FEMA trailers head to reservations

WASHINGTON (AP) - American Indian tribes throughout the country will receive 2,000 unused trailers that were intended for but never given to Hurricane Katrina victims.

Thousands of trailers have been idling in Arkansas and Texas, prompting criticism about government waste. They originally were purchased to house people displaced by the hurricane, but FEMA officials said regulations against placing the homes in flood plains prevented their use on the Gulf Coast.

Last year, Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., urged the agency to donate the trailers to American Indian country, but the agency said federal law dictated the trailers must be used for disaster victims. In September, Johnson pushed through legislation allowing FEMA to sell or donate the trailers.

Nine months later, the trailers will finally be distributed, Johnson said in a statement issued by his office Friday.

"I saw pictures of tens of thousands of empty mobile homes sitting unused in Hope, Ark., while South Dakota's Indian tribes were struggling through a tough winter with inadequate housing," Johnson said in the statement. "There is still much that needs to be done to improve Indian housing, but this is a good step toward addressing this serious problem."

Indian housing has been a problem for decades. According to a 2003 survey, approximately 90,000 Indian families are homeless or "under-housed."

Johnson is out of the Senate recovering from a December brain hemorrhage, but he has been working from home on the issue, said spokeswoman Julianne Fisher.

UND panel makeup won't change

GRAND FORKS (AP) - The president of the state Board of Higher Education says the membership of a 16-member committee searching for a new University of North Dakota president will not be changed, despite a request that an American Indian be added.

"I have absolute confidence in the committee to choose a president without regard to race, color or gender," John Q. Paulsen said.

United Tribes Technical College President David Gipp recently sent a letter to the Board of Higher Education asking that an Indian be appointed to the committee.

He said Friday that he was "tremendously disappointed with the response" and that he has a "lack of faith in the board to work on behalf of all people in North Dakota."

The 16-member committee includes UND faculty, alumni, the student body president and members of the state board and the Grand Forks community. The group is screening applicants to replace current UND President Charles Kupchella, who is retiring next year.

Leigh Jeanotte, the director of American Indian Student Services at UND, said he was not surprised by Paulsen's decision. Jeanotte said that past presidential search committees have included an American Indian representative.

"I think, quite honestly, that Mr. Gipp's earlier comment about the state board being a bit blind is a bit obvious," Jeanotte said.

The search committee this week extended the original timeline for hiring a new president. The person will now take office in March or later instead of January, when Kupchella was planning to retire. Kupchella has said he could stay on until June 30 of next year if needed.

The committee, which next meets Aug. 14, hopes to narrow the search to about a dozen applicants by Nov. 19 and pare that list down to at least three by Jan. 28. The state board then would interview the finalists and make its decision.