Print edition for December 17, 2007

Letter: Serves those families right for being so poor: Those kids better learn something about personal responsibility. Choices come with consequences. They chose to be born into the wrong families. President Bush is just trying to set the right example.

Question is whether tuition idea would help or drive away students: By Charlotte Hsu; To entice more students to go to school full time, UNLV officials have tried to make their campus more appealing over the years. Recent additions include a new student union with eateries and study lounges, and a 184,000-square-foot recreation center with an indoor track, gym and lap pool.

So sue us, you can still work for us: Joe Schoenemannn; Two years ago, after learning that each of 23 tennis courts at the new Washington Buffalo Park was cracked even before it opened, city staff did not want the city to work again with Asphalt Paving Corp., the courts' general contractor.

Letter: Teachers need real union for real results: While unions across the Las Vegas Valley are negotiating living wages and benefits for their people, teachers have to accept what crumbs the School Board throws them. And that situation is not going to change.

Editorial: Republican obstructionism: "You're fixing to see what they call a 'fiscal showdown' in Washington," President Bush recently told a group of businessmen.

Editorial: When, sadly, no one's 'it': The structure - and in some places, the very existence - of recess is being called into question by school officials across the country. They worry that the child-led, rough-and-tumble games that generations of children have experienced could inflict physical and emotional harm. Children at Oakdale, for example, are encouraged to gently toss Frisbees and twirl in Hula Hoops. Balls are signed out only under strict adult supervision, the Times reports.

LOOKING IN ON: CITY HALL: It's not a move toward consolidating with Clark County, but the city last week purchased a nine-story building near Rancho Drive and Bonanza Road.

Editorial: Hold charities accountable: The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is investigating the assertions detailed in a report by the American Institute of Philanthropy - which cites such incidents as a charity paying its founder salary and benefits amounting to more than $425,000 last year.

WEEK IN REVIEW: CLARK COUNTY: Anyone who is rich and owns casinos in Macau will tell you: Hangars for all your private jets are at a premium these days.

THE OPENING LINE: Sports should be an escape; games, a respite from real life.

Political stars go knocking, door after door after door: Michael J. Mishak, J. Patrick Coolican and David McGrath Schwartz; As the leading Democratic presidential campaigns hit the pavement over the weekend to convince and lock down supporters in the run-up to Nevada's third-in-the-nation caucus, the race took on a new sense of urgency - with perhaps no candidate feeling the pressure more than New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Letter: Facts don't support right wing's hyperbole: After paying into the Social Security trust for 42 years and the Medicare fund for 35 years, I deeply resent the right-wing crackpots for saying these are socialistic welfare programs.

LOOKING IN ON: GAMING: By Liz Benston; Bargain-hunters take heart - the home of celebrity impersonators, nightly karaoke and some of the cheapest rooms on the Strip doesn't look like it will be facing a wrecking ball anytime soon.