El Independiente

              Police,
by RHONDA
BODFIELD-MANDEVILLE
Ask residents walking the streets
of South Thcson to identify major
problems facing the city, and a typical
response is that gang activity is on the
rise, threatening the welfare ofthe corn-munity.
But ask city officials and business
owners and they insist the gang prob-
1cm is still in its fledgling stages. Ac-cording
to them, South Tucson is much
better off than its metropolitan coun-terpart,
and the images of crime-laden
streets and incessant drive-by
shootings are either the remnants of an
unjustified prejudice toward the city or
perpetrated by the media.
'We've been pretty fortunate. I
wouldn't say we have any major prob-lems
with gangs in the area." said Sgt.
Dan Knieter, who works in the South
Tucson's Public Safety Departments
Crime Prevention and School Resource
unit, and serves as a liaison for the
city's two elementary schools.
We do have our crime, but it's no
different than any other city. It's jusi
that we have an old image that's diffi-cult
to get rid of," he said.
Because of the small size of the
force, the department does not have
the luxury of keeping separate statis-tics
on gang-related offenses as does
the Tucson Police Department, said
South Tucson's Lt. Richard Vidaurri.
He guessed that perhaps 25 percent of
the crimes committed in South Tucson
can be traced to gang involvement.
Statistics show that the department
investigated 330 cases lastAugust, but
the crimes could range from something
as simple as the theft of a garden hose
to felony offenses.
And while Sgt. Sixto Molina of the
Tucson Police Department's gang unit
estimated there are anywhere from 50
to 70 gangs operating at any given time
within metropolitan Tucson, he said
South Tucson has only one resident
gang.
by LISA SCHUMACHER-GONGORA
Ivan is a second-grader who has
problems reading and writing English.
He is eager to learn, but is not getting
enough English instruction during the
regular school day.
Ivan also attends Mis Hijitos Pre-school
& Daycare. where children can
receive special tutoring in English after
school.
Tutoringis directed by Nancy Bany,
who has use of a room at Mis Hijitos
four days a week for two hours a day.
The center, at 3713 5. SeventhAve., is
owned and operated by Mary Munroe.
Barry uses the Lauhach method of
tutoring the children. First tli.ey learn
the letters, capital and lower case. Next
they learn what the letters sound like
Literacy Volunteers offer English
tutoring to children after school
e en lent
citizens disagree on gang activity
Policia, ciudadanos discrepan sobre actividad de pandillas vea página 8
Others may cruise through the area
and down Sixth Avenue, but the Barrio
Libre gang has enjoyed sole claim to the
community for decades.
'It's a traditional barrio gang that
usually tends to fight for turf against
rival groups, and while they are some-what
involved with drugs, they aren't
as heavily into narcotics as other gangs
who fight over the right to sell narcotics
on the street, ' Molina said.
Asked about the discrepancy be-tween
resident's qualms and official
in different words. Later the children
practice reading skills.
Ivan, who has attended Hollinger
Elementary School since kindergarten,
takes home tutoring exercises with
words such as "bird" and "dog" to read.
Bariy, who has been working with
the Tucson Adult Literacy Volunteers
for the past year and a half, said, 'This
is the bestvolunteerwork I could choose
to do. It's fun and it's needed. You may
save some kid from dropping out of
school in the eighth or ninth grade."
Barry said she works full time dur-
¡ng the week and does not have the lime
to assist all of the children who want
and need helpwithbasic English skills.
Recently, Barry enlisted eight
women from the University of Arizona
See TUTORING page 12
assurances, Vidaurri said residents are
naturally going to see more ofthe crirni-nal
activity because gangs tend to dis-solve
into the shadows when they see a
marked police car patrolling the area.
"I don't think they are overreacting
to the problem at all, because they see
a lot more than we do," he said. "But
another problem is that we don't have
a lot of community cooperation. The
Hispanic community tends to avoid
becoming involved unless the crimes
hit close to home."
traducido por ELIZABETH BARKER
por LISA SCHUMACHER-GONGORA
Ivan está en segundo año de
primaria y tiene dificultades en leer
y escribir el inglés. Está
entusiasmado por aprender, pero no
recibe bastante instrucción en inglés
en el día escolar regular.
Ivan tambien va a Mis Hijitos
Preschool & Daycare donde niños
pueden recibir clases privadas
especiales en inglés despues de la
escuela.
Las clases privadas son dirigidas
por Nancy Barry, quien tiene el uso
de un salón en Mis Hijitos cuatro
veces a la semana por dos horas
cada día. El centro, en 37 1 3 S. Sev-enth
Ave. , es propiedad de y operado
*ç w
Voluntarios ofrecen clases de
inglés despues de la escuela
-w
Photo by Jami Smith
Graffittj-covered walls as this one in Eastmoor Park, 2500 Aviation Hwy., are commonly used by gangs to mark their area.
Assistant City Manager René
Gastelurn said that he thinks residents
are jumping to conclusions and label-ling
groups of rowdy teens as gangs.
"I think it's important to find out
what point of reference the resident is
coming from and see if they have any
specific incidents where they have been
affected," Gastelum said.
He said the media perpetuates the
stereotype by reporting that crimes take
place on the "southside," leading people
see GANGS page 8
por Mary Munroe.
Barry usa el método Laubach
para dar las clases privadas a los
niños. Pimero, los niños aprenden
las letras mayusculas y minusculas.
Despues aprenden como se oyen las
letras en distintas palabras y
practican leer.
Ivan, quien ha estado en
Hollinger Elementary School desde
el kinder, lleva tarea de sus clases
privadas que incluye palabras como
"bird" y "dog" para leer.
Barry, quien ha estado
trabajando con Tucson Adult Lit-eracyVolunteers
por un año y medio,
dijo, "Este es el mejor trabajo
voluntario que pudiera escoger. Es
divertido y se necesita. A lo mejor
vea CLASES pagina 12
NOVEMBER SOUTH TUCSON'S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER i 992