Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: Two sides of Vegas

Friday, Sept. 23, 2005 | 6:49 a.m.

Brian Greenspun is editor of the Las Vegas Sun.

WEEKEND EDITION

Sept. 24-25, 2005

A tale of two cities. Both of them called Las Vegas.

Three years ago a lady named Heather Murren and her husband, Jim, had an idea that Nevada needed and deserved a world class cancer treatment and research center. It was no secret to the recent transplants to our city that people were often forced to leave Las Vegas in order to receive lifesaving treatments that were either unavailable or inadequate in this city.

It was a dream, clearly, that one day Las Vegas would join the ranks of the few cities in the country that had a center of excellence for cancer research and treatment so that everyone who needed first class and cutting-edge care could get it without leaving town.

Many people have dreamed such a dream but few have had the ability and the perseverance and the passion to devote all that they had to making that dream come true.

This past Friday the doors to the Nevada Cancer Institute opened and with them opened an opportunity that very few citizens in this country have. Whether it is research, prevention, detection or unparalleled patient care, the Nevada Cancer Institute stands like a beacon to the entire state that medical treatment and research are important and that the people who live and work here are equally so.

The story of the NCI, of course, reads like a fairy tale in that what should have been a difficult or near impossible task was anything but that because of Heather's efforts and those of many people around her who believed in her dream. Individuals and companies in this town and across the state opened their minds wide to Heather's vision and their pocketbooks even wider to make their contribution to the betterment of the people of Nevada. The politicians -- federal, state and local -- also bought in and paid up because they understood that leadership demanded that they do so.

And, voila, a $52 million, 142,000-square-foot center of cancer research and treatment excellence is part of the Las Vegas landscape. And, most importantly, a giant step forward has been taken to help eradicate cancer and, in the meantime, to provide the very best and humane treatment for friends, relatives and neighbors who have cancer or who will, most certainly, get it during their lifetimes.

If awards are given for miracle makers, Heather and Jim Murren are my nominees.

In this same tale is a man named Larry Ruvo. He also has a dream. It is a dream created by the nightmare of having to watch his father, Lou, die from Alzheimer's, a miserable and dehumanizing disease. His story is not that much different from the Murrens in that his passion and vision rallied the people of this state to provide the assistance necessary to build a center of excellence for Alzheimer's research and treatment. A center, by the way, that will be designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry.

And, finally, this tale includes Andre Agassi, whose vision, coupled with the extraordinary ability of Perry Rogers, has created an educational center of excellence at the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy. It is a school dedicated to the simple concept that every child can learn and succeed if given half a chance.

Each one of these centers of excellence required vision, passion and the desire of a community to make them happen.

Now, let me tell you the tale of the other city.

It is a short and miserable one because it is about people who don't care, are too greedy to think of anyone else but themselves and who believe that the rest of us are here to make their lives better without any responsibility to do the same in return. They don't give -- when they can -- and they don't support those in the community and state who wish to do so on their behalf. In short, they are just selfish, self-centered and self-absorbed. And they are your neighbors.

Which tale of which city do you prefer? And in which city do you want to live?