Columnist Ruthe Deskin: Old-style columnist eyes Yucca

Ruthe Deskin

Thursday, May 25, 2000 | 10:12 a.m.

Ruthe Deskin is assistant to the publisher. Her column appears Thursdays. Reach her at deskin@lasvegassun.com.

Jack McCloskey is one of the old breed of country journalists.

For many years he owned and published the Mineral County Independent-News in Hawthorne. The newspaper was sold recently but McCloskey continues to delight his readers with his quick wit and knowledge of Nevada through a front-page column called Jasper. McCloskey spares no one. If you've got it coming, better get out of the way as Jasper takes on the high and mighty and has a unique ability to put people and situations in the right perspective.

A recent column on Yucca Mountain delves into the politics involved in locating a repository for the nation's waste in Nevada:

"... the Nuke Dump will become a partisan campaign issue in Nevada with the Democrats claiming they are the ones who are anti-nuke while the Republicans would allow the stuff to be shipped to Nevada.

"The truth is that retired Sen. Ben Johnson, a Democrat, directed the legislation that made Yucca Mountain the lone choice and ever since then both parties, nationally, have been all for keeping the hot stuff out of their neighborhood and sending it to Nevada."

When both houses of Congress passed the bill that would designate Yucca Mountain as the permanent repository for the nation's nuclear waste, President Clinton, as promised, vetoed the bill in "a political setting with Nevada's Democratic Sens. Harry Reid and Richard Bryan, Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley and a Democrat senatorial candidate, Edward Bernstein, present for the camera scene."

McCloskey didn't say it, but this columnist feels the accidental or deliberate snub of Republican Rep. Jim Gibbons, who was not invited, was a brazen and inappropriate political set-up. Ditto for including would-be senator Bernstein at the signing ceremony.

McCloskey writes: "We have to credit Nevada's congressional delegations, Republicans as well as Democrats, for the continuing, aggressive and somewhat successful (to date) effort to keep the nuclear waste where it was created instead of making our state a dumping ground."

No matter what accusations candidates toss at each other regarding the nuke dump, it should not be regarded as a political issue, but a matter that will affect all Nevadans.

The old Fifth Street School holds memories for many locals. One of my fondest was the day I registered my daughter and discovered one of her teachers was my old English teacher from Yerington High School. Irene Barsaloux was a young girl just out of college when I became fortunate enough to have her as a teacher. She ended her long career in Nevada at Fifth Street grammar school.

Today UNLV, with Dick Benoit in charge, is seeking old Fifth Street School graduates. Call him at 895-3076 to be included on the alumni list UNLV is compiling.

The historic structure at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Clark Avenue currently houses a substation of the Metro Police department, the city of Las Vegas Office of Business and Development and the Allied Arts Council. The building was originally constructed with a $165,000 Depression-era Public Works Administration grant secured by then-Nevada Rep. James Scrugham and Sens. Key Pittman and Patrick McCarran.

This summer UNLV will be offering credit and noncredit classes in remodeled classrooms at the old school. For information on classes to be offered, call 895-3076.

Dr. Brian Cram's long association with the Clark County School District will end soon. Teacher, administrator and, finally, superintendent of schools, Cram brought dignity and integrity to his job.

The hundreds who paid tribute to him at an open-house farewell were giving a gentleman a proper send-off for his years of dedication to education.

Don't gripe about government or public officials unless you intend doing something about it.

One way to get involved is to join the League of Women Voters of the Las Vegas Valley. The league recently met to elect officers. Dr. Betty Prado is the new president. New board members are Forrest Warner and Margaret Mark. Issues the league will be tackling this year include the quality of education, the drive for voter registration and Yucca Mountain.

In accelerating a drive for registration of new members, Prado emphasizes that the league is nonpartisan and deals only with issues. For more information call Prado at 228-8648.

To anyone who doubts the capacity of our teenagers to become tomorrow's leaders, I recommend reading a copy of the Sun Youth Forum, a special newspaper section that tells the story of the Youth Forum and contains essays by Clark County high school students.

Sun Vice President Sandy Thompson did an outstanding job in compiling the informative piece.