Print edition for October 1, 2007

THE OPENING LINE: During a recent trip to the Carolinas, my brother-in-law taught me a new way to see college football.

Ron Kantowski settles for hearing a quality broadcast, since he can't see the Rebels play the Wolf Pack on TV: It was midway through the second quarter, when Dave McCann, the play-by-play voice of the UNLV football team, glanced up toward his monitor at Mackay Stadium in Reno and made a startling discovery.

Jeff Haney notes trends developing for college teams: Cincinnati, from the Big East, and Kentucky of the Southeastern Conference lead the way with against-the-spread (ATS) records of 4-0.

Letter: Uninsured children cast aside by president: While the president says he supports the SCHIP program, he doesn't seem committed to funding the program where all eligible children will be included. The president's plan calls for a budget that, according to some in Congress, will leave hundreds of thousands without coverage.

Editorial: More research needed: A story by the Las Vegas Sun on Thursday says that cell towers, which numbered 913 nationally in 1985, will number more than 195,600 by the end of the year. Clark County has 725 of them, perched in parks, schoolyards and other public places. Some are even disguised as palm trees or have been placed inside church steeples.

FLASHPOINT for Oct 01, 2007: The Culinary is the big labor kahuna in Las Vegas. But what if a national giant decided to try to get a foothold here? I wondered about that prospect after news from back East that the United Auto Workers had filed a petition to unionize the gigantic Foxwoods casino. The Mashantucket Pequot resort employs 11,000 people and the UAW is going where few unions have had any success: tribal casinos. The petition is for 3,000 dealers at Foxwoods - and people will remember all the troubles the dealers have had here. What if some of them saw this Foxwoods move ...

Editorial: The space race: When the Soviet Union thrust its 184-pound aluminum satellite into the Earth's orbit, a new, suddenly attainable, frontier emerged, adding an uneasy dimension to the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States. By being first in space, the Soviets demonstrated a technological, and potentially military, edge.

Editorial: We can do better: Members of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Tuesday were trying to determine whether the industry that makes money off of the rap and urban hip-hop culture could - or should - do more to protect youngsters from the often graphic content of music, video games and other products.

A country bar that rocks: By Jerry Fink; What: Stoney's Rockin' Country | Where: 9155 S. Las Vegas Blvd.

LOOKING IN ON: SUBURBS: By Mike Trask; As promised, new Boulder City Councilman Travis Chandler is pushing for changes that would allow residents to make more direct decisions on policy and personnel.

Immigration bill's failure brings raid in Reno, fear in Las Vegas: By Timothy Pratt; Edwin Prudhomme has been an immigration lawyer for 47 years, but Friday his voice sounded like he wanted to call it quits.

Q+A: Roy Romer: By Emily Richmond; Tougher standards, merit pay for teachers and a longer school day - those are the pillars of the Ed in '08 campaign, which rolled into town this week.

National companies cash in with charters where the kids learn at home: By Emily Richmond; Gathered by the pool at a Las Vegas community center, the parents and students swapped horror stories.

Bush wasn't just talking about delays at airport: Q: In addition to the usual airplanes and smog, what else was in the air Thursday at McCarran International Airport?

Letter: Prudent response to rise in foreclosures: That is why President Bush last month announced FHASecure. The plan will allow responsible homeowners - those who went into default because their interest rates suddenly reset - to refinance with a safe, affordable Federal Housing Administration-backed loan.

Letter: We must have courage to face evil: Ordinarily, this would not be a major concern, given that many other countries already possess nuclear weapons - some less stable than Iran - and have never dared to use them, not since we dropped two atomic bombs on Japan to end World War II.

Charters have lots of freedom, including right to outsource: Charter schools, organized by parents and approved by school boards or the State Board of Education, are allowed to operate outside the immediate supervision of the local school board, but must abide state education laws and meet the same accountability standards.