Print edition for May 6, 2007

Editorial: Building on the basics: As reported by Christina Littlefield in Friday's Las Vegas Sun, Ashley is still pledged to push UNLV toward its goal of becoming a recognized research institution, but he also wants classes academically strengthened to challenge students. One of his goals is for UNLV to produce well-rounded, ethical students.

Editorial: Protecting child passengers: Police reported they charged the father with negligent homicide, but added: "The punishment is done regardless of what happens in court. He is torn up. He reacted the way a parent should react who has lost a child."

Letter: Frivolous lawsuit mocks majority of voters: A check of just one Internet site selling printed advertising materials showed that there were 449 items that can be purchased to advertise the name of an establishment without using smoking paraphernalia. The items sold as advertising merchandise include such things as pens, caps, cups, koozies, magnets and mints (which smokers would certainly benefit from).

Letter: U.S. must catch up to the rest of the world: The solution is to provide universal health care to all Americans. We are the only industrialized nation that doesn't have such a program. Here is a list of countries who currently provide for their citizens with universal health care:

Brian Greenspun bemoans lack of leaders with courage to say, 'Show me the money': For far too long we have allowed ourselves to fall prey to the mantra that says, "money won't solve all our problems." While a small part of that may be true, I am here to tell you that, as one of the people who espoused such a belief, it is baloney.

WEEK IN REVIEW: WASHINGTON, D.C.: WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had on his lucky tie, the one his wife bought for him to wear on Election Night, as he strode across the Capitol last week to sign the Iraq war bill Congress was sending to President Bush.

Teachers may skip lawmakers in their quest for gaming cash: By J. Patrick Coolican, Emily Richmond; CARSON CITY - Nevada voters may face a momentous decision in 2008: Should the state increase taxes, perhaps on its dominant gaming industry, to raise money for education?

Editorial: A lost opportunity: The Assembly Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday is scheduled to discuss Assembly Bill 168, which calls for expanding state subsidies that would provide health insurance access to pregnant women, small-business employees and children. But the measure would cover only about 12,000 additional people, just about half of whom would be children. More than 100,000 of Nevada's children - almost 17 percent of all children in the state - lack coverage.

Letter: Smoking ban does pick on bar owners: In regards to being picked on, I think it highlights a flaw with our current system of passing ballot resolutions (and I also believe for state constitutional amendments). Because these measures only require 50 percent of the vote to pass, it makes it relatively easy for a slight majority to impose its will on the other half of the population.

High-tech CCSN project gets low marks: When it opened in fall 2004, the $20 million telecommunications building at the Community College of Southern Nevada Cheyenne campus was promoted as a state of the art facility that would prepare graduates for high-tech fields.

WEEK IN REVIEW: CARSON CITY: By Joe Schoenmann; CARSON CITY - Gov. Jim Gibbons walked quickly through the brisk air between the sterile exteriors of the Warm Springs Correctional Center, a crowded prison being used to boost the governor's push to build hundreds of millions of dollars worth of new prison cells.

Doing It Her Way: WASHINGTON - Congresswoman Shelley Berkley pulls her Cadillac into a Las Vegas gas station and immediately feels her constituents' pain, about $60 worth by the time she's done filling the tank.

Casino fight goes up in smoke: By Liz Benston; After years of actively opposing smoking bans, the casino industry's primary lobbying organization is backing off as a wave of states pass indoor smoking prohibitions that include casinos.

Keeping them on their feet: On behalf of seniors, Las Vegas physical therapist Brian Werner is trying to find a cure for the common fall.

Jeff Simpson urges Bush's pals in the business world to convince him of war's folly: I grew up near Cleveland in a small suburb that was overwhelmingly Republican, and learned at a young age why so many of the professionals and businessmen were GOP voters.

Shelley Berkley: Doing it her way: By Lisa Mascaro; Congresswoman Shelley Berkley pulls her Cadillac into a Las Vegas gas station and immediately feels her constituents' pain, about $60 worth by the time she's done filling the tank.

LOOKING IN ON: CITY HALL: When last we heard from Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman on the subject of graffiti, he proposed that graffiti taggers have their thumbs lopped off.

John Katsilometes keeps on top of the city's trend in European-style pools, the latest of which will open May 15 atop Flamingo Las Vegas: By John Katsilometes; And apparently, so will topless sunbathing.

Jon Ralston tries to figure out why he always gets his hopes up, only to be disappointed time and again by the Legislature: Every session is, ultimately, the same - a combination of "Groundhog Day" and something out of Kafka's imagination. But some are more similar than others - and Session '07 is looking and sounding like the most violent one of all, Session '03, which had one regular and two specials before the largest tax increase in Nevada history was enacted. Many still have nasty scars and frightening flashbacks from that experience.