Boy gets one-on-one with president

By Theresa Myers, Special to the Denver Post

Tuesday, April 17, 2001 - Nine-year-old Chase Roubideaux of Yuma, who has relatives on a Sioux Indian reservation, has a question for President Bush.

"Diabetes has been killing a lot of my ancestors," said Chase, a third-grader at Morris Primary School. "I want to ask him if there is something he can do about it."

But unlike most of us, who might have a question for the leader of the United States, Chase is going to get his answered - in person.

Chase is one of eight students nationwide who will fly to Washington today to meet with Bush. The students are winners of a contest sponsored by Pennsylvania State University in which youngsters were asked to submit questions they would like Bush to answer.

Chase and his mother, Teresa, were watching educational television one day when they heard about the contest. The two discussed it and decided they would like to ask the president about problems facing their relatives on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

"My mom thought it would be a good idea to do it," Chase said. "She basically kept on me and forced me to do it."

Even though it took his mother's urging, Chase said he was interested in entering the contest. He never believed he would win, he said.

"It was a total surprise," added his father, Lee Roubideaux. "The school called us and said we'd better come over. We thought maybe Chase was in trouble."

Instead, the family learned that Chase and the other winners would get to meet Bush this afternoon in the Oval Office, pose their questions in person and get a tour of the White House. The event will be filmed by Penn State and aired on its "What's in the News" program, shown in thousands of elementary classrooms nationwide.

Chase said he's been preparing just in case the president has a few questions of his own.

"I thought he might ask where I live and what grade I'm in," Chase said. "Stuff like that."

Chase and his father will stay overnight in the nation's capital before returning to Yuma on Wednesday. The boy has achieved celebrity status in his small hometown since news of the contest spread, Lee Roubideaux said.

"He's become very popular around the school," Lee Roubideaux said. "He's pretty excited."

-- Anonymous, April 17, 2001