ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A special curriculum aimed at tackling the growing prevalence of diabetes among American Indian children has been developed by health officials, tribal leaders and educators from across the country.
Teachers who work with Indian students in New Mexico and neighboring states will have a chance this fall to incorporate the curriculum into their lessons.
Officials with the national Diabetes Education in Tribal Schools project say the disease is an epidemic in Indian country, and prevention needs to start with children in the classroom.
A handful of educators were being trained Monday in Albuquerque to introduce the program to schools throughout New Mexico, Arizona and parts of Colorado and Utah.
California: Jupiter struck
Astronomers say Jupiter has apparently been struck by an object, possibly a comet. Images taken by NASA in Pasadena early Monday show a scar in the atmosphere near the south pole of the gas giant. The images, taken by the space agency’s infrared telescope in Hawaii, come on the 15th anniversary of another comet strike. In 1994, Jupiter was bombarded by pieces of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.
D.C.: CIA committed fraud, judge rules; sanctions possible
A federal judge has ruled that CIA officials committed fraud in affidavits and court filings to protect a former covert agent against an eavesdropping lawsuit and is considering sanctioning as many as six who have worked at the agency, including former CIA Director George Tenet. The eavesdropping lawsuit was brought by a former agent with the Drug Enforcement Agency, Richard Horn, who said his home in Rangoon, Burma, was illegally wiretapped by the CIA in 1993. He said Arthur Brown, the former CIA station chief in Burma, and Franklin Huddle Jr., the chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Burma, were trying to get him relocated because they disagreed with his work with Burmese officials on the country’s drug trade. The CIA would have to get a warrant to eavesdrop on an American overseas.
Illinois: Deputy accused of zapping kids with stun gun
A sheriff’s deputy zapped three children with a stun gun at an emergency youth shelter near Marion, threatening to sodomize one of them before choking a fourth child and throwing her in a closet, according to a federal civil-rights lawsuit. The suit claims that Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy David Bowers and sheriff’s deputy Lonnie Lawler went to the center last July in response to a report that three teenagers were acting unruly. But the young people suing the deputies were not those disruptive children, the lawsuit said. No charges have been filed in the case.
Utah: Board approves drilling near prehistoric ruins
A federal appeals board has cleared the way for oil and gas drilling around prehistoric ruins in southern Utah. The Interior Board of Land Appeals ruled that the Bureau of Land Management imposed appropriate safeguards on drilling in the Monticello area near crumbling cliff houses, eroded pit houses and cave sites with prehistoric storage boxes made of stone slabs.
South Africa: AIDS funds cut
South Africa launched a high-profile trial of an AIDS vaccine created by its own researchers Monday, but the scientist leading the research said state funding had been halted. Anna-Lise Williamson, an AIDS researcher at the University of Cape Town, said the clinical trial would continue with U.S. money. But she said South Africa’s Department of Science and Technology had pulled its funding in March, while the project’s other sponsor, the state electricity utility Eskom, did not renew its contract when it expired last year.
Peru: Ex-president sentenced
Former President Alberto Fujimori was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison for embezzlement on Monday after he admitted illegally paying his spy chief $15 million in government funds.
From Herald news services
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