“In a 10-year period by all three networks, there were 175,889 news reports,” Sanchez said. “They could be on anything, anything at all. What I'm really interested in is the ones that deal with American Indians. There were only 98. That number is extremely low, half of 1 percent.”

He said the breakdown of stories he found based on the three major television networks, NBC, CBS and ABC, truly surprised him.

“NBC had the most with 46 news reports,” he said. “ABC was second with 37, and CBS was third, dead-last with 15. “You might go ‘wait a minute, isn't CBS the most liberal of the new networks.’ Yes, wouldn't you think they'd cover American Indians or minorities more? Well you would think that, but they didn't.”

In addition to his research, Sanchez has achieved numerous academic successes throughout his career. He received his baccalaureate in communication arts and secondary education from Washburn University. He went on to earn his first Master of Fine Arts in communication from the University of Southwestern Louisiana, and his Master of Science from Ohio State University. He is a Freedom Forum Teaching Fellow and has been published in numerous publications for his studies on ethics, diversity and human rights. He feels his research is personal to him because of his affiliation with the Yaqui and Chiricahua Apache tribes.

“Our goal in life is to be as humble as we can,” Sanchez said. “I chose media because the news is supposed to be the truth. I like to deal with the truth. I like to dig for the truth.”

In his research, he said he discovered that society views American Indians in a limited number of ways, whether in careers or lifestyles.

“Representation of American Indians with 18th century images, this was the No. 1 image,” he said. “In the eyes of the producers, when they think of American Indians, this is what they think of first. In the eyes of the people who consume the media in what is supposed to be the truth, this is the image that they come up with as American Indian. Now is this a problem? It is when you're 10 years old and native.”

He complained that the effects of new age phenomenon have bastardized the American Indian culture.

Students and faculty present at the event said they were moved by his passion and dedication to ethics.

“He had so much great information about the culture he grew up in and what it is like to be the other culture,” said Alice Ferguson, an instructor in the communication department. “It gave our students a chance to see and speak with a graduate of ours. It shows that there is life after graduation.”

“I had never thought about the media in terms of its portrayal of American Indians, and it was enlightening to hear Sanchez's perspective on the media's treatment of his ethnic group,” said Ruth Diaz, a junior English major. “He was a good speaker and made some very interesting points - not all points that I agreed with, but interesting nonetheless.”

"I really did enjoy it," said Danielle St. Julien, a graduate student in the history department. "He had a profound message and definitely brought a deeper understanding to the audience regarding the culture and society of American Indians – an all-around good speech with a message that is not often heard of enough in American history."

Sanchez's visit was presented by the UL Lafayette communication and history departments.