A grassroots student group has taken minority recruitment into its own hands. The School of Natural Resources’ Mountain Honorary is sponsoring a series of forums aimed at strengthening diversity. Last night’s meeting focused on attracting Native Americans to the field.”We want to find common threads and ways to strengthen the school of natural resources and make it a welcome place for Native Americans,” said Dawn Johnson, facilitator of the program and graduate student in the Office of American Indian student services. According to information from the Office of the University Registrar, of the 408 students in natural resources fall quarter, only six were Native American. The responsibility for increasing the number of Native Americans needs to shared by both the university and Native Americans themselves, said Merry Hapi Cummons, an educational specialist at Moundbuilders State Memorial. “Native Americans need to reach out and express our perspective on natural resources and related issues and faculty and staff need to be willing to view things from that perspective,” she said. Cummons shared her experience in using her skills in the field of natural resources and keeping with her tradition and heritage.”My name ‘Hapi’ means “connection” and my elders saw me as a bridge between two cultures,” she said.Johnson cited the need for more students to be exposed to different perspectives.”If students were encouraged to take classes that exposed them to other cultures, it might ease some tensions,” she said.Cummons said some courses may be in need of restructuring.In a forestry class, Cummons was disturbed the emphasis was on cutting down trees for profit, rather than sustaining the forests’ natural resources. Mark Giese, secretary for the school of natural resources, said the school will soon be undergoing curriculum revisions. Programs like this are very helpful, he said.”From a staff level we try to understand what are the best ways to reach out and meet students needs,” he saidMarti Chaatsmith, coordinator of American Indian Student Services, said it was a special forum because students could voice concerns to the faculty in their department and get feed back.”I don’t think that happens nearly enough on this campus,” she said.