First grad of Nevada Southern, now UNLV, didn’t expect to be

By Emily Richmond

Monday, Nov. 9, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Jon Cobain didn’t give much thought to his place in history when he walked across the stage and accepted his college diploma from Nevada Southern, which would later become UNLV.

And he didn’t want much fuss made over him at the UNLV Foundation annual dinner last week, where he was honored not only as the university’s first graduate, but for a $1 million contribution to the “Invent the Future” campaign.

“Less is more,” said Cobain, who seemed bemused by the attention he was getting.

Back in 1964, being first to walk across the stage came as a surprise to Cobain, who had expected the honor would go to the senior class valedictorian. But university officials decided Cobain, the student body president, would lead the procession.

Cobain went on to a full academic scholarship at Northwestern University, where he earned his MBA. He spent most of his career based in California, working as a specialist in middle market mergers and acquisitions. A 1960 graduate of Rancho High, Cobain recently relocated to his native Las Vegas.

UNLV President Neal Smatresk announced Thursday that the eight-year campaign’s $500 million benchmark had been crossed, ahead of the Dec. 31 deadline.

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As the Clark County School District looks to the future of its building program, there’s been a clear shift in conversation.

The district had been expected to go back to voters last year for support of a new building program, and even held a campaign kickoff. But the School Board voted to wait until 2010 as the region’s economic slump bloomed into a full recession.

Now with enrollment declining this fall for the first time since 1983, and with growth not expected to rebound for several years, district officials are contemplating putting off the next bond campaign until 2012. A decision is expected in January.

Without the crushing pressure of keeping up with skyrocketing growth, there’s time for the district to address issues beyond capacity.

“We had a strong focus on additional seats in the past,” Rulffes said at last week’s School Board work session to discuss capital planning. “This time the focus is on academics, efficiency and energy savings, and equity in the inner-city schools.”

Even if no new schools are necessary in the next few years, the district has identified $4.9 billion in needs over the next decade: renovating and replacing older campuses ($3.4 billion); improving classroom technology ($500 million); replacing worn-out athletic, audiovisual and custodial equipment ($400 million); and bringing older classrooms up to par with newer construction ($500 million).

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For nearly two years, Communities in Schools, a nonprofit organization that helps match needy campuses with donors and partners, had been planning to build a student health clinic at Elaine Wynn Elementary.

But the Oct. 22 groundbreaking took many neighbors of the campus by surprise.

A few ceremonial shovelfuls of dirt were turned over, but officials with the project say there has been no actual construction work done at the site — although some neighbors claim otherwise.

There is a construction trailer on the property, said Louise Helton, state director of Communities in Schools of Nevada. But the project is on hold while the School District figures out if it needs a special use permit from the county to move forward with the clinic. Six similar facilities are already up and running at other district schools.

Residents of the Spring Valley neighborhood bordering Wynn say the health clinic will lower property values by giving the impression that the area is impoverished, as well as exacerbate traffic.

Clinic organizers say there’s been little or no traffic impact at the other locations, because most of the students who are treated are already on site.