New York Minutes: Vegans take on big apple

Saturday, Jan. 21, 2006 | 8:29 a.m.

Not long after Sheila Moulton told a New York City school guide that she was on her first trip to the city, the Clark County School Board member added an exclamation point.

Moulton noted that she had turned on the local news after arriving at her hotel and caught a story about a weather-related power outage in Syracuse. "Were your schools affected?" the Idaho native asked a liaison for the New York City Department of Education.

The appropriate reply: If the power goes out in Carson City, how do you light the Strip?

***

Moulton and School Board President Ruth Johnson asked students at LaGuardia Community College what they planned to do after graduation.

Become a school psychologist, came one reply.

Johnson brightened. Clark County schools have many vacancies in that field.

Why don't you move to Las Vegas, she suggested.

"Might as well do a little recruiting while we're here."

***

High school students had a few questions for their visitors, too.

How old do you have to be to gamble? they asked.

Johnson thought for a minute, then conceded: "I don't gamble, so I'm not sure."

Moulton said she doesn't gamble either.

She and Johnson turned to a reporter for help -- and the answer wasn't popular.

Twenty one, and you can't even stroll through a casino area alone until you are 18.

***

During visits to several New York City schools, Moulton and Johnson marveled at the resourcefulness of students who must use public transportation to get to campuses they have elected to attend. The trips often include long rush-hour journeys far from home on the city's subway lines.

By comparison, many Clark County parents won't let their high schoolers ride a CAT bus.