Columnist Ruthe Deskin: Commission won’t call cease-fire

Ruthe Deskin

Thursday, Jan. 23, 2003 | 8:26 a.m.

With the departure of two sitting Clark County commissioners, the consensus was that the county governing body would be less contentious.

Erin Kenny and Dario Herrera both lost their seats on the commission when they opted to run for statewide offices and lost.

With newly elected commissioners Rory Reid and Mark James on board, prognosticators promised smoother sailing.

Don't bet on it. The commissioners already are divided over some latent zoning problems, which will have to be solved as the county's "master plan" becomes an issue.

Zoning changes seem to be inevitable as growth continues. In cases of new developments, "the truth today may be a falsehood tomorrow" as circumstances change.

It often requires the wisdom of a Solomon to decide these problems.

New freeways, golf courses, parks, industrial areas, schools, housing developments -- all require the blessings of the county commission or city council, whichever the case may be.

In many instances, many people suffer a great deal of disenchantment and anger.

Author Ogden Nash once wrote: "Progress might have been all right once, but it's gone on too long."

But as one public official pointed out, "You can't stop progress."

Who would want to? I wonder.

The Nevada State College at Henderson has traveled a rocky road.

Many pundits scorned the establishment of the college; others vehemently defended the concept.

From the beginning, the new school has faced financial and growth problems, including a lack of students eager to enroll.

Now school officials are offering to cut the school's budget by $10 million.

With the state facing a $704 million deficit, that's a drop in the bucket -- but a significant drop.

There still exists, however, the debatable question of whether the school should exist at all.

Look at it this way:

Las Vegas has accidentally garnered more publicity by the National Football League's refusal to accept ads for the Super Bowl broadcast than if the ads actually ran.

And it doesn't cost anything. It's a case of "just spell my name right."

The whole brouhaha reminds me of the days when the American Bowling Congress would not allow Nevada bowlers to wear shirts bearing the name of a Nevada hotel-casino.

Feel like a bit of nostalgia?

Check out "You Know You're a Nevadan, If ..." by Reno Gazette Journal columnist Guy Clifton.

Or pick up a copy of the paperback "Nevada Trivia" by local author Ken Bouton.

It's a bright idea that will never happen.

A guest on a TV talk show suggested that employment or school applications do not ask for the race of the applicant.

"That way," she explained, "people will be judged on experience and background, not color."

Think about this: "The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is."