Nextel Communications is on board, others could follow.
By Peta Tinda
The 195-foot tall steel latticework Grand Ronde
cell tower, which provides cellular phone service
to the Tribe, Spirit Mountain Casino and Polk
county fire and rescue, has a new customer and
has begun to generate revenue for the Tribe.
Late last year, worldwide wireless giant Nextel
Communications placed a host of equipment on
the tower.
Nextel pays the Tribe $1,000 a month to put
their equipment on the tower.
In 2005, the rate will go up to $1,500, with a
small increase each year following.
An added benefit of this is that Nextel custom-
sm atom misipniv m dte mum
ers will have much better cell phone coverage in
the Grand Ronde Valley.
"Nextel phones stopped working somewhere
between Fort Hill and Grand Ronde. Now Nextel
phones will get much better reception," said
Tribal Telecommunications Specialist Jodie
Kraemer, who has worked on the cell tower since
it was set up just north of Spirit Mountain Ca
sino three years ago.
"We've definitely been finding more and more
uses for it," said Kraemer. The Grand Ronde cell
tower has already proven its versatility by trans
mitting classes from Chemeketa Community Col
lege to the classrooms of the Tribal Education
Department.
When somebody makes a cellular phone call,
a signal is sent from the phone's antenna to the
cell tower. The tower responds to this signal by
assigning it an available radio fre
quency channel.
Transmission and reception of these
signals transfer the voice information
to the tower. Next, the calls are sent
to a switching center, which transfers
the call to its destination.
The communications equipment is
installed on a four-foot high by 13
foot wide platform at the top of the
tower, called a "top hat."
The tower is a self-supporting struc
ture, with no cables or guy lines. It is
designed to
resist ice and
high winds,
with concrete
pilings sunk
30 feet into the ground.
In the event of a disaster, the tower
has its own 100-kilowatt propane gen
erator that can operate for two weeks
without power.
"If anything happens where we
have no power, then the Tribe and
Polk County will still be able to com
municate," said Kraemer.
In addition, there are still four spots
available on the tower for other cell
companies to use, something the
Tribal Communications Department
has been actively pursuing.
"MetroCall, a paging company, is
also interested," said Kraemer.
"We're hoping to get them up there
within 60 to 90 days."
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Golden Bears' Marching Band Features Grand Ronde Tribal Member
Angelina Ahedo attends the University of California in Berkeley.
By Peta Tinda
Tribal member Angelina
Ahedo is a junior at the Univer
sity of California in Berkeley.
She is the daughter of Gina and
Peter Ahedo and granddaugh
ter of Lorene Smith.
Ahedo has played the clarinet
for 10 years and is a part of
Cal's marching band.
She is an Ethnics and Mass Com
munication double major and is
heavily involved in school activities.
Last year she was the Band
Director's Assistant and spent many
hours writing
music and
teaching other
students how to
play during
halflime shows
for football
games.
She called this experience one of
the most rewarding in her life.
She has attended many confer
ences, such as the Young Women's
Health Conference, The Empower
ing Women of Color Conference
and the Native American Recruit
ing Conference.
In her spare time, Ahedo enjoys
playing clarinet, reading, salsa
dancing and spending time with
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her family and friends.
She also volunteers at the Native
American recruitment and reten
tion center on the Berkeley campus.
She was involved with the Native
Student newspaper, before going to
study abroad in Spain for the
spring 2004 semester.
In the future, Ahedo wants to join
the Peace Corps, or at
tend graduate school
on the East Coast.
When asked about
what values will guide
her, she said:
"The importance of family. I want
my family to always be involved in
my life."
Faith Leads Tribal Member To Pursue Her Education Goals
Cyndi Bates attends the University of Phoenix in Tigard.
By Peta Tinda
Cyndi Bates is a Tribal member at
tending the University of Phoenix in
Tigard, Oregon. She is the daughter
of William and Delores Parmenter,
and the granddaughter of Ray and
Thayus Parmenter on her father's
side and Domingo and Pauline
Lomboy on her mother's side.
Her educational goals include
earning her bachelor of science in
business management, followed by
her master's degree in health or
business administration.
After accomplishing these goals,
Bates wants to attend a one-year
women's ministry course.
She has received help with her
education from the Tribal Educa
tion Department.
She received higher education
program fund assistance to help
with her tuition, supplies and mis
cellaneous expenses.
Bates said she would like to thank
April Campbell "and all of the em
ployees from the Tribal Education
Department who have assisted me
in pursuing my goals," said Bates.
Bates is a deeply religious person,
saying "My values are directly
drawn from my Christian faith in
Jesus Christ, our Lord and savior."
She says that she is enjoying
school and she believes that it is
God's will for her life.
In her time off from her full-time
class schedule, Bates likes to go hik
ing, watch drag races and enjoys
attending church activities.
When she is finished with school,
Bates wants to work at a Christian
nursing home or Christian assisted
living facility as an administrator.
She believes that God has a spe
cific plan for her life.
"For I know the plans I have for
you," declares the Lord," said Bates,
quoting directly from Jeremiah
29:11, "...plans to prosper you and
not harm you, plans to give you
hope and a future.
"I would like to encourage every
one to ask Jesus the plans he has
for you, then to pursue them.
. ... ' '
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Tribal Member Cyndi Bates