Columnist Susan Snyder: Rejoicing a purple reign

Friday, June 21, 2002 | 9:01 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Fridays Sundays and Tuesdays. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4082.

Looks like I can still pick a winner, in spite of that unfortunate turn of events in Election 2000.

The new M&M color is purple. It won 41 percent of the votes worldwide, beating aqua's 37 percent. Pink paled at only 19 percent.

About 10 million people in 200 countries logged on to an Internet polling site and cast votes as to which color should join the red, blue, brown, green, orange and yellow candy-coated chocolates that melt in your mouth and stick to your hips.

We probably could boost national voter turnout by painting future presidential candidates different hues and choosing them based on our favorite skin color. Or do we already do that?

Nevada Magazine released its annual list of winners last week. The contest honors businesses throughout the state in 44 such categories as Best Place to Gamble, Best Park and Best Buffet. Many note winners for both ends of the state.

Las Vegas' Wayne Newton won Best Entertainer for Southern Nevada. Northern Nevada's winner was Danny "Whozat?" Marona.

Our own Lance Burton won Best Magician, and our Best Special Event-Festival is the National Finals Rodeo. Generates more bull than the Department of Energy.

The Best Museum for our city with the much-touted Guggenheim is the Liberace Museum. And the Best Place to Take Kids (Their grandparents' house?) in Southern Nevada is Circus-Circus' Adventuredome.

Library's pretty good, too.

The Clark County School District is a winner in the Big Losers category when it comes to those vending machines.

District officials have decided to limit the number of junk-food machines on school campuses after all, but it's not because there are better ways to feed our kids.

The electricity bills to run them are too expensive.

It is true the high schools are too crowded to feed all students lunch, who starting next year must remain on campus during that time. And it's true school lunches have their share of fat-laden tater tots and pizzas.

But those challenges are presented by decisions that -- like limiting the number of vending machines -- were based on economics. And we should wonder why it is so much easier to understand the bottom line when it applies to money than when it applies to the health of our young people.

And lastly, a Big Loser goes out to the traffic laws and their enforcement in Clark County.

A 73-year-old man has died from injuries he suffered when a pickup truck hit him Monday as he crossed Maryland Parkway in a crosswalk at Fremont Street. He was in a wheelchair.

The motorist, who no doubt feels horrible and didn't mean to hit him, is charged with a misdemeanor traffic violation for failing to yield right-of-way to a pedestrian.

A misdemeanor when a man is dead? One traffic safety official says this problem has many prongs -- vaguely written laws, inconsistent enforcement and a poor attitude.

"There's a culture that, 'Oh well. that's the cost of doing business,' and the laws are written to back that up," he said.

And that makes the valley's biggest losers residents who walk.