"Just as good science requires more than a litmus test, good policy at the University should be accountable to review by many factors. In the wake of the Board of Regents� approval of closing General College, we would be wise to take a look at another controversial policy that has failed to pass such tests.

In October of 2002, when the Board of Regents voted to join in the Mount Graham telescope project, against the objections of Western Apache people to whom the mountain is sacred, it imposed a set of �conditions� to salve its guilt. It suggested that Minnesota would help the Apache people and that their 'conditions' could somehow mitigate the long-endured harm caused by the telescopes, a situation identified by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights as one of the most egregious examples of religious intolerance by government in the United States. The regents� divided and contentious decision now begs a transparent and inclusive review, having completely failed its conditional criteria.

The Apaches have never sold out their religious beliefs, and the tribal councils of the Western Apache tribes still stand united today in defense of their religious freedom and protection of their southern sacred mountain, Dzil Nchaa Si�an, or Mount Graham. This solidarity has been expressed again last week and explicitly to the University of Minnesota Board of Regents."

Get the Story:
Dwight Metzger: Regents face tests on Mount Graham (The Minnesota Daily 6/15)

Relevant Links:
Mount Graham Coalition - http://www.mountgraham.org
Mt. Graham International Observatory - http://mgpc3.as.arizona.edu

Related Stories:
Issue: Students debate Mt. Graham telescope site (10/21)
Apache tribe continues to fight telescope site (10/21)
Telescope site opposed by tribes to be dedicated (10/13)
Fire in Arizona threatens sacred Mount Graham (07/07)
Opinion: Tribe's culture can't be traded for cash (05/07)
Letter: University tried to bribe tribe on sacred site (5/4)
University still wants to fund reservation programs (04/29)
San Carlos Apache Tribe rejects offer on telescope (04/21)