VOA标准英语2014--Native American Colleges Push to Bridge Unemployment Gap

 

Native American Colleges Push to Bridge Unemployment Gap

FORT YATES, NORTH DAKOTA—

As only the fourth sitting president to visit a Native American reservation, President Barack Obama has made improving education in tribal¹ communities one of his administration’s top priorities. It’s an issue that will also be taken up when tribal leaders gather in Washington on December 3 for an annual White House conference.

As one of the first master's degree students in environmental science at Sitting Bull College, Louis Walking Elk² eventually wants to use his degree to help those on the reservation. He is one of the first in his family to go to college.

“My dad and mom both encouraged me all throughout my life, my dad especially. He didn’t finish high school and he was always like, 'you have to do something,'” said Walking Elk.

Situated³ in the remote hills of North Dakota on Standing⁴ Rock Indian Reservation, Sitting Bull College is one of more than 30 tribal colleges in the United States.

Some 300 students, including student body president Dakota Kidder, are completing their higher education at this federally-funded school in hopes of defying statistics that show only about 10 percent of Native Americans have a college degree, roughly half the national average.

“We do have a lot of problems on the reservation. And Sitting Bull College does all that it can to make sure students are getting to class, whether it be transportation, child care,” said Kidder.

The mission of getting more Native Americans to college and making sure they leave with a degree is crucial to the school's president, Laurel Vermillion.

“A huge majority are first generation students, college students, who don’t have a lot of experience. They don’t have parents who can tell them or talk about college.  And so when they leave the reservation and go onto these big, mainstream⁵ campuses, they are lost,” said Vermillion.

Vermillion said many young Native Americans, particularly men, are looking for direction and a sense of purpose.

In part through its technical program offering classes in welding and oil drilling, the college is focused on attracting more men to campus. Right now, the male to female ratio is 30 to 70 percent.

Scott Davis, the executive director of the North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission, is also working to close the gap, helping⁶ tribal colleges get millions of dollars to start workforce⁷ development programs.

“There are plenty of jobs. We are talking right now [in] North Dakota, anywhere from 22,000 to 25,000 jobs right now, and they are not a lot of people to fill them in small, rural North Dakota. But on the flip⁸ side of that coin, you have still some of our tribes really struggling with the unemployment rate,” said Davis.

Davis called tribal colleges a shining beacon⁹ on reservations, giving hope to young Native Americans of a life of possibility, not poverty.

1 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

2 elk   

n.麋鹿

参考例句：

• I was close enough to the elk to hear its labored breathing.我离那头麋鹿非常近，能听见它吃力的呼吸声。
• The refuge contains the largest wintering population of elk in the world.这座庇护所有着世界上数量最大的冬季麋鹿群。

3 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

8 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

9 beacon   

n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔

参考例句：

• The blink of beacon could be seen for miles.灯塔的光亮在数英里之外都能看见。
• The only light over the deep black sea was the blink shone from the beacon.黑黢黢的海面上唯一的光明就只有灯塔上闪现的亮光了。