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Sunday, Dec. 27, 2009 | 2 a.m.
What's Your Vision?
In 20 years, Las Vegas will be an enhanced three-shift town or it will be nothing.
Imagine what would happen if Las Vegas suddenly became an 8-to-5 town. With that pressure on the infrastructure, we would drown ourselves.
The real future of Las Vegas is its three shifts. I think we exploit that.
If you have a cross-shipping point for Amazon and you want to have a 24-hour schedule, where else do you have a 24-hour town?
Nobody recognizes the primary virtue of Las Vegas as a three-shift town. The wisest thing to do would be to take advantage of the casinos, which operate like little cities, and let the casinos offer K-12 education for children of the employees, let them go to school where mama works.
That is a major benefit. It means that your kids could go to school while you’re working.
And everything that’s wrong with Las Vegas can be fixed with school, even a private college. What Las Vegas doesn’t have is an educated middle class. It has an educated upper class and a smart lower class — the gamblers — but not an educated middle class.
Public school would still exist. You can’t fix Nevada politics, but I think there is a role for private education. If I wanted my kids to study dance, I’d rather have them study at Cirque du Soleil than at the university.
I feel like we’ve done what we can without an educated middle class.
We also need more Steve Wynns and Rob Goldsteins. I’ve seen Steve Wynn arrange flowers.
They are really ruthless businesspeople, but deep in their hearts, they’re your Aunt Sue. They’re running around with their hands in the air, yelling, “Company’s coming! Company’s coming!” Now things are being done with a nonhospitality point of view.
Las Vegas could sort of look like Roman ruins in 2020. There’s about 50 times more ghost towns in Nevada than real towns. I figure that was the goal here: One big mistake and you’re a ghost town. All it takes is for us to spend a lot of money on some place nobody wants to go. Las Vegas is not quite as much fun as it used to be.
The food is better than it used to be, though.
Dave Hickey is a MacArthur Fellow, renowned art critic and author who teaches English at UNLV.
Las Vegas has already lost its middle class as we know and understand the term. Look around, and what do you see?
Teach people the basics, there, their, your, you're, things like that!
Tenure must be nice. Are you middle, or upper class with your $132,699.00 salary that you earn in 9 months?
How many classes do you teach a year for that large salary? Is it a fair, or too generous salary in this time of recession when tuition is a heavy burden on students? What are you doing to help the so-called un-educated middle class?
UNLV posts the professor salaries on their website. I was curious to look your salary up since you are commenting on social classes: http://hrfs.nevada.edu/hrweb/EEList.aspx...
And you think you're really cool praising the casino moguls with your colloquial writing style. Grow up.
What Middle Class? Haven't you read/heard. USA doesn't have one of those any longer.
Is there a way to forward this article to President Smastresk? My guess is that he wouldn't like a professor publishing this insult to our community! He probably wants his professors making things better instead of complaining!
the liberals have taxed the middle class to death to pay for the babies of the lower class.
This whole article is dripping with sarcasm.
This is a typical professor who has no concept of reality. I've had plenty of them while getting my degrees in higher education. One of his suggestions is to have the casinos offer education services to minors while workers are on shift? So when mom (waitress) is working 3-11 little Susie is learning her time tables at 9p.m.? I can't believe this guy gets paid to use his brain. I'm a public school teacher and there needs to be an entire overhaul of education. No one asks someone in the "trenches" when it comes to reform but please don't leave major decisions to people like this!
Middle Class isn't that the class that use to pay the taxes now they are the working poor
Dey don't need no edgemaction - to make beds and scramble eggs - run da dust blower
dat is how harry reid likes his constituents - young and dumb
You've got to love this guy for sucking up to the casinos. I guess his pocket is now full of comps galore. And nice ones too! This guy reminds me a lot of my first sociology professor who waxed on about how great life could be...if we'd learn to use LSD correctly. Yup, and that was my LAST college class. Instead I went out and started my own business with about $500 in my wallet. A woman no less, in the 70's - wanting to work toward her own selfish goals...personal success! I rather liked the professor dictating what and who I am. I'm guessing he's a psychic too as well as a sit on his ass overpaid professor who spews this crap to college students all day long and thinks they actually listen. In reality, they're laughing and saying 'this horse has had his day'.
Someone also needs to tell the professor he's no Alistair Cook either in look or thought!
The only semi middle class that populated,and in some cases purchased property for their 3-5 yr stay have gone.
Including the travel workers,and the completion/implosion of most large scale construction projects,they have gone.The local union hall business agent i spoke with estimates in the last year,upwards of 8,000 have left,or are planning the exodus in spring.
That is a significant populice that is no longer stimulating this one trick pony we call las vegas.The only thing you are left with is casino/business exec,or you have the "service industry"
Diversify this valley,and they will come!
peace out
oh yeah,and if you think these small mom and pop/strip mall residents are middle class,think again.drive by any strip mall,and 75% are paying their last lease payments from their SBA low interest loan that sounded like a great idea at the time.
and i dont mean any offense,just that many years ago a small business owner could prosper,those days are over for awhile with the greedy commercial property owners,and the future C/RE foreclosures.in my neighborhood alone there has been a pizza,nail/tanning salon,and also a computer repair shop that have vacated the mall within the last 6 months and im sure that is the case throughout the valley.
Not clear what the intent of this article is.
- LV is already close to a 24/7 operation, at least on the strip. And I doubt there are many impediments to it becoming even more so if businesses wanted it.
- Night schools for small kids? Don't think so --it ignores their natural biorythms. However, charter/private schools could provide more flex in both operating hours & curriculum, and that might be more supportive of parental needs while still providing a quality education to the children.
It is true. We are a less educated city but that does not have to be an important factor. Wealth creation can come from the less educated. Did Bill Gates graduate from college (he dropped out), did George Washington go to college?
Nevadaappleslices, $133,000 is still middle class. I don't believe that a professor should earn that much but if someone is willing to pay him that wage, why shouldn't he take the job. If someone offered you $250,000 to do the same job,would you take it? As long as the college can justify his pay and can afford it and continue to have students that are willing to pay for the tuition, than his pay is fine.
I do wish we had a more educate population since it is hard for me to fill certain position at my job. But that does not mean that the people are stupid.
Look at the politicians today. All their degrees from Ivy League schools and they are still idiots that don't read the bills and can't get their spending under control.
A list of things a motivated young person should consider if he or she wants a rightful place among the world's future leaders.
1. Cancel your cable subscription.
2. Read your news every day from as many different perspectives as you can in 90 minutes.
3. Learn a foreign language.
4. Learn a second foreign language. (The second one comes easier.)
5. Learn the piano. (You'll learn much more than how to make music.)
6. Take calculus.
7. Write clear, concise sentences.
8. Lift weights. (You'll look and feel better.)
9. Learn basic plumbing.
10. Learn basic accounting.
11. Do not spend your money on things you do not need: gambling, alcohol, Starbucks, and cigarettes, etc.
12. Learn to manage your time. It's the most precious thing you have.
Few are called. Even fewer go when called.
Coasterlvr,
I think you are right when you talk about success but you can be a politician with doing any of those things. For goodness sake they don't even read the bills they vote on.
Where did he come from. He has lost a lot of something before his conception and has the arrogance to state that he is the world's best art critic. How much would be paid for Rembrandt's man with an arm akimbo under Mr. Art Critic's advice.
... teachers teach because they failed in the real world...
stupid. Now people want free healthcare paid for by employers and an education at the BELLAGIO, EMPLOYER PAID.
That should make room rates about $3000 a night. LOL
Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.