Print edition for November 27, 2007

Profs one step closer to keeping secrets: Over the objections of one of its members, a Board of Regents committee voted Monday to recommend approving a policy that would allow university faculty members to continue keeping confidential records of their outside employment.

Q+A: Nevada Conservation League Executive Director Scot Rutledge: By Phoebe Sweet; The grades are in and Gov. Jim Gibbons is not exactly at the top of his class, but he has skated by with a C- on conservation and environmentalism for his first year in the Statehouse.

UMC, a case with many tentacles: Tony Cook and Marshall Allen; The public corruption investigation of the former head of Clark County's University Medical Center, now a year old, could be nearing a turning point.

Letter: 9/11 should change the way we look at Yucca: In her Nov. 25 story about the Senate pro-forma session, Sun reporter Lisa Mascaro writes that the repository application for a license is to be submitted to the NRC by the Energy Department next year.

Editorial: A questionable swap: Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff negotiated a swap with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to obtain 5.8 acres inside the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. The deal allows fence construction to move forward without regard to damage to wildlife or habitat.

Editorial: Climate change solution?: Carbon offsets are the latest fad in environmentally conscious, or "green," living in which people concerned about global warming can mitigate the carbon dioxide emissions from their daily activities by donating money to plant trees.

Editorial: Tax money for hula dancers: The pot is created each fiscal year for the seven county commissioners. Each is able to withdraw $15,000 annually to spend on public needs in his or her district.

Letter: Don't encourage the lawbreakers: Mr. Simpson's diatribe against those opposed to illegal immigration is astounding. That he falls into the trap of equating those breaking the law with law-abiding immigrants is bad enough. But to also pander to those who are automatically sympathetic to illegals' aspirations is tragic. They characterize illegals as good, hardworking people seeking to better their and their families' lives. Forget that they are breaking the law and have inserted themselves at the head of the line versus those willing to play by the rules and enter legally.

Letter: Controlling spending a matter of principle: But that should not mean it should be used for their favorite charities. We know through recent cases that it is illegal to use government funds for election expenses. How then can it be justified to use the funds for expenditures that go only toward making the commissioners more electable by using government funds to enhance their position? How can their "office," for example, be benefited by sending a local dance team to Disneyland?

Another bumpy season: By Brian Hilderbrand; THE CONFERENCE: MORE STRUGGLES AGAINST MOUNTAIN WEST OPPONENTS

FLASHPOINT for Nov. 27, 2007: What other steward of higher education in any other state would have the candor/gumption/tactlessness to say this about the system he oversees: "We have a less than mediocre educational system in this state." Yes, indeed. Chancellor Jim Rogers was at it again Monday, this time on KNPR's "State of Nevada," talking trash about higher ed funding vis-a-vis the governor's budget cuts and telling some truths that are not self-evident to too many. I bet Rogers has made a few enemies in his life - in fact, I can name a few. But right now, love him or hate him, he ...

LOOKING IN ON: HIGHER EDUCATION: By Charlotte Hsu; Though higher education Chancellor Jim Rogers has refused to work with the governor on proposed budget cuts, his bosses on the Board of Regents, which governs higher education in Nevada, will debate strategies for dealing with potential reductions at their meeting this week.

Picking up steam from Vegas, Biden gets a bit of buzz in Iowa: By J. Patrick Coolican; Delaware Sen. Joe Biden made a speech on Sept. 10, 2001, in which he said the Bush administration's focus on a national missile defense and old foreign policy paradigms was misguided. Instead, he argued, America should be looking to unconventional threats, such as terrorism.