Columnist Jeff German: Regents embarrass themselves

Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2002 | 11:11 a.m.

Most of the faces on the Nevada Board of Regents have changed over the last decade, but the board still has a penchant for embarrassing itself.

Today's No. 1 gaffemeister on the 11-member board is Regent Mark Alden.

Last week Alden went on a local radio show and called fellow Regent Linda Howard, the board's only black member, an "orangutan." It was the culmination of weeks of petty tangling between the two elected officials.

Alden has referred to the entire board, including himself, as orangutans in the past, and nobody argued with him.

But this reference struck a bad nerve because by singling out Howard, he reminded people of an old and disgusting minority stereotype.

It made Alden look like a racist, even though he has since apologized and says he didn't mean it that way.

In reality Alden probably isn't a racist. He's just prone to saying stupid things, or in Howard's words, he's a "headline-grabbing buffoon."

His failure to even understand that such a statement can be seen as racist on its face calls into question his credentials to serve on a public board that oversees higher education in Nevada.

And it detracts from the legitimate criticism Howard has been receiving over her reported underhanded attempts to gain access to the personnel records of some of her university critics.

Howard has been accused of intruding on the privacy rights of her critics, including a student newspaper columnist who called her an "idiot" in print.

Her conduct, not Alden's, has been the subject of much concern within the community. It will be discussed at a public meeting of the regents on Dec. 7.

But now, through a poor choice of words, Alden has brought public sympathy to Howard, who can cite evidence of her claims that the regents look upon people of color differently.

Instead of a regent spinning out of control, Howard looks like a victim.

"We've had problems in the past, but this has escalated to a new level," Regent Steve Sisolak said. "This is about as bad as I've ever seen it."

Oh, it's been bad in the past, but the regents for the most part aired their dirty laundry behind closed doors.

In 1992 board members held a secret personnel session on then-Regent Lonnie Hammargren to take pot shots at him for siding with Jerry Tarkanian in his feud with former University of Nevada, Las Vegas President Bob Maxson.

Board members circumvented the open meeting law again in 1995 when they conducted secret polling among themselves in an aborted bid to censure another former outspoken regent, Nancy Price.

Rarely, however, have the regents resorted to calling each other names in public.

"It's really frustrating," said board Chairman Doug Seastrand, who tried unsuccessfully to get Alden and Howard together over the weekend to put a stop to this foolish conduct.

Howard said Monday that she's seeking the advice of a lawyer, which means she may try to retaliate against Alden in court.

That, of course, will only keep the issue alive and continue to distract the regents from Howard's conduct.

Seastrand sent a memo to all 11 board members asking them to show restraint in the future.

"Our duty as regents is to debate issues and champion causes that we feel are important," he wrote. "However, as you discuss and inevitably disagree with other regents' positions, I am asking that you never resort to personal attacks or name-calling.

"Such practices diminish our credibility as a board and undermine the respect you deserve from your fellow regents."

It's a letter a principal might write to naughty students in middle school -- not to adults elected to make sure the university system is running properly.

And it further illustrates why the board has earned the reputation over the years of being one of the least admired public bodies in the state.

The regents, who oversee hundreds of millions of dollars in higher education budgets, are supposed to be above this kind of pettiness.

They're supposed to set an example of leadership for those in higher education.

They're not supposed to be a constant source of embarrassment.