UNLV Magazine UNLV Publications

Spring 2003

UNLV Magazine

Syl Cheney-Coker University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Barbara Cloud University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Jennifer Vaughan University of Nevada, Las Vegas

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Repository Citation Cheney-Coker, S., Cloud, B., Vaughan, J. (2003). UNLV Magazine. In C. Weeks (Ed.), UNLV Magazine, 11(1), 1-21. Available at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/unlv_magazine/21

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YoU I No. I I Spring 2003

On the cover: Wole Soyinka, Elias Ghanem Chair of Creative Writing and director of literary arts for the FEATURES International Institute of Modern Letters.

Editor: Cate Weeks SPECIAL FOCUS Associate Editor: Diane Russell Assistant Editor: Gian Galassi The International Institute Art Director: John Hobbes of Modern Letters Photographer: Geri Kodey Contributing Writers: Syl Chency-Coker, Barbara Cloud, 1 0 Literary Ambitions Jennifer Vaughan The International Institute ofModern Letters has set Mailing List Coordinator: its goal to become the world's top literary activism Odalys Carmona, Lynn McGue organization. Why? It's all in the name of progress. By Cate Weeks Vice President for University and Community Relations: Fred Albrecht Director, UNLV News and Public 12 The Founder Information: Tom Flagg Asst. Director, UNLV News and Public Casino executive Glenn Schaeffer,founder of the institute, Information: Suzan DiBella explains why corporationsshould be concerned about Director, University Publications and works. Reprographi cs: Les Raschko protecting literary Publications Manager: Donna McAleer 14 The Critic UNLV Alumni Association Art criticism professorDave Hickey is known for his ability to turn a phrase. He shareshis Officers President: Kevi n Page brand of genius with UNLVMagazine. lsi Vice Pres.: Jim Kirkwood By Diane Russell 2nd Vice Pres.: Tina Kunzer-Murphy Treasurer: Kirk Hartle Secretary: Rich Isreal 16 The Dramatist Member -at-Large: Dianne Weeks Nobel/aureate Wale Soyinka weaves teaching and directing into his global travels. Past President: Jim Ratigan By Cate Weeks UNLV Alumni Association Board Members Nancy Flagg 18 The Exiled Sharlene Flush man Bruce Ford In an essay, Las Vegas' first writer-in-asylum, Syl Cheney-Coker, reflects on his Karen Hare two-year stay in this "atmospheric strange land." Kirk Hendrick Cristina Hinds Rich Israel Chip Johnson Jeff Knight Sam Lieberman Donya Monroe DEPARTMENTS Christine Parris-Washington !larry Shinehouse '}. Message from the President 24 Calendar of Events UNLV Mngnzine is published in 3 Campus News 26 Class Notes March and September by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas 9 University People 26 Alumni Profiles 4505 Maryland Pkwy, Box 451012 Las Vegas, NV 89154- 10 12. 20 Books 32 Timeline http://www.unlv.edu/

UNLV is an AAIEEO institutio n. SPRING 2003 I 1 A MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT CAROL C. HARTER CAMPUS NEWS

Fall Enrollment Jumps to Nearly Expansive Thinking and High Ideals 25,000 Students

UNLV's enrollment figures everal years ago when Las have thought of the seeming incongruity of serious intellectual­ increased dramatical ly last f all, Vegas was named Ameri­ ism residing in a city so widely known for - and so decidedly jumping 5.7 percent in t he t otal ca's first City of Asylum, I dedicated to -providing many forms of and opportunities for S number of students and increasing was delighted by the develop- leisure. I have been told that at one time UNLV suffered from a an unprecedented 9.5 percent over ment but not surprised by the bit of an inferiority complex about its scholarly reputation, which the previous year in the important rest of the world's apparent skepticism about locating the refuge some attributed to the dissonance felt about creating a respected full-time equivalent (FTE) f igure. for dissident writers here in Las Vegas. As president of a dynamic academic institution in, of all places, Las Vegas. university that seeks a world-class reputation for its teaching, We have come so far since those days. We have grown dramat­ FTE, a f igure that uses a f ormula to research, scholarship, and creative activity, I am keenly aware of the ically in size and in sophistication in recent years, as has our city. calculat e t he equivalent number of world's perception of Las Vegas; it seems many people refuse to We are a nationally recognized doctoral-degree granting institu­ full-time students based on t he abandon the stereotypical image of our city, despite knowing that tion now, acknowledged as such by objective, external standards, number of cred its t aken by all stu­ it is a thriving metropolitan area with more than a million people such as those of Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of dents, det ermines t he amount of pursuing diverse interests, includ- Teaching and our accrediting body, per-student f unding UNLV receives Academic Enrichment Center ing many serious intellectual ones. the Northwest Association of As president of a dynamic university f rom the Nevada Legislat ure. Yes, I was quite aware of the think­ Schools and Colleges. Serious intel­ Receives $32 Million from Grants ing that produced headlines bela­ that seeks a world-class reputation for lectualism not only dwells, but In f al l 2002, FTE increased to boring the unlikely pairing of Las flourishes, on our campus. 17,777 and the total count of stu­ With the help of $32 million in federal their parents reach their own educational Vegas with the distinction of being its teaching, research, scholarship, and Respected faculty members dis­ dents rose to 24,965. grants, UNLV's Center for Academic and career goals, which in turn puts them the nation's first City of Asylum. creative activity, I am keenly aware of seminate knowledge to their stu­ "We have been posting spectacu­ Enrichment and Outreach will serve more in a better position to support their chil­ On two levels - both as an dents in the classrooms and labo­ la r growth over t he past several than 25,000 low-income children and adults dren's education." American literature scholar and as the world's perception of Las Vegas; it ratories but also to the world yea rs, but the f all 's f igures sur­ in Clark County over the next five years. The new grants will enable the center to president ofUNLV- I was heart­ seems many people refuse to abandon through scholarly publications. passed any we have seen in recent The center received two grants through serve more than 25,000 people in low­ ened to see our town entrusted And they study not only the tradi­ years," UN LV President Ca rol C. the U.S. Department of Education's Gain­ income areas. The grants bring the total with this important role and felt the stereotypical image of our city. tional academic subjects, but Harter sa id. ing Early Awareness and Readiness for amount of the center's federal support to intuitively that it would bring a emerging ones as well - many of Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), more than $8 million a year. whole host of other positive con- which grow out of, ironically, the " UNLV is doing everything possible which provides services to students begin­ The center's dramatic growth- in 1997 nections to the campus and the community. I had no idea just unique culture of Las Vegas. Recent years have brought to light to accommodat e the large number ning in the sixth grade. The center also it served 965 individuals on a budget of how much good it would bring. A great deal of credit is deserved more and more examples of broad-ranging research and pro­ of new students. Despite base received two grants from the Economic $800,000 - was only possible by leveraging by those forward-looking individuals who brought us this pro­ grams that were designed to support Southern Nevada, and budget cuts and additional Opportunity Center program, which assists community resources, Cotton said. The gram and made possible the ensuing creation of the International those efforts continue to be encouraged. unfunded cost s, we have f illed the displaced or underemployed workers. center has partnered with city and county Institute of Modern Letters -not the least of which is our gener­ So how, you may ask, did a modest college, created just under classrooms and provided the serv­ Center initiatives, such as study skills government agencies, the Clark County ous benefactor and friend Glenn Schaeffer of the Mandalay Resort a half century ago in a dusty patch of desert off Maryland Park­ ices students require," Ha rter sa id. workshops, tutoring, and mentoring pro­ School District, other not-for-profit organ­ Group. Glenn, who founded the institute, and English/creative way, achieve this? I believe we can thank many individuals who " It is, of course, exciting to w itness grams, ate already having a tremendous izations, and corporate sponsors including writing professor Richard Wiley can be largely credited with hav­ have gone before us, as well as those still here continuing the the remarkable growth of our impact on student retention, said William Wells Fargo Bank, Howard Hughes Corp., ing the foresight and commitment necessary to bring these presti­ charge. We can thank the excellent scholars and teachers, maturing campus. UN LV is becom­ Sullivan, associate vice president for reten­ and The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino. gious programs to Las Vegas. It was the support of Nobel laureate researchers and artists who, in the early days of the university, ing better as well as bigger. We tion and outreach. "The student support ''Although we are a public, not-for-profit Wole Soyinka, however, that I believe made a powerful, even piv­ remained devoted to their disciplines despite nagging doubts are among the largest 75 universi­ services program is resulting in a phenom­ organization, our approach follows a very otal, difference in making these virtually simultaneous events a about their institution's location. We can thank the administra­ ties in the United States. enal 82 percent graduation rate over five traditional business model in terms of reality. Without his endorsement, I wonder, would we have had tors who recognized the value of supporting these early scholarly years;' he said. "And we're achieving that acquiring and managing our resources," Cot­ " At t he same t ime, we are facing the boldness to aspire to become a leader in the international lit­ endeavors and who doggedly pursued greater funding to build with a population of students - low-income ton said. "It's a somewhat unique model for a a significant challenge. UNLV wel­ erary community? Perhaps, but having a Nobel Prize winner infrastructure. We can thank a generous community, filled with and first-generation college students- who not-for-profit organization affiliated with an comed 1,347 new st udent s just believe in us helped us believe in ourselves with greater certainty. donors and friends of UNLV, who have understood all along the traditionally have much lower college­ academic institution, but it allows us to tap this past f al l. I believe it is incum­ As I watch these programs flourish and bring fresh literary inspi­ genuine importance of establishing a strong academic institution degree-completion rates." the resources of our community partners. At bent upon UNLV, as t he st at e's ration to our community, I am grateful to Wole for his support for the greater good of the city and of the state. And we can thank Tracy B. Cotton, executive director of the the same time, it allows the university to use largest universit y and f astest­ and for his willingness to share his genius with our campus. our students, past and present, for choosing UNLV and going on center, credits the retention success to early its resources to help the community:' growing campus, t o se rve those The moral of this story is one that extends to the entire uni­ to proudly proclaim their alma mater's success. They all were and intervention programs. "As GEAR UP tar­ Nevadans who choose to pursue versity. I would speculate that in years past, many UNLV faculty are open-minded about our prospects, committed to seeing bright gets youths beginning in sixth grade, our For information, call (702) 895-4777 or higher education." members (and no doubt some students and their parents as well) cont inued on page 3 1 Educational Opportunity Center will help vis it www.unlv.edu/studentserv/caeo.

2 I UNLV MAGAZIN E SPRING 2003 I 3 CAMPUS NEWS

Library Preserves their lives trying to save others on that day: "343 brothers died, but their flames will still Inventive Spirit Artifacts Left in burn in our hearts. God Bless America." The New York-New York just opened the E-Ciub Fosters Entrepreneurship in Engineering Honor of Victims permanent memorial in front of its Statue of Liberty replica. Now a prominent element of By Cate Weeks with physical therapy graduate students the casino's architecture, the granite struc­ As today's engineering students are com­ Edwin Suarez and Scott Hartung, who By Gian Galassi ture encases a sampling of items left at the pleting their degrees, a group of faculty ensured the machine worked the muscles It started perhaps with just a candle or a memorial. The items on display will be members is hoping to instill in them a char­ correctly. scrawled message of grief left by a stranded changed periodically to represent the variety acteristic more often associated with their "This project was special to me for per­ tourist after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, of artifacts and sentiments expressed by vis­ business college counterparts - an entre­ sonal reasons, but the E-Club has helped me 2001 . But as days and weeks and months itors. The entire collection will be housed at preneurial spirit. see how to take it from here to ultimately passed, the tokens of remembrance grew the Lied Library. "Our engineering students into a shrine below the faux skyline of the As a historian who studies the gaming have developed some innovative New York- New York Hotel Casino. industry, Schwartz said he cannot recall any ideas," said Zhiyong Wang, a The Strip casino's officials were left with other time that a casino's property was mechanical engineering profes­ the dilemma of what to do with the transformed into a shrine. The effort "is sor and director of the Nevada makeshift memorial's more than 4,000 unprecedented in the history of the gaming Manufacturing Research Center T-shirts, hats, cards, and miniature Ameri­ David Schwartz of UNLV Libraries' special collections is preserving the thousands of industry;' he said. "It really is an honor to be at UNLV "They have the ability can flags. They decided to establish a per­ artifacts left in front of the New York-New York Casino to honor the victims of the entrusted with such a significant responsi­ and knowledge to design com­ Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. manent memorial and called upon the bility, and it is something we take a lot of mercially viable products, but expertise of David Schwartz, gaming stud­ database and have the selected items from around the world came to Las Vegas to pride in. I think it said a lot about UNLV's few have the management and ies coordinator at the UNLV Libraries' spe­ retrieved and delivered to them by LASR in pay tribute to those who died in New York, reputation in the local community that they business skills they need to bring cial collections department, to document, less than a minute. Washington, and Pennsylvania. turned to us first." their ideas to market. That's preserve, and archive the artifacts. Schwartz said he and Green were over­ "Most of the messages are from people "It's been a pleasure to work with the spe­ where the E-Club can help." Schwartz and student aide Israel Green whelmed at first by the volume of artifacts who just want to express their sorrow for the cial collections team;' said Tom McCartney, Wang and Rama Venkat, began the long process of entering a descrip­ and by the heartbreaking sentiment attached victims and to pledge their resolve to fight senior vice president of marketing and chair of the electrical and com­ tion of each item into a computer database to them. "Every time we opened one of the and win the war against terrorism." development at New York-New York. "David puter engineering department, Recent engineering graduate Kwame Coleman that is linked to the state-of-the-art Lied boxes, we were reminded of the terrible loss One message, scrawled in ink on the front Schwartz is an absolute professional who is launched the E-Club (that "E" demonstrates his passive motion machine to pro­ Automated Storage and Retrieval System that so many people suffered that day;' he of a fire department T-shirt, reads as both a passionate about his work and has been stands for entrepreneurship) fessor Rama Venkat. (LASR). Researchers will be able to query the said. "It still amazes me that so many people tribute and a promise to those who gave committed to this project from the start." three years ago. Their goal is to broaden the educational experiences of stu­ marketing it for others;' said Coleman, who dents beyond the traditional engineering hopes to eventually patent the machine. curriculum. The club also links students to local busi­ "Our goal was to develop individual demanding occupation, but there is "All engineering students are required to ness leaders. Seminars bring in such speakers Four-Alarm Fitness fitness plans that not only addressed also a lot of emotional and psycho­ complete a senior design project before as Fred Cox, founder of the computer storage UNLV Challenges Fire Department to Reach Health Goals concerns specific to each member of logical stress that goes along with it," graduation;' Venkat said. "They have to netw-orking company Emulex Corp. The club the department, but that also increased she said . "The course teaches fire­ consider a problem, come up with a solu­ also taps experts across campus, such as Boyd North Las Vegas firefighters have saved stronger employees," said Terri Tarbett, each person's knowledge about well­ fighters how to keep all aspects of tion and then simulate, build, and test their Law School professor Mary LaFrance, who the lives of countless individuals over assistant fire chief. "As a result, the ness issues," sa id Chuck Reg in, director their profession in balance." solution. The club helps them take that has led patent seminars. the yea rs. Now UNLV is teaching them department will be able to respond of the Center for Health Promotion. The program is enlisting the help project to the next step - evaluating the The E-Club has received some funding a thing or two that could end up sav­ better to every level of emergency, "The department's employees will be of other organizations as well. This product's commercial viability. We help from the Lemelson Foundation's National ing their own. making the city of North Las Vegas a better equipped, both physically and spring, a fire department cook-off them develop business plans for marketing Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Last fall, the UNLV Center for Health much safer community." mentally, to deal with the difficult con­ w ill name the firefighter who can their products and introduce them to the Alliance. In addition, Cox and his wife, Har­ Promotion and the North Las Vegas Fire In the fall, 100 employees under­ ditions they work in every day." make the healthiest and best-tasting process of getting venture capital." riet, are providing endowment funding for Department began a three-year well­ went assessment tests to gather ind i­ Ten firefighters recently completed a meal from ingredients typically One project Venkat hopes to see further the spring Senior Design Competition, ness and fitness program for all depart­ vidual and departmental basel ine data, three-credit course at UNLV to become found in a firehouse kitchen. Judges developed was led by Kwame Coleman, who which judges projects for their technical ment personnel. The comprehensive including body strength, endurance, peer trainers for their colleagues. w ill incl ude local restaurant chefs, received a bachelor's degree in mechanical merit as well as innovation and commercial program employs a five-step system to and flexibil ity. UNLV's team of wellness Jean Henry, the center's assistant who w il l also provide advice on engineering in December. Coleman's moth­ potential. The winning teams receive the assess and improve the health of both specialists used those results to create director and director of the peer fitness preparing nutritious meals. er, who underwent brain surgery that left Harriet and Fred Cox Engineering Design individuals and groups in the fire customized, job-related fitness plans to training program, said that the course Regin hopes to see the program her arm paralyzed, inspired him to develop Awards and prizes of $250, $500, or $1,000. department, including captains, ch iefs, increase strength and lower stress lev­ doesn't just focus on physica l fitness, expand. "We are interested in making a passive-motion machine. The machine Venkat believes entrepreneurial education firefighters, paramedics, and staff. els. The team also led sem inars about but integrates that component into a this program a model for other fire relieves discomfort in the atrophied muscles, will be further integrated into the curriculum "Reaching our long-term goals for nutrition and how to implement comprehensive well ness model. "Fire­ departments around the country." but doesn't limit the user's mobility. in the future. "We think this is an important this program w ill result in healthier, healthy lifestyle changes. fighting is, of course, a physically - Gian Galassi Coleman teamed with engineering stu­ way that UNLV can further contribute to the dents Kyle Kisebach and Frank Oh, as well as diversification of Nevada's economy," he said.

4 I U NL V MAGAZ I N E SP R ING 2003 I 5 CAMPUS NEWS

Alumni Center Becomes First Campus Advanced Cyber Solutions Alumni Association Helps placed six access points throughout Building with Wireless Internet Access the building to extend coverage to the center's outdoor patio area. Con­ Today's Students Succeed The Richard Tam Alumni Cent e r has est ablished the cam­ necting to the hub w ith a w ireless­ pus' first "W i-Fi" h ub - a locatio n w here individ uals ca n capable laptop or handheld device The numbers jump out at you: $5 .5 mil­ the Alumni Association, and in all, close to link to the Internet at h igh speeds w ithout cables or requires a pass code, which can be lion (total monetary donations to UNLV); $1 million has been awarded since the t e lephone lines. obtained from the Al umni Association $2.9 million (total donations for improve­ association was chartered in 1965. The UN LV Alumni Associ ation install ed t he w ireless staff in t he center. ments to the UNLV campus); $1.6 million ''As a student, I looked up to members net work to g ive visitors to t he Tam Al umni Ce nter a way Ratigan, a member of the association's (current amount of alumni scholarship of the Alumni Association who helped me to connect t o the Internet, read and answer e-mail, and board of d irectors a nd a past president of the o rganiza­ endowments). throughout my education with advice and access online campus resources. t ion, said he e nvisions UN LV having a wireless network The members of the UNLV Alumni support," Page said. "What the UNLV Alumni Cent er visitors, who frequently use the confer­ sim il a r t o the one that his company designed for Tulane Association have worked diligently on Alumni Association does has perpetuity to ence room and main auditorium for meetings, can quickly Un iversity in New Orleans. A donation from one of the behalf of the university, financially sustain­ it. We were helped as UNLV students, and and easily connect t o the Internet to d isplay Web sites dur­ co-fou nders of Netscape allowed Tulane to become one ing students and faculty while offering now we're giving back to current UNLV ing presentat ions o r check e-mail durin g a break. Likewise, of only a handful of universit ies in t he country to offer leadership, support, and other resources students. Down the road, today's UNLV students can access lecture notes, assignments, and e-mai l unive rsi tywide wireless computer access to its students that benefit the university and enhance the students will offer the same support to from t he Internet throug h t heir laptop computers, just as and faculty. community. those who follow- that's what an alumni if t hey were using one of the campus' computer labs. "The communications and business world has been rev­ But there's more to the association than association is all about." "This is a pioneering project t hat w e hope w ill lead t o olutionized by w ireless technology," said Kevin J. Page, numbers. "The members of the UNLV Evidence of the association's generosity the entire UNLV campus event ually becoming a wireless association president. "Our goal is to create a workable Alumni Association love UNLV:' said asso­ is found throughout the campus. The $2.7 hub," said Jim Ratigan, a partner in Advanced Cyber wireless hub that enhances the Alumni Center's education­ ciation President Kevin J. Page, '86 BS million Richard Tam Alumni Center Solutions, the North Las Vegas company t hat designed al enviro nme nt for both students and faculty." Finance, '87 MBA. "We enjoyed our time stands as a symbol of the group's commit­ and installed the network. "Our hope is the success of here, honored the relationships we have ment to the university. Both the campus turning the Richard Tam Alumni Center into a w ireless For information, contact the UNLV Alumni Association at built, and we all feel the need to do our and the Las Vegas community use the cen­ hub w ill inspire a campuswide program." (702) 895-3621 or (800) 829-2586. part in giving something back to the uni­ ter for numerous events. versity and its current students. Recently, the center became the first "Many of our members will serve as UNLV building to be equipped for wireless mentors to students in the particular col­ Internet access, meaning anyone who Among the UNLV Alumni Association's leges they graduated from. Other mem­ comes to the building with a wireless­ Business Hall of Fame Announces 2003 Inductees contribut ions to campus are t he 80 capable device, such as a handheld or lap­ bers will participate in events sponsored spirit banners that line the Academic One of Nevada's most notable developers, a expand the business until its sale to Har­ by the association or volunteer in activi­ top computer with a wireless card, can Mall. The association also awards groundbreaking businesswoman and entre­ rah's in 1983. She has served as chairman of ties for the university. All members of the access the Internet. The service extends scholarships to more than 50 students preneur, and a world-renowned philanthro­ the board of Harrah's Las Vegas and UNLV Alumni Association and all of the outside to the center's courtyard. each year. pist are the 2003 inductees for the Nevada remains part of the Harrah's family. She is activities we sponsor benefit the universi­ The Alumni Association also has: Business Hall of Fame. chairman of the board of Nevada Com­ ty in some manner." planted 40 trees in the Alumni Grove throughout the year include student and The inductees were chosen by the Col­ merce Bank, a commissioner on the Nevada Each spring, the awarding of scholar­ and along Alumni Walk. faculty awards programs, luncheons, panel lege of Business' Executive Advisory Board Molasky Williams Hughes Commission on Tourism, and a founding ships to more than 50 worthy students is built the UNLV Alumni Association discussions, and symposiums. Annual for having significantly contributed to the urn buildings in the country. Molasky member and past chairman of the UNLV an important and necessary function of Pavilion at the Paul B. Sogg Architec­ homecoming weekend festivities include a economic prosperity of Nevada and for played a pivotal role in the early develop­ Foundation Board of Trustees. ture Building. Friday night dinner, football game tailgate bringing positive recognition to the state. ment of UNLV through the donation of 45 The late Howard Hughes helped make Got an opinion? let's hear it. contributed 80 spirit banners to line party, and a golf tournament. The inductees were honored at a dinner acres at Flamingo Road and Maryland Las Vegas the world-class entertainment, the Academic Mall. "Our football game tailgate parties are presented in association with Deloitte & Parkway. He is a founding trustee of the commercial, industrial, and residential city The UNLV Alumni • installed new clocks in all UNLV always fun, well-attended, and a great place Touche. They are: UNLV Foundation. it is today. Credited by many for pulling Las Association is con­ classrooms. to reconnect with old friends and fellow Irwin Molasky, chairman of the Par­ Claudine Williams was the first woman Vegas out of the economic slump of the ducting an Internet donated artwork that hangs in the alumni," Page said. adise Development Company since 1951, elected chairman of the board for a Nevada mid-1960s, Hughes pioneered the era of survey to learn how Moyer Student Union and the Class­ A single annual membership in the helped create the first private hospital in bank and the first woman inducted into the corporate ownership of hotels and casinos it can better address room Building Complex. association is $40, and a joint annual Nevada (Sunrise), the first master-planned Gaming Hall of Fame. In 1965, she and her in Nevada with his purchase of the Desert alumni needs and sponsored the updated costume membership is $60. Lifetime membership community (Paradise Palms), the first golf late husband, Shelby, purchased and reno­ Inn and seven other hotels. His impressive communicatio n. The survey is also worn by the school's "Hey Reb" is $700 for a single member or $800 for course community, the first high-rise build­ vated the Silver Slipper Casino, which they real estate holdings in Southern Nevada g iving the associat ion an opportu­ mascot and uniforms for the joint membership. ing in downtown Las Vegas (Bank of Amer­ sold to Howard Hughes in 1969. They provided the cornerstone for the phenome­ n ity t o update alumni e-mail and dance team. ica Plaza), and the state's first enclosed opened the Holiday Casino in 1973. After nal growth that continues today. Of the mailing addresses. Please take a built a 10-foot observation tower for For more information, call the UNLV shopping mall (the Boulevard). His most her husband passed away in 1977, Claudine 49,000 acres of land owned by Hughes few minutes to answer the survey the marching band. Alumni Association at (702) 895-3621 recent development, Park Towers, has been Williams became president and general when he died in 1976, nearly half has been by logging onto Association members enjoy a diverse or (800) 829-2586, or visit the associa­ named one of the best luxury con domini- manager of the property. She continued to developed as Summerlin. www.unlvalumni.com/survey. list of benefits and privileges. Events tion Web site at www.unlvalumni.com.

6 I UNLV MAGAZIN E SPRING 2003 I 7 CAMPUS NEWS

• Thomas F. Williams was named director of • Lois Helm bold was named chair of the women's studies Cultural Immersion the UNLV Research Foundation, which recently department. Previously, she was a professor and coordinator of was created to develop public-private partner­ the women's studies program at California's San Jose State Uni­ Sabbatical Offers No Rest for Professor ships that apply university research to benefit the versity. During her 13-year tenure there she served as a Fulbright citizens of Nevada by solving problems and creat­ senior lecturer in American studies at Tsuda College and Japan By Gian Galassi ing high-tech jobs. The Research Foundation will Women's University in Tokyo. She is also a prolific author of his­ By definition, a sabbatical is a period of rest, a time when daily also help provide a vehicle for faculty members to market prod­ torical scholarship and feminist commentary. She is currently work is put aside for contemplation or travel. But try telling that to ucts that result from their research. Williams, who joined UNLV finishing a book that compares the survival strategies of black Jane McCarthy. after serving for 13 years in various capacities with the U.S. and white working-class women during the Great Depression. For six months, McCarthy, a professor in the College of Educa­ House of Representatives and the U.S. Department of Energy, tion's department of curriculum and instruction, lived in a remote most recently was the director of congressional, intergovernmen­ • Patti Shock, professor and chair of tourism tal, and strategic programs for the Nevada office of the National and convention administration, was named one of community on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona to provide train­ Education professor Jane McCarthy, left, lived in a remote sec­ ing to staff in one of the poorest school districts in the country. tion of the Navajo Indian Reservation to develop programs for Nuclear Security Administration. the 25 most influential people in the meetings "I think I worked harder while on sabbatical than I do at my reg­ teachers in the Pinon Unified School District. She's pictured industry by Meeting News magazine. The magazine ular job," McCarthy said. "There is a whole different set of challenges here with Regena Lynch, who coordinates a federal program • Janet Ward was named director of interdisci­ noted her significant contributions to the meetings that you encounter out there (on the reservation) because the area is for the school district, and UNLV President Carol C. Harter out­ plinary programs and oversees programs in Asian, industry and her continuing commitment to shap­ side a traditional Navajo home. so remote. We had to cancel school for a couple of days because the Latin American, cultural, linguistic, multidiscipli­ ing education in the field. Shock joined the UNLV faculty in roads were too muddy for the buses to get through:' lives are anything but typical." nary, and social science studies. She is also an asso­ 1988, and she has since won a Boyd Distinguished Professor McCarthy first began working with Pinon Unified School Dis­ McCarthy's projects included establishing an intervention pro­ ciate professor in the department of history and is Award and a Distinguished Service Award from the International trict four years ago, when its middle school joined the Accelerated gram to help increase student attendance; developing disciplinary currently teaching courses in the School of Archi­ Association for Exposition Management, among others. In 2000, Schools Program - a national education reform effort that provides policies with the staff; and providing development sessions on class­ tecture and in the Honors College. Ward previously worked at the she was named one of the 10 most powerful women in the con­ at-risk schools with resources to improve academic performance. room management, lesson planning, and teaching techniques. University of Colorado, Boulder, where she served as chair of the vention industry by Successful Meetings magazine. She quickly realized that, to best help both the reservation schools But she didn't do it alone. McCarthy credits her many col­ department of Germanic and Slavic languages and undergraduate and UNLV's program, she would have to invest more time to the leagues -some of whom traveled to the reservation to deliver associate chair of the department of comparative literature and • The College of Business named Sharon Fusco program. "Being in residence was the only way to truly understand workshops -with the success of the program. Among the visitors humanities. Her book Weimar Surfaces: Urban Visual Culture in its coordinator of communications and external the obstacles that the schools need to overcome in order to improve were Gene Hall, dean of the College of Education, and associate 1920s Germany was published by the University of California relations. Fusco will manage the college's outreach their academic performance;' said McCarthy, who also serves as professors Virginia Usnick, Neal Strudler, Aimee Govett, LeAnn Press in 2001. She is currently working on a book about the efforts by coordinating internal and external com­ director of UNLV's Accelerated Schools Program. "By immersing Putney, and Nancy Gallavan. A visit from President Carol C. Harter architecture of Berlin. munications, acting as a liaison to its alumni and myself in the Navajo culture - instead of simply visiting it - I was was a highlight for the district's teachers. "I was very proud to see advisory boards, and organizing special events. able to develop a greater appreciation for the strengths and chal­ the many accomplishments that Dr. McCarthy and the staff have • UNLV undergraduate ian Jankelowitz received third place in She received a bachelor's degree from Auburn lenges unique to the students and teachers there." made in helping these young people excel academically;' Harter the annual Elie Wiesel Ethics Prize Essay Contest. Wiesel, a noted University and a master's of human relations degree from the The challenges certainly are unique. Located in one of the most said. "The project is helping the Pinon schools offer an enriched, author and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, presented University of Oklahoma. She was previously training and com­ remote regions of the United States, the Pinon Unified School Dis­ relevant, and successful education to these students." Jankelowitz with the award and a $1,500 scholarship at a cere­ munity relations manager for UNLV's Nevada Small Business trict serves seven small Navajo communities. Less than 50 percent The program was such a success that UNLV will continue its mony in New York City in December. Jankelowitz's essay, "From Development Center. of its students have running water in their homes and more than work on the reservation, offering classes that lead to further certi­ Oppressed to Oppressors: The Ethical Issues of Post-Holocaust 90 percent live below the poverty level. Many of the students must fications in literacy for the teachers and an initial teaching licen­ Jewry in Apartheid South Africa," was selected from 582 entries • Groom and Doom, an original one-act play by Doug Hill, assis­ commute four to six hours per day or live away from their families sure for classroom aides. submitted by students from more than 400 colleges in the Unit­ tant director of the UNLV Senior Adult Theatre program, will in dormitories located on the school campus. "Being out there was a personally life-changing experience," ed States and Canada. A native of Sydney, Australia, Jankelowitz receive a staged reading at Mill Mountain Theatre in Roanoke, Va., "In some ways the kids on the reservation are just like regular McCarthy said. "I know that the lessons I learned will both help is currently a junior pursuing a double major in music education on April16. The play follows five women into the basement of a school kids," McCarthy said. "But when you consider the difficul­ to enrich UNLV's education program and improve the assistance and art history. He was also recently named a recipient of a church in Southeast Oklahoma during a wedding at which the ties they endure just to get to school and the added responsibilities we can give to Nevada schools with high percentages of Indian UNLV University Forum Fellowship. The essay is posted on the bride must decide if marriage is the right choice for her. The at home of taking care of livestock and crops, you realize that their students." Internet at www.eliewieselfoundation.org. script was developed at UNLV in the Playwright's Lab class and received a workshop reading at The Asylum Theatre in Las Vegas • Barbara Hirshorn was named director of the under the direction of Chris Mann, '02 MFA Playwriting. Parent Orientation Program Emphasizes Fun in Youth Sports university's Aging Center, which coordinates and As Henderson parents signed their kids up when watching games;' said R.R. Apache, at the conclusion of the session. promotes research on aging-related issues. The • College of Education professors Kyle Higgins and Randall for sports last fall, they had to sign them­ assistant professor of educational leadership. The students also developed a resource center also works collaboratively with other com­ Boone received a highly competitive federal grant of nearly selves up for a parenting seminar. UNLV Apache and students enrolled in the uni­ Web site and newsletters for parents. munity organizations to help formulate policy $400,000 to develop assessment tools to help parents and teachers and the Henderson parks and recreation versity's sports education and leadership Sue Weakland, Henderson recreation affecting seniors in the Southern Nevada commu­ evaluate educational computer software aimed at children with department launched the YouthFirst orien­ program conduct the one-hour orientation supervisor, said the partnership allows the nity and nationwide. Previously, Hirshorn was director of inter­ disabilities. "The reality is that a lot of educational software for tation program to encourage parental session that all parents enrolling their chil­ city to offer a program designed for the local generational studies at the University of South Carolina, a faculty sale has never gone through any formative evaluation, meaning involvement in sports activities while dren in a Henderson sports program must community. "We wanted to take a proactive member at Wayne State University's Institute of Gerontology in that it has never actually been tested with the kids it's aimed at," emphasizing fun for the young participants. attend. They discuss the roles of the parent approach to curbing violence in youth Detroit, and a research associate at the Gerontological Society of Higgins said. "Just about the only guide parents and teachers have "An added expectation is that parents, by and the coach, as well as why children quit sports;' she said. "This program was tailored America in Washington, D.C. Hirshorn's own research has for making a purchasing decision is what the publisher has said learning their role in youth sports, will dis­ youth sports. Parents complete a certifica­ specifically for our community and gives us focused on multigenerational relations and on maintaining the on the box." The evaluation tools will cover software that is com­ play appropriate and supportive behavior tion quiz and sign a code of conduct pledge direct access to experts in this field." self-sufficiency and productivity of seniors. monly used in special education and general education settings.

SPRING 2003 I 9 8 I UNLV MAGAZINE Series Showcases the Craft of Book Making When writ ing is your profession, it's Walker, an African American silhou­ - "an energetic and thoughtful collabora­ not very often that you want to just ette artist. Morrison also wrote The tor;' Schaeffer says- and another Work­ give away your livel ihood. Yet, it Bluest Eye, Tar Baby, and Beloved. shop graduate, Eric Olsen. With substantial hasn't been difficult to convince The second Rainmaker Edition is funding from Schaeffer, the group created Nobel laureates and National Book Spirit of the River, the first chapter of the International Institute of Modern Let­ Pr ize winners to donate their words a soon-to-be-published novel by Rus­ ters, headquartered at UNLV with Olsen as to the International Institute of sell Banks. The book was designed its director. Modern Letters. and illustrated by Barry Moser and Now the institute is working to become " We make them an offer they features woodblock art. Banks is the the major patron for the literary arts in the can 't refuse: we ask them to help author of Affliction and The Sweet world, Olsen says. "That's not an unrealistic other writers in need," says Richard Hereafter, both of which were turned goal, given the lack of organizational sup­ Wiley, a UNLV creative writ ing profes­ into movies. port in this area. There are many groups sor and director of publications for Wale Soyinka, another Nobel lau­ that support performing arts, but few, the institute. reate and UNLV's Elias Ghanem Chair unless you count corporate publishing, that Rainmaker Editions, a series of fine­ in Creative Writing, is the third fea­ support literature. We can make a signifi­ press books, is the primary fund-raising tured writer in the series. His cant impact partly because few others have effort of the institute, which supports Samarkand is a lor; poem that cele­ taken on the challenge." persecuted and emerging writers from brates the cultural ci.ossroads of a Though previously overlooked by phi­ around the world. The collectors' market in Uzbekistan while denounc­ lanthropists, literary arts are not marginal books, available by subscription only, ing fanaticism and commenting on in their value to society, according to the are crafted w ith original artwork on world affairs. The book is designed by institute's leaders. The organization's handmade paper. Subscribers receive Victoria Hindley and features illustra­ underlying principle is that a thriving liter­ three books each year, all signed by tions by Bob Kleinschmidt. ary environment is an essential component the author, illustrator, and designer. Other writers who have agreed to of dem ocracy and progress. Writers, they " Collectors of fine-press books contribute works to the series include say, fight epidemics of hate, intolerance, prize these beautiful pieces of art and Gunter Grass, Kenzaburo Oe, and and totalitarianism. "We embrace the idea writing," Wiley says. "To describe Henry Louis Gates. that literature, alone an1ong the arts, stands them is difficult; they are really some­ Copies of the Rainmaker Editions for intellectual freedom , humane choice, thing meant to be held so the crafts­ can also be found at UNLV's Lied progress, and telling the truth against polit­ manship that goes into them can real­ Library special collections, which ical lies;' Schaeffer says. ly be appreciated." houses a growing collection of fine­ But to have that effect, Olsen says, writ­ The first book in the 2002-03 series press books from around the world. ers m ust reach a general audience. "Vve is Five Poems by Nobel laureate Toni For Rainmaker Editions subscrip­ don't want the institute to become a self­ Morrison . The book was designed by tion information, call (702) 895-3033 TERaRY BITIONS referential organization that produces peo­ Peter Koch with illustrations by Kara or visit www.modernletters.org. by Cate Weeks I photos by Geri Kodey ple who only speak to others in the world of literature with a big 'L,"' he says. "We hope to be known as an organization that nur­ tures the public intellectual, someone who The International Institute of Modern Letters has set its goal the Nigerian playwright was visiting earn­ produces the kind of writing that gets read." p us. The two reconnected in October 1999, The institute's latest affiliate, UNLV art of becoming the world's top philanthropy organization for when Soyinka was on campus to present a criticism professor Dave Hickey, is an literary arts . Why? It's all in the name of progress. Barrick Lecture. example of a public intellectual, Olsen "Over dinner and a bottle of wine, Wole says. "Dave's a genius in the art world (see was bemoaning the fact that he was having page 14). But one thing that sets him apart hen Nobel laureate Wole Soyin­ The answer, casino executive and UNLV trouble establishing an American City of is that he is skilled at expressing his ideas - ka, then president of an interna­ benefactor Glenn Schaeffer says, is Asylum;' Wiley recounts. "We started jok­ which are som etimes at odds with the art W tional writers group, announced straightforward: no other city and no ing about how it would play against type to community - to a b road audience outside in May 2000 that Las Vegas had been named other university had seized the opportuni­ bring the program to Las Vegas. Pretty the art world." the first U.S. City of Asylum for persecuted ty. "It doesn't cost m uch money to claim a soon the joke stopped being a joke." writers, the world seemed to ask, "VVhy leadership position in literary arts; it only The other pivotal connection in the Center of Excellence Vegas?" Headlines pointed to the seeming requires dedication, motivated community story is Wiley's friendship with Schaeffer. The institute still oversees the City of Asy­ incongruity of Las Vegas as a refuge for dis­ activists, a town with ambition, and the The two had m et while attending the lum-Las Vegas, providing the resident sident writers - "Unlikely Haven for a right connections," he says. respected Iowa Writers' Workshop. Schaef­ writer with a townhome, living stipend, Writer" (Los Angeles Times) , ''A Literary The right connections were made years fer had previously expressed his desire to and health insurance (see page 18). To Gamble: Sin City Goes for the Cultural Jack­ ago, when UNLV creative writing professor establish a literary arts organization. Then support emerging writers, it has estab­ pot as a Poet's Asylum" (USA Today). Richard Wiley met Soyinka in 1990, when in stepped UNLV President Carol C. Harter lished p rograms at the universities of Iowa

10 I UN L V MA G AZIN E and California-Irvine and at Victoria Uni­ the economic and cultural development of of any university. It's not unreasonable to creative writing international program, versity in Wellington, New Zealand. Nevada. Among the 11 macrothemes iden­ suppose that a physics professor, for exam­ the only one of its kind that requires stu­ UNLV, however, seems to be embracing tified is "Language, Literacy, Literature, ple, might see this trickle down - or up - dents to live in a non-English-speaking the fledgling organization with the most and Communications." in terms of an improved quality of writing country for at least a semester. The schol­ enthusiasm because it, too, is establishing "The International Institute of Modern from students." arships support the students' efforts to itself as a premier institution, Olsen says. Letters is among the vibrant and creative At UNLV, the institute provides match­ translate works written in other languages "The notable thing about this university is programs that are truly distinguishing ing funds for the Elias Ghanem Chair in into English. that it is young, and the people here are not UNLV as a leader in language and litera­ Creative Writing, which Soyinka now In addition, the institute is providing bound by a hundred years of doing things ture;' says Harter, who holds a Ph.D. in holds, and contributes funding for a public grants to individuals to support the trans­ the same old way. It really makes this an English and American literature. "Through reading series. It created two fellowships for lation of selected works. It hopes to launch ideal place for the institute. UNLV has well­ this wonderful example of public-private doctoral students in the English depart­ joint publishing ventures with mainstream defined goals and clear ambition to become partnership, we are in a unique position to ment's creative writing track. The funding publishing houses to get the translations a major urban university." create a center of academic excellence as we allows the fellows to concentrate on com­ into print. In the 2000-01 academic year, Harter simultaneously support the freedom of pleting publishable works along with their The translation initiatives are aimed at charged a think-tank of faculty and admin­ individuals around the world to write from degrees. Last year's recipients were Con­ combating a covert form of censorship: istrators with developing UNLV's research their hearts and consciences." stance Pruss and Karenmary Penn. market negligence, especially in this coun­ macrothemes, or areas in which the univer­ Olsen adds, ''A center of excellence in a The institute grants scholarships to try. Fewer than 300 of the 13,000 works of sity can make significant contributions to specific area tends to raise the general tone students in UNLV's master of fme arts in continued on page 31

fun, it's been the first target of tyrannical governments and reli­ Another book was Harriet Beecher Stowe's social protest novel, The Founder: Glenn Schaeffer gious zealots. Uncle Tom's Cabin. For some reason, this book's not held in the esteem it once was, but its message united one of the world's Glenn Schaeffer, founder of the International Institute of Literature causes trouble? most victorious armies. Every Union soldier's backpack came Modern Letters, is president and chief financial officer for That's what the repressive or corrupt authorities seem to standard issue with a copy of Uncle Tom, not the Bible. It's hard Mandalay Resort Group, which operates 16 casino proper­ believe. They fear literature. That's why they crack down so hard to prosecute any war, let alone one of such high stakes and cost, ties nationwide. His educational background, however, is on the isolated scribbler here or there. But censorship, given without an anthem. We'd have been a different and lesser coun­ in literature, and he received a master of fine arts degree time, generally fails. We'd like to speed up its failure rate in con­ try without that novel. from the University of Iowa's prestigious Iowa Writer's temporary life. Workshop. He is an avid collector of first editions of You've discussed some " big-picture" reasons for why American poetry. "Saving a few good books" is your notion of social literature is important to business. Are there more tangi­ activism? ble, day-to-day benefits business receives from literature? Many people find it unusual that a casino executive is so Well, tyrants typically set out to burn books. Before torching the Business is about character, and character is the subject of liter­ interested in supporting literature. Why is literature Reichstag, Hitler burned mounds of literature, because literature ary fiction. important to you? is symbolic of the individual spirit. The institute, in its small You look for your own story in literature; it's one of the best way, will serve to protect and publish literary works of inde­ You obviously put a lot of stock in the liberal arts. mechanisms you have to convince yourself you're not alone. Lit­ pendent self-expression. Liberal arts teaches people to exercise judgment, analyze com­ erature - and I would add science - are both confirming disci­ plex ideas, tolerate differing viewpoints, and form cohesive plines. In science, you ask: "Do you see what I see?" In literature, You'd argue that progress is a literary value? arguments. Those are the traits of success in any social environ­ it's: "Do you feel what I feel? " Reading and writing are part of This is how modern society thrives, by risk and new ideas. ment like business or government. who I am, as a person. And for ourselves as a progressive society, According to a business writer like Malcolm Gladwell, social and we are made up, in real part, by our books or literature. market progress often happens by tiny, seemingly undetectable On a personal level, what books have been actions - tipping points, as Gladwell calls them. Books have important to you? Why should literature be a matter of interest for the busi­ been those tipping points, again and again. The Great Gatsby was a major influence. It was after reading ness community? that novel that I decided I wanted to be a writer like Fitzgerald. Literary narrative of imagination has been a stimulant to market An example? As a result, I went to the Iowa Writers' Workshop. I seem to have economies and liberal societies for 500 years. Writers are explor­ Thomas Paine's polemical pamphlet, Common Sense, which completely missed the point of the novel, however, and aspired ers, critics, skeptics, and naysayers. But whenever their voices or sounded a defiant American spirit and stirred a political revolu­ to live Gatsby's life, minus the inventions. (So did Fitzgerald persons are punished, you find market corruption, political tion, that, turn upon turn, reversed world power over the next himself, it seems to me.) And at the workshop, I learned I didn't totalitarianism, backward social customs, and anti-feminism. two hundred years - from Eurocentric colonialism to global want to be a writer, so I went into business instead. There haven't been any long-lived exceptions to this rule. Americanism. Not everyone's supremely happy with that out­ also remind people all the time that the Iowa Workshop is the Progress itself doesn't occur apart from a free commerce in come, but the material result for the masses has few parallels, if You might say that, in quite nonlinear ways, both that novel and most selective graduate school in the country, and I wouldn't ideas, often rendered in stories. Maybe because literature is also any, in world history. the Iowa Workshop have had very positive outcomes for me. I want to try over.

12 I UNLV MAGAZINE SPRING 2003 I 13 According to Hickey, while it's flattering to receive such an was in Texas at a symposium in San Marcos in honor of the honor - especially because recipients cannot apply for the writer John Graves, the conversation turned to presidential grant, but instead are nominated by their peers - it's best to libraries. Lyndon Johnson's was in Austin, at (the University of be realistic about it. "It's not 'genius' genius. It's 'art criticism Texas), and they spoke of that. Someone then brought up the genius,"' he corrects. "That's a fairly small field, like being the library of Bush the Younger, and wondered where it would be. best surfer in Montana." 'It will be a small one; David said, 'since none of the books It's lines like that that set Hickey apart, says author and will go past chapter 11.' UNLV English professor John Irsfeld. "When someone asked him if that had come to him on the "One of the things about David that endears him to me and spur of the moment, he admitted it had. 'It's what I do; he is to others, I think, is his gift for great lines. He has a direct con­ reputed to have said. That's only a tiny part of what he does, of nection to somewhere else that most of us don't have, and he course, but a delightful part." is free with that gift. Here, then, are some of Hickey's thoughts on art, art criti­ "One of my spies reported to me that recently, when David cism, Las Vegas, and a diversity of subjects.

On why he decided in college to On the most influential artists from people who care than with author­ pursue a career in art criticism rather of the last century: Picasso, Pollock, ized approval of the work." than his original choice of literary Warhol. On why he gets so much work criticism: The art world is more social On what excites him about art: (Hickey doesn 't solicit writing assign­ and it's more gregarious. Things look bet­ I'm excited by the fact that some of it is ments. The publications ask him.): ter, people dress better and stay up later. exciting. It is one of the few places that Part of the reason that I work so much, It's not quite as seedy and tweedy. you can see something new and weird and the reason that everybody my age On whether he is also an artist: and disorienting. Not always, but there's who's an art critic works so much, is that No, I don't think critics should be com­ always the possibility of something excit­ so many kids died in the '80s with the petitive with their subjects. Thus my dis­ ing. When people ask me what I want to AIDS epidemic. There's a whole genera­ trust of literary criticism. see, I say, 'I don't know what I want to tion of art critics who are just dead. So, in On what motivates people to see. I want to be amazed: That's my job. a sense, I'm doing a lot of their work become artists: Artists come out of the And is he amazed often? Pretty often. these days. AIDS just ravaged the art penthouse and out of the ghetto. They You know, more often than insurance world - and as much in criticism as in rarely come out of the suburbs. The art adjustors. They're probably more anything else. In my generation, nearly world, in fact, is mostly rich kids and appalled than amazed. everybody overdosed and, fortunately, I poor kids. People who want the car and On how the layperson views art: didn't do that. the house and the pool and everything Your experience of art is based on your On why Las Vegas is not an odd don't tend to be artists - they'll become experience of other art. So if you don't place for someone who loves art to t might well have been midnight in a club somewhere in the phone in his apartment begins around 9 a.m. art professors, perhaps, or curators or arts grow up around art and if you don't take live: Las Vegas is a place that looks inter­ snowy Rockies. The room was nearly dark as midnight -lighted The Texas-born Hickey has been writing- prolifically- for administrators, but they don't become the trouble to acquire a repertoire of esting. That's a very good place for an I only by small strips of neon and flames from a circular ski­ years. He has four books to his credit- Prior Convictions: Stories artists. Most successful artists make a lot responses, it's really hard to know what artist. It's about the physical. Vegas lodge-type fireplace that would have been considered "hip" a few from the Sixties, Air Guitar: Essays on Art and Democracy, The less than university professors do - and anything is when you see it because it's aspires to a condition of art. Not many decades ago. In the adjacent conversation pit, a couple was engaged Invisible Dragon: Four Essays on Beauty, and the latest, Stardumb, they don't have health insurance. always more or less than everything else. places do .. ..Artists in Las Vegas are not in a marathon make-out session, oblivious to other customers. a book illustrated by artist John deFazio. His essays, critiques, On what art is: It's what we call it. So it's a completely relative and contin­ the only people concerned with how it It might well have been midnight, but it wasn't. It was one and short stories have appeared in virtualfy every American pub­ It's a wildcard in the hand that culture gent discourse. It's a classic 'you had to be looks. In Ann Arbor, Mich., artists proba­ o'clock on a bright afternoon- at least outside. Inside the lounge lication known for its cultural discourse, including Rolling Stone, deals us. So we decide what it is. The there' activity. If you just accept the fact bly are the only ones who care how the of Las Vegas' Peppermill restaurant, it was dead-of-night dark. Art in America (where he once was executive editor), Artforum, function of art changes from generation that the art world has never been particu­ city looks. That time can be so easily altered is one of the things Dave Harper's, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, The New York Times, and to generation. It does whatever needs to larly congenial to bourgeois sensibilities, On why he abandoned his Hickey - renowned art critic, author, UNLV professor, and certi­ The Los Angeles Times. be done, if it's any good. And what is it's a fairly amazing democracy. Nashville songwriting career: I decid­ fied genius (ask the folks at the MacArthur Foundation) -likes For the past ll years, the former art gallery owner and the function of art in this genera­ On people in the art world: The ed at some point that I could be an A-plus about the town he has called home for the last dozen years. Nashville songwriter has taught art criticism and theory at tion? Hard to say. The general function high art world is about people who love art critic and only a B-plus songwriter. So "Vegas is not the future. It's the '70s with valet parking. It's got UNLV and has helped numerous students launch their careers. of modern art is to reorganize society. In change and love adventure. Not many I went with the higher grade. Unfortu­ drinking and smoking and staying up late and 24-hour restau­ During the fall semester, though, he took time off from his other words, works of art create con­ people like to be challenged. Not many nately, I did that without ever thinking rants. If I want to stay up late, I can. And," he says, gesturing academic duties to concentrate on writing- helped by a stituencies of people who like it, and these people like to be threatened. It's not a how much money a B-plus songwriter around the dimly lit bar, "it can be midnight just for me." $500,000, no-strings-attached grant from the John D. and constituencies are not bounded by race, game for losers and not a game for sissies. makes. I could be sitting in West Palm in Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Hickey is the first Nevadan color, creed, region, or religion, and so On success in the art world: You my yacht. So much for genius. Having an adjustable "midnight" must be convenient for a to receive the foundation's so-called "genius" grant. they create new modes of social organiza­ can be a successful artist even if every­ On art critics: Art critics tend to man who once was a musician and clearly likes the after-hours According to the foundation, Hickey spurns ideological agen­ tion. And it's art's ability to override these body hates your work- if they hate it be fairly eccentric. When two art critics mood, but who rises by 4 a.m. most days so that he can get the das and champions what some consider to be outmoded notions sorts of primitive tribal norms that is the enough. Success in the art world has more agree, you've got one too many art bulk of his writing done before the non-stop ringing ofthe of beauty, artistic vision, and the virtues of the marketplace. thing that appeals to me the most. to do with the sheer quantity of response critics. m

SPRING 2003 I 15 14 I UNLV MAGAZINE t's 11:25 a.m. I'm standing outside a small office on the sixth floor of the Flora Dungan Humanities Building. The brown plastic sign by the door reads: Mr. Wole Soyinka. A I student (I presume) with a book bag slung on his shoulder joins my wait. We stare at the study-abroad posters on the bulletin board. We're both early for our respective appointments - we're not meeting the kind of man you keep waiting. A deep voice with a distinct diction echoes through the hallway maze; it's finishing a conversation started on the elevator, politely turning down an invitation to a book festival only because the speaker will be out of town. "That's him," the student says. "His voice stands out, doesn't it?" Indeed, Soyinka stood out in that hallway. He stood out to UNLV President Carol C. Harter and English professor Richard Wiley, who recruited Soyinka in 2000 to hold the first Elias Ghanem Chair of Creative Writing, a position funded by donor Glenn Schaeffer. He stood out to the Nigerian military dictatorships that placed him in solitary confine­ ment for 22 months in the 1960s and forced him into exile in the 1990s. He stood out to the Swedish Academy, which in 1986 awarded him the Nobel Prize in literature, the first given to an African writer. And he stood out to graduate theatre student Jonathan Shultz, who now speaks to Soyinka in a decidedly deferential manner as the playwright invites us into his office. The office's bookshelves wrap around the walls, sagging under the weight of the poetry, novels, plays, and essays they hold. Soyinka grabs a paperback - his own play King Baabu - signs it, and hands it to Shultz. "I wanted you to have this from me." "That has to be one of the coolest things anyone has ever given to me - ever will give to me," Shultz says later. The actor traveled to Greece last year with fellow UNLV students and faculty to perform Oedipus at Colonus, a play written and directed by Soyinka. "I mean, he gave me incredible opportunities and experiences and here he is giving me his just-published work. I traveled out of the country for the first time because of him, and my resume will always have on it that I worked with him on the world premiere of his play- that carries a lot of weight when you walk into an audition." As Soyinka turns to my interview questions, I'm suddenly grateful for my tape recorder as his word choice tests my note-taking skills. Here are his views on teaching, books, and politics.

On today's literature: It's the nature and they go so far beyond that which was of the mind to constantly make compar­ such agony in the beginning. isons and look backwards. The classes (I Here, Schultz can offer some insight: taught) yesterday were on the American Oedipus at Co/onus "was so different novel. We discussed how many great writ­ than any play I've ever worked with ers all matured in the early part of the 20th before. The language is so dense, and I century - Steinbeck, Faulkner. When you didn't know where to go with it or how have a cluster of creativity, people tend to to work with (Soyinka) . I really struggled. sense of justice. I have never been able to experiences into my writing, but my expe­ Paris for a conference on the plight of read, but there's no reason to be solemn see successive periods as lacking in the Somewhere along the way I realized how accept the absoluteness of a pacifist riences don't change me as a writer. exiled writers. about it. weight and profundity of the period. I far ahead of everyone he was, and I just approach when dealing with state terror­ On his vigorous travel schedule: My On selecting a book to read: Some On the writing process: I find it very, don't believe that. Literature moves on a had to trust him and catch up. Once I ism, when facing the insanity of funda­ actions may suggest I'm restless- peri­ writing is meant for entertainment, very difficult actually. I really don't know continuum. All ideas build on one another. did, it was such a joy, such an incredible mentalist persecution. I have enormous patetic, perhaps -but there's nothing I wal­ escapism. You read and don't remember it - why I write when I do .... I don't think you One of the joys of literature is it doesn't experience." admiration for Ghandi, Desmond Tutu, low in more deeply than the isolation of your mind just goes away. There's so much can force it. I've known writers who sit at a stand in isolation. On receiving the Nobel Prize in lit­ Aung Suu Chi. Martin Luther King was my home - and trampling through the literature in the world that my advice is to typewriter and demand of themselves that On teaching and directing: I think erature: It was a mixed bag, actually. It also an unquestionably great fighter for bush when in Nigeria. My politics, I'm find that which is both enriching and they produce a certain number of pages my father passed the teaching genes down played havoc with my creative life. For social justice. He was able to combine that afraid, have turned me into a nomad. pleasurable to you. every day. To me, if it doesn't come, there to me. It keeps my mind very, very active - somebody like me, coming from a certain with absolute faith in nonviolent means. In the two weeks prior to the inter­ There's a world-fan1ous writer- I'm not are equally important things in life, like students are so intellectually curious. society, that world's demands were con­ These men are among the saints. view, Soyinka was in Cape Town, South going to name names, of course. I know, going to tl1e nearest bar for a glass of wine. Directing, too, is a teaching process. The stant, even dangerous. Nigeria's dictator On imprisonment: People try to sug­ Africa, where he was staging King Baabu, academically, that she is a good writer, but Advice for young writers: Get ready most fascinating part is to watch human would have considered it his crowning gest my writing got darker. My politics cer­ and in Italy for La Biannale di Venizia, an somehow her work has never gripped me. I to receive your rejection slips, treasure beings in the exercise of self-transforma­ glory to hang a Nobel laureate. tainly became hardened. What I did in the arts festival. After teaching courses at picked up her latest book thinking I'd try them and transcend them. It's a very, very tion. Their minds develop as they take on On politics: I've developed through first place to become imprisoned became UNLV. he was on to Eg ypt for the opening again. I set it aside after the second chapter. rare writer who doesn't receive them. Await the new consciousness of their characters some mysterious means a very conscious more strident. As all writers, I bring my of the Alexandria Library, followed by I think we should be enriched by what we yours and then carry on. m

16 I UNLV MAGAZINE SPRING 2003 I 17 Editor's Note: Syl Cheney-Coker contributed this essay to UNLV Magazine before his term as Las Vegas' first writer-in-residence under the City of Asylum program the Chinese Artist Named ended in January. The poet and novelist plans to return to Sierra Leone, which he Next Writer-in-Asylum fled in 1997 after a military coup that led to a civil war. With the help of the Unit­ In February, Chinese dissident ed Nations, the East African country has achieved some political stability. Las Vegas Er Tai Gao became the second was the first U.S. city to join the City of Asylum program, which was created by participant in the City of Asylum­ the International Parl iament of Writers to provide safe havens for writers under Las Vegas project operated by threat of death, torture, or imprisonment. The International Institute of Modern the International Institute of Letters, which is based at UNLV, established and funds the Las Vegas program. Modern Letters. Despite several imprisonments, fter two years, bewildered friends brought on by the falling stock market. A Gao, a writer, painter, and art crit­ still asked, "How do you like Las very hard time, indeed, for writers trying ic, has been a force in Chinese cul­ Vegas?" People seem surprised that a to hold a candle in the wind of our bat­ A ture. He was a member of the foreign writer would choose to live in this tered humanity. Council of the National Association city. Sometimes, I feel as though the aston­ So, it is especially gratifying that at of Art and Literary Theory and the ishment might not be any different if, say, a UNLV, thanks to the benevolence of Glenn Chinese Writers Association. The Christian priest had been foolish enough to Schaeffer of Mandalay Bay Resort Group, Chinese National Science Council let his daredevil presence be discovered in there exists an organization, the Interna­ also designated him as a state Saudi Arabia or a Norwegian Viking were tional Institute of Modern Letters, whose expert with distinguished contribu­ caught studying the mating habits of vicu­ mandate is to create the right atmosphere tions to his field. nas in Chile. What are you doing here?! for and give critical support to writers like In 1957, his work On Beauty I am quite certain that these are not the me. The City of Asylum program was resulted in a sentence of hard sort of questions that assail filmmakers, already well established in more than 25 labor in a Gebitan Desert camp, actors, and show personalities, or even European cities when Las Vegas joined the where 90 percent of the impris­ sports men and women. After all, Las Vegas list. The International Parliament of Writers oned workers died in exile. is a high-spirited city with an established (IPW) had launched the program in Stras­ After the beginning of the Cul­ tradition of entertainment - it draws these bourg, France, post the fatwa that sent tural Revolution in 1966, he was personalities. They come and stay, various­ Salman Rushdie into underground exile. again sentenced to hard labor. ly, in the casinos, hotels, and other resorts, With the untiring work ofWole Soyinka, Deemed to be officially rehabilitat­ and they entertain. But when it comes to past IPW president and holder of the Elias ed in 1978, he was assigned to writers, the script changes: What kind of Ghanem Chair of Creative Writing at teach philosophy at Lanzhou Uni­ writing are you doing? Do you gamble? No, UNLV, and novelist Russell Banks, current versity, but was dismissed for his but isn't waking up or jumping into my car IPW president, there is now another City of humanist views and was later pro­ an act of gambling? In this atmospheric Asylum in the United States- Ithaca, N.Y.­ hibited from writing. "strange land;' my questioners wonder with others soon to follow. Still, it was up to In 1988, he was invited to lec­ about the support I am getting as someone UNLV to seize the opportunity proffered by ture at Harvard University on Chi­ who is not in the city to write about it. Schaeffer and to ensure that Las Vegas nese culture but was denied per­ It takes a good deal of sang-froid to would become the torchbearer of a very mission to leave the country. be a writer - a writer who is engaged - enlightened program that has united writers He escaped China through anywhere these days. Gone are the days of various persuasions around the world. Hong Kong in 1992 along with his when we could take for granted the nos­ As with all marriages, there were, of wife, Pu Xiaoyu, also a writer and trum that there exists a climate of toler­ course, problems at the beginning of my painter. He was granted political ance for the dissident or maverick to write stay here, due largely to the fact that I was refugee status in the United States in freedom. When governments are not not really attached to UNLV in the same the following year. able to silence you, they leave it to the cor­ way that writers-in-asylum in other cities His works include The Struggle porate giants of the publishing world to are part of host institutions. And, I longed of Beauty and Beauty, The Symbol muzzle yo u by not publishing yo ur work. for my country and my people. of Freedom. While in Las Vegas, It won't sell. It won't make us a million dol­ So, I was delighted to make the unex­ Gao hopes to complete his mem­ lars. Not enough sex and violence. If pected discovery that, every Saturday oir, To Seek My Homeland. Faulkner were writing today, he definitely between 9 a.m. and noon, the public radio wonderful gift that lessens the pain of Unger, both of whom are writers with a essence, the gift every writer cherishes: Gao's essay "On the Obligation would not "sell:' station on campus (KUNV 91.5 FM) homesickness. vast knowledge of the world, have been the time and freedom to do my work. In to Smile in Chinese Work Camps" The attitude is crested on the assump­ devotes a program to African music as The institute has provided vital support invaluable. Through readings and lectures, this regard, it has been a very rewarding is available on the International tion that serious literature is dead, and that part of its world music programming. To for me through the camaraderie of the the institute has rescued me from the sense experience to be the first writer to partici­ Parliament of Writers Web site at people just do not have the time to read be transported back to the rich, eclectic local writers who teach at the university. of aloneness that I sometimes felt . pate in a program whose vision has given www.autodafe.org/autodafe/ books when they are busy worrying about musical landscape of my continent, to be The exchanges that I have had with UNLV Under the directorship of Eric Olsen, added dimension to UNLV's motto: Be a autodafe_01/art_01.htm. their mortgages and the hypertension seduced by its beauty every week, is a professors Richard Wiley and Douglas the institute has given me what is, in rebel. Indeed. ~

18 I UNLV MAGAZINE SPRING 2003 I 19 OKS

Stardumb is a bit of fluff on the body of perceptive art criticism King Baabu Hickey has built over the last decade. He prolifically writes essays What's on Your Bedside Table? for exhibit catalogs and has contributed to Rolling Stone, Art in by Wole Soyinka concrete Methuen 2002 America, and The New Yorker. In his older corpus of work, some of Editor's Note: "What's on the Bedside Tabl e" is a new fea­ Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka continues his outspoken criticism the more intriguing titles include Air Guitar: Essays on Art & ture of our books section. This issue, our featured UNLV of the misuse of power in his 17th play, King Baabu. It tells the Democracy (1997); Howl: The Artwork of Luis Jimenez (1997); In the authors, as well as the International Institute of Modern Let­ story of General Basha Bash (bearing a strong resemblance to Dancehall of the Dead (1993); Last Chance for Eden: Selected Art ters' founder, Glenn Schaeffer, share the titles that they read Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha), who takes power in a coup and Criticism by Christopher Knight, 1979-1994 (1995); and The Invisible for pleasure. decides to turn his country into a Dragon: Four Essays on Beauty (1993). Wole Soyinka: The Nobel laureate was difficult to pin down kingdom and call himself as to specifics; but here's his response: "My current traveling King Baabu. Ahmed's Revenge companions appear to be poetry- the latest being Hugh Soyinka (see page 18) satirizes MacDiarmid and Peter Balakian . Not any special reason. I the rule of the brutal and corrupt by Richard Wiley grab them off the shelf as I dash off to the airport. Plus new Abacha, so it is not surprising that Random House, 1998 African writing as it lands on my desk. Bedside reading is the work was not staged in Nigeria It's been more than four years since novelist Richard Wiley's mostly trying to finish off the saved magazine sections of the until after Abacha's death in 1998. Ahmed's Revenge reached bookstores. In the intervening years Wiley, Sunday papers- all week. I never succeed because I fall The play premiered in the Lagos' who sets his fiction in foreign locales, has researched in Japan and asleep too fast." National Arts Theatre in 2001. has finished Commodore Perry's Minstrel Show; so in the not-too­ distant future, readers can expect a novel where Japanese people, "Baabu" is a pun on a Rausa word Dave Hickey: Cicero: the Life and Times of Rome 's Greatest culture, and places provide the synergy for the story. meaning "nothing;' or metaphori­ Politician by Anthony Everitt (2002); The Devil and Sonny Lis­ Ahmed's Revenge, however, is a long way from Japan. Instead of cally "finished." ton by Nick Tosches (2000); as well as a collection of books fitting onto the small islands with their crowded cities on the west­ Soyinka was getting ready to about the Renaissance architect Andreas Palladia for a ern edge of the Pacific Ocean, the characters in Ahmed's Revenge stage his own The Beatification of review for The New Yorker. Area Boy in Lagos in 1994 when he have the vast expanse of Africa with which to play out their tale of learned that Abacha wanted him mystery, moral conflict, and racial identity. Richard Wiley: Feast of Love by Charles Baxter; The Fourth arrested. He fled into self-imposed exile and contin­ Wiley, who's lived in Kenya, Nigeria, Japan, and Korea, brings the Hand by John Irving; and Great Wine by Andrea lmmer. ued to write and produce plays critical of the brutality colonial continent of Isak Dinesen's Out ofAfrica into the 1970s. and corruption in his homeland. When a coffee grower in Kenya is murdered, his widow, Nora, Douglas Unger: The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Although Abacha is dead, other corrupt regimes remain in decides to investigate. She discovers that not only was her husband Greg Palast; Stupid White Men by Michael Moore; and a Africa and around the world, giving King Baabu, like Macbeth, MacArthur Fellow Dave Hickey's (see page 20) latest work is involved in the illegal ivory trade, but so was her father, once a min­ stack of The Nation. which it loosely resembles, continued currency. more tongue in cheek than tongue in your face, and it is a far cry ister of wildlife in the Kenyan government. Eric Olsen: Picasso's War by Michele Cone; The Proper Of his use of theater to strike at corrupt, murderous politi­ from his usual art criticism. The book has been described as an "ingeniously off-the-wall cians, Soyinka has said, "If we can't hang people from the nearest In Stardumb, a slender volume described on its back cover as story" and an "exceedingly clever novel" (Wall Street Journal) as well Study of Mankind: An Anthology of Essays by Isaiah Berlin; and December 6 by Martin Cruz Smith. lamppost, I can at least hang them symbolically on the stage. "The astrology book for the art world at the millennium;' Hickey as "nothing short of an exotic page-turner" (Booklist) . The New York and psychedelic artist John DeFazio have indulged their lighter sides Tim es Book Review wrote: "It's a credit to Wiley's intelligence and That's the instrument I have available to me." Glenn Schaeffer: Trains of Thought by Vidor Brombert, a in interpreting the signs of the zodiac. narrative expertise that the answer he suggests arrives subtly, with­ Soyinka's previous works include The Burden of Memory, the literary critic and memoirist, and Sven Birkerts' Blue Sky For each astrological sign, there is a vignette written by Hickey out the wince of heavy-handed rhetoric." Muse of Forgiveness, which was published by Oxford University Trades, another memoir. "I've decided, too, to reread Joh n and an illustration by DeFazio that, among other things, invariably The title character was, by the way, a real elephant so large that Press in 2000. Based on Soyinka's Stewart-McMillan lectures at Irving's World According to Garp, a major American novel," shows a couple (or more) in a sexually compromising position his tusks were more than three times longer than average. "I was the W.E.B. DuBois Institute at Harvard, the collection of essays he says. "I try to reread a book every year." addresses African politics and social justice. His most recent amidst wild, colorful characters. Hickey's vignettes have art themes intrigued by the irony of the fact that to protect Ahmed from work is the poetry collection Samarkand and Other Markets I and frequently involve drugs and sex. poachers, they took away his freedom;' the author says about one of Have Known, which follows the author's journeys since receiving One might think that because Hickey took the time to write the themes of his novel. the Nobel Prize in Literature. about astrology he takes it seriously, but the title, Stardumb, reveals Wiley came to UNLV in 1989 to teach creative writing and is In the novel, a former exchange student, now a journalist, takes Soyinka's long poem "Samarkand" is also available in a fine­ his basic view of the subject. "I know nothing about astrology and now also director of publications for the International Institute of his wife to Argentina to introduce her to his former host family, press book from Rainmaker Editions, the International Institute care less;' Hickey says. "This is one of the characteristics of Sagitar­ Modern Letters. His novels include Fools' Gold, Festival for Three the Benevenutos. He becomes deeply involved with the family's of Modern Letters' collectors series (see story, page 11). iuses like myself. Thousand Maidens, and Indigo. He won the PEN/Faulkner award tragic circumstances after military dictatorship takes over their "The astrology [theme] was my friend DeFazio's idea;' Hickey for best American fiction in 1987 for Soldiers in Hiding, his first country. Two of the family's three sons "disappeared" while the says. "I got an astrology-for-idiots book- a redundancy, I know­ novel. In addition to Commodore Perry, Wiley fans can expect a third went into exile. Stardumb and used its characterizations of the various sign-types as occasions novel set in the United States to come out in the future. The journalist narrates the story, which is based on Unger's by Dave Hickey for little stories about the art world. own experience as an exchange student who became close to a Artspace Books, 1999 "I wrote them in order, one a day for 12 days, revised for two Voices from Silence family in Argentina. "I call it a novel of witness," Unger told the When you conjure up a vision of a "genius," yo u likely think more, and that was it;' he continues. "The stories are not as shiny as by Douglas Unger New York Times when the book was first published in 1995. "I of someone like Rodin's famous sculpture "The Thinker," sitting, I would like, but they are professional writing and they get better as St. Martin's Press, 1995 promised my Argentine family I would tell their story." chin in hand, pondering weighty thoughts. But even a genius has you go along." (They also tend to get longer, offering more space for Douglas Unger's Voices from Silence has, perhaps, special rele­ Voices from Silence has been called "an uncomfortable but effec­ a funny bone. Picture instead the famous photo of Albert Ein­ development, which may have something to do with Hickey's vance in an era of terrorism and anti-terrorism. It deals with state­ tive book" (Booklist) and an "emotionally complicated story (that) stein sticking his tongue out for the photographer. greater satisfaction with the later pages.) supported terror and its impact on families and individuals. is a grisly sequel to El Yanqui" (Washington Post).

20 I U N L V M A G A Z IN E SPRING 2003 I 21 BOOKS & MUSIC

Unger is the director of the creative writing program at UNLV Cheng, a designer of contemporary homes based in Berkeley, The Execution of a Serial Killer: Trying to understand it objectively, I constantly wonder Calif., has won awards for his creativity. He wanted to produce a what it was about the execution that affected me so and the grants and acquisitions officer for the institute, but he has One Man's Experience Witnessing book full of photos of his work and teamed up with Olsen, who strongly. I had been trained in criminology and the social not neglected his writing since Voices from Silence was published. the Death Penalty "I've been steadily at work on two manuscripts, one a collection of did the writing. Tips for handling the product, for combining sciences. I knew what I was getting into, so why was I so literary short stories and one a comic short novel currently in sub­ ingredients for design purposes, and just for the reader's general Joseph Diaz, '97 MA and '99 Ph .D. Sociology surprised and shocked? ... mission in New York;' Unger says. education about concrete enliven the design of the book. Poncha Press, 2002 I traveled to Florida with the image of myself as a pro­ Focusing his attention on short stories has garnered consider­ Genesis for the book was a remodeling project in Olsen's fessor, detached from the subject. I went as an educated able success. "Leslie and Sam," published in the Southwest Review, home. His kitchen is shown on page 49 before concrete; the fin ­ The Execution of a Serial Killer explores the life and death man who studied human beings and what drives our was chosen for the short list of the 0. Henry Award for 2002 and ished countertop is on page 173; and all of the how-to sections of a serial killer as well as the impact his execution had on the behavior. Horrible images were not new to me. I had named a distinguished story by the Best Short Stories of 2002 feature the Olsen project. author, a UNLV graduate who is now a sociology professor in watched videos of suicides and studied countless dia­ anthology editors. "The Perfect Wife (After Maupassant)" was Except that its binding does not allow it to lie impressively Minnesota. grams and photos of murder scenes. In some of my class­ published in the Colorado Review, and "The Writer's Widow" in open, this is a coffee table-quality book, full of lush photos of fin­ Joseph Diaz's journey into the death chamber began with a es I even show photos of victims in an effort to help oth­ the Ontario Review. These and other stories, such as the novella­ ished countertops and the process that goes into making them. news report about prison officials having trouble finding people ers understand what a killer does and why he attacked length Looking for War (to be published by TriQuarterly), will be The authors show the way imagination and creativity can be to serve as witnesses during the execution of prisoners. Hoping the victim in a particular way. But this was different, and collected into a single volume tentatively titled Cuban Nights. brought to bear on a material most of us relegate to sidewalks and that the experience would help his research, Diaz sent letters to I knew it. building slabs. The book quotes Frank Lloyd Wright: "Concrete is Florida and Texas officials volunteering to witness upcoming The death scenes I had previously viewed were just (a) passive or negative material, depending for aesthetic life executions. To his surprise, Concrete Countertops almost wholly upon the impress of human imagination." Florida granted his by Fu-Tung Cheng with Eric Olsen Olsen has also written several other non-fiction books, includ­ request, and in December Taunton Press, 2002 ing Lifefit: An Effective Exercise Program for Optimal Health and a 2000, he held a seat just II ALUMNI AUTHOR Most members of the International Institute for Modern Letters Longer Life. three feet from serial killer Joseph Diaz, '97 MA and '99 Ph .D . Sociolo­ deal with abstract ideas and ideals. As befits the person responsible Edward Castro as the man gy, is a professor of sociology at Southwest for the day-to-day smoothing of the path for the idealists, Execu­ was executed by lethal State Un iversity in Marshall, Minn., where tive Director Eric Olsen writes about concrete. Literally. Olsen is The Books section was compiled by Barbara Cloud, UNLV's injection. the author, with designer Fu Tung Cheng of Concrete Countertops, associate provost for academic affairs. She is also the editor Six months after wit­ he teaches and researches in the areas of a how-to for those who want an alternative to granite, Corian, of Minister to the Cherokees: A Civil War Autobiography by nessing Castro's execution, criminology and antisocial behavior. He and Formica, or other traditional surfaces in their kitchens or baths. James Anderson Slover. the death penalty came to his wife, Camille, have three boys. the forefront of the media as Oklahoma bomber Tim- othy McVeigh's execution Reinventing the System: Higher Education in Nevada, 1968-2000 neared. In the two days leading up to McVeigh's execution, Diaz that ... scenes. Like a movie, they weren't real to me. And was interviewed by 20 news organizations. The Execution of a more importantly, they had nothing to do with me per­ by James W. Hulse, with Leonard education. Nevada is the only Board of Regents and the Serial Killer, he writes in the book's introduction, grew out of a sonally. This execution, however, was related to me. It was Goodall and Jackie Allen state with a single board respon- Legislature favored UNR question he was asked repeatedly, "How did it make you feel?" personal because I helped do it. I helped execute Edward University of Nevada Press, 2002 sible for all of higher education. I in the budget process;' As a social scientist, Diaz expected to find the experience Castro. No academic training, no theory, no intellectual As part of the story, the book ,.,,.,,-,,l.t""*"-""~P••• • ••oh;u• Goodall writes, noting fur­ "informative and profoundly fascinating," he writes. He previ­ approach could distance me from that fact .... Former UNLV President Leonard "Pat" discusses the units of which the ther that UNLV faculty had ously had never taken a strong stance for or against the death Only now, after the event, did I understand the differ­ Goodall's contribution to James Hulse's UCCSN is composed. a "stepchild attitude" penalty, though he tended to put more value in the studies that ence between "watching" an execution and " witnessing " history of the University and Community Goodall's chapter describes to UNR. show capital punishment does not deter crime. one. I had come to Florida to watch an execution, not real­ College System of Nevada, which governs the terms of the seven presidents Goodall, now emeritus He was also swayed by incidences of DNA evidence proving izing that I would actually witness it. The subtle distinction UNLV and six other institutions of higher who have served UNLV - from --.,...,,.,...___ ...J~ professor of public adminis- the innocence of men on death row as well as the statistics that is important. When a person watches something, like a education, gives a southern flavor to what Roman Zorn (see page 26) to tration, also describes the show poor minorities are much more likely to receive the death movie or a television show, he is not part of the episode. might otherwise have been a largely Carol C. Harter - telling us about the establishment of UNLV's colleges and penalty than whites convicted of murder. He is merely an observer. A witness, on the other hand, is a northern exercise. people themselves and the issues that other units key to its development over its Yet, he also had supported the death penalty at times. In part person involved with the outcome of the event.. .. That's not to say Jim Hulse wouldn't marked their presidencies. For example, 40-year history. The chapter concludes of the book, he discusses Zane Floyd, who killed four people in a I realized that I would never have been invited into the have given the south its due; the UNR it was during Goodall's own presidency with "UNLV in the Twenty-First Centu­ Las Vegas grocery store in June 1999. At the time, Diaz was fin­ chamber if I had said in my letter to the State of Florida professor emeritus of history has a (1979-1984) that the Barrick Lecture ry;' noting the creation of the Interna­ ishing his doctoral dissertation at UNLV and working part-time that I wanted to "watch" an execution. By chance, I used statewide reputation for fairness and Series was established, the UNLV Foun­ tional Institute of Modern Letters and the in a nearby store. "While the studies (that the death penalty does the word " witness," and I had used it twice in that fateful objectivity. But he might have had only a dation was created, the Thomas & Mack Boyd School of Law and the building of not deter crime) were scientific and well-researched, they were letter. I had asked to take part in the execution of another single chapter on "The Universities;' Center opened, and Jerry Tarkanian's the state-of-the-art Lied Library. strictly theoretical and unemotional;' Diaz writes. "Whenever person, when I really thought I was aski ng to "see" it hap­ treating both together, as he has lumped Runnin' Rebels brought UNLV national UNLV has contributed its share of his­ people like Zane Floyd decided they were ready to show their pen. I wanted to study it; I didn't want to become part of the community colleges into one chapter. attention. torical photographs to the volume in inhumane desires to the world, my gut, my emotions, shifted the study. But I had become a part of Edward Castro's exe­ Reinventing the System tells the story A number of historical descriptions which Hulse explores the interactions back again to supporting the death penalty." cution, and now it was part of me. of the conception, growth, and develop­ in Reinventing the System echo today. among community members, politicians, As Castro's execution unfolds in the book, Diaz finds himself ment of the statewide system of higher "Zorn was convinced that both the and educators that shaped the system. unprepared for his own emotions. The fo llowing excerpt is from The Execution of a Serial Killer is ava ilable through Pon­ Chapter 24: cha Press, (888) 350-1445, or visit www.ponchapress.com.

p R IN G 2 0 0 3 I 23 22 I U N L V M A G A Z IN E s CALENDA R O F EVEN T S

11 University Forum Lecture: 26 Klai::Juba Lecture Series: 4-6 Nevada Ballet Theater: 29 University Forum Lecture: 16-18 Nevada Ballet Theater: II ALUMNI ASSOCIAT IO N EVENTS "Wired to the World: The Presenting Dave Hickey, Salute to Richard Rogers. "The Care and Feeding of Peter Pan. I 0:30am May 16 Telegraph and the West." a UNLV art criticism I 0:30am April 4 (Yo uth Family Photographs." (Yo uth Matinee); 8pm May March 1 Watch the Rebels play Colorado State with 7:30pm. Barrick Museum professor and MacArthur Matinee); 8pm April 5; 2pm 7:30pm . Barrick Museum 16-17; 2pm May 17; lpm & fellow alumni. 5:30pm, Tam Alumni Center Auditorium. 895-3401. "genius" grant recipient. April 6. Artemus W. Ham Audito rium. 895-3401. 4:30pm May 18. Judy Bayley 7pm Pa ul B. Sogg Arcrutec­ 11 Music: UNLV Jazz Ensemble Concert Hall. 895-2787. 29 Music: UNLV Wmd Orches­ Theatre. 895-2787. March 10 Boa rd Meeting, 6pm, Tam Alumni Center ture Studies Library. I Concert. 7:30pm. Judy 4-6 Baseball: vs. New Mexico. tra Concert. 7:30pm. Arte­ 17 UNLV Spring Commence­ Men's Basketball Luncheon, noon 895-3031. March 11 Bayley Theatre. 895-2787. 6:30pm April 4; 2pm April mus W. Ham Concert Hall. ment: Times TBA. Thomas 28-30 Softball: vs. Colorado State, April 2 ~ 3 Grad Fa ir, all day, Tam Alumni Center 11-12 Women's Tennis: vs. Texas 5; l pm April 6. Wilson Base­ 895-2787. & Mack Center. 895-3229. lpm March 28; vs. New A&M, 2pm March 11; ball Stadium. 895-3207. 23 Desert Chorale: Annual April10 Scholarship Lun cheon, noon, Mexico, 1pm March 30. 30 Music: UNLV Jazz Ensemble vs. Duke, 2pm March 12. 7 Theatreworks USA: Free­ Memorial Weekend Concert. Tam Alumni Center Eller Media Stadium. II Concert. 7:30pm. Black Fertitta Tennis Complex. dom Train. lOam & noon. 7:30pm. Artemus W. Ham 895-3207. Box Theatre. 895-2787. Apri116 Board Meeting & Elections, 6pm, 895-3207. Artemus W. Ham Concert Concert Hall. 895-2787. Ta m Al umni Center 12 Men's Tennis: vs. South Car­ 28-30 Women's Tennis: vs. San Hall. (800) 497-5007. Diego State, 2pm March 28; May June olina. 1:30pm. Fertitta Ten­ 8 Theatreworks USA: April 22 Wine Tasting Event, 6:30pm, nis Complex. 895-3207. vs. Wyoming, 1Oam March The Hungry Caterpillar. 1 Music: UNLV Choral 3 Educational Outreach: Tam Alumni Center 29; vs. Colorado State, lOam Charles Vanda Mast er Series: 12 University Forum Lecture: lOam & noon. Artemus Ensembles Concert. 7:30pm. 25th Annual ABLE Confer­ March 30. Fertitta Tennis Andre Watts May 2 Dinner Theater: Six Degrees of Separation "The Story of'Stopped W. Ham Concert Hall. Artemus W. Ham Concert ence. Sam. Location TBA. Complex. 895-3207. Apnl 27 6pm, Tam Alumni Center Light."' 7:30pm. Barrick (800) 497-5007. Hall. 895-2787. 895-3394. Museum Auditorium. 28-30 Baseball: vs San Diego State. 8 University Forum Lecture: 2 Music: UNLV Chamber 7 Nevada Ballet Theater: June 18 Board Meeting & Election of Officers, 895-3401. 3:30pm March 28; 2pm 17 University Forum Lecture: 6pm, Tam Alumni Center March 29; l pm March 30. "Northwest Coast Indian Orchestra Concert. 1:30pm. Academy Recital. 2pm & 13-14 Basketball: MWC Tourna­ Poetry Reading. 7:30pm. Wilson Baseball Stadium. Art: Masks as Symbols of Beam Music Center Recital 7pm. Artemus W. Ham Board Meeting, 6pm, Tam Alumni Center ment. Times TBA. Thomas Barrick Museum Auditori­ Aug. 20 895-3207. Social Structure" (slide-illus­ Hall. 895-3949. Concert Hall. 895-4712. & Mack Center. 895-3207. um. 895-3401. trated). 7:30pm. Barrick 2-11 Theatre: UNLVand the 14 Music: Red Mountain For event info rmatio n , ca ll the 29 University Forum Lecture: 19 Softball: vs. Brigham Young. 13-23 Theatre: UNLV and Nevada Museum Auditorium. Nevada Conservatory Choir Concert. 7:30pm. "Clearly Classical." 7:30pm. Eller Media Stadium. Conservatory Theatre pres­ 895-3401. Theatre present Six Degrees Artemus W. Ham Concert UNLV Alumni Association Beam Music Center Recital 895-3207. ent The Road to Mecca. 2pm 10 Music: UNLV Symphonic of Separation. 8pm May 2-3 Hall. 293-7553. at (702) 8 9 5 ~ 3621 or (800) 8 29· 2586 Hall. 895-3401. March 16 & 23; 8pm March Band Concert. 7:30pm. 22 Baseball: vs. UC-Riverside. & 8-10; 2pm May 4 & ll. 30 Performing Arts Center: 13-15 & 19-22. Black Box Artemus W. Ham Concert 6:30pm. Wilson Baseball Judy Bayley Theatre. Best of the New York Stage, August Theatre. 895-2787. Hall. 895-3733. Stadium. 895-3207. 895-2787. 5, 19 Re-entry Services: NUTS Patti LuPone. 7pm. Artemus 25 Fall Semester Begins 14-15 Theatre: Women Against 23 Music: UNLV Community March Student Peer Support W. Ham Concert Hall. 11 University Forum Lecture: 3 Music: Las Vegas Philhar­ Violence/Women's Studies Band Concert II. 7:30pm. 1 Dance: Spring Dance Con­ Group. 9am March 5; 3pm 895-2787. "Jane Austen at the Movies - monic Season Finale. 8pm. Department present The Artemus W. Ham Concert cert. 2pm & 8pm. Judy Bay­ March 19. Moyer Student Then and Now." 7:30pm. Artemus W. Ham Concert INFORMATION Vagina Monologues. 8pm. Hall. 895-3733. II ley Theatre. 895-2787. Union. 895-4475. Barrick Museum Auditori­ Hall. 895-2787. Judy Bayley Theatre. April um. 895-3401. 23-27 Theatre: Ten Minute Play 24-hour Information Line: 1 Swimming: Rebel Classic 7 Music: UNLV Chamber 895-2787. 1 Re-entry Services: NUTS 5 California Theatre Center: (men's and women's). All 11-20 Theatre: Sarett Playwright Festival. 8pm April 23-26; Rumpelstiltskin. 9:30am (702) 895-3131 Orchestra Concert II. 15-16 Men's Tennis: Rebel Classic. Student Peer Support Day. McDermott Complex. Award Winner: Separate 2pm April27. Paul Harris & ll :30am. Artemus W. Athletic Events: 1:30pm. Beam Music Center All day. Fertitta Tennis Group.9am.MoyerStudent 895-3207. Rooms. 2pm Aprill3 & 20; Theatre, Ham Fine Arts Ham Concert Hall. (702) 895-3267 Recital Hall. 895-3949. Complex. 895-3207. Union, 895-4475. 8pmAprilll-l2, 16-19. Building. 895-2787. (8 00) 606-0424. 1 Women's Basketball: 7-9 Men's Golf: Tournament. 15-16 Baseball: vs. Air Force. 2pm Campus Operator: Black Box Theatre. 895-2787. 24 University Forum Lecture: 5 University Forum Lecture: vs. Air Force. 7:30pm. Off-campus. 895-3207. March 15; lpm March 16. (702) 895-3011 13 Music: Southern Nevada "The Art of Outdoor Pho­ "The Jewish Experience in Cox Pavillion. 895-3207. 7-9 Softball: Las Vegas Tourna­ Wilson Baseball Stadium. Musical Arts Society orches­ tography" (slide-illustrated). American Politics." 7:30pm. Campus Tours: Performing Arts Center: ment. All day. Eller Media 895-3207. tra and chorus concert. 7:30pm. Barrick Museum Barrick Museum Auditori­ (702) 895-3443 Best of the New York Stage, Stadium. 895-3207. 20 Nevada Small Business 3pm. Artemus W. Ham Auditorium. 895-3401. um. 895-3401. Arboretum Tours: Lula Washington Dance 7-9 Baseball: vs Memphis. Development Center and Concert Hall. 895-2787. (702) 895-3392 Theatre. 8pm. Artemus W. 6:30pm March 7; lpm the Small Business Admin­ 25 Music: UNLV Symphony 9 Educational Outreach: Ham Concert Hall. March 8 & 9. Wilson Base­ istration: Small Business 15 Baseball: vs . Southern Utah, Orchestra Concert. 7:30pm. "Fish Camp: Creating a Fine Arts Events: 895-2787. ball Stadium. 895-3207. Loan Expo 2003. 6pm. Off­ 6:30pm. Wilson Baseball Artemus W. Ham Concert World Class Workplace." (702) 895-2787 Stadium. 895-3207. 1-2 Women's Tennis: Spring Campus. 734-7575. Hall. 895-2787. 8:30am . Off-Campus. 7-9 UNLV Opera Theatre: Die Donna Beam Fine Art Invitational. Day. Fertitta 16 Softball: vs. UC-Riverside. 25-26 Baseball: vs. Brigham 895-3394. All Fledermaus. 8:30pm March 24 University Forum Lecture: Gallery: (702) 895-3893 Tennis Complex. 895-3207. 7-8; 2pm March 9. Judy Bay­ "Translation in Las Vegas: A 3pm. Eller Media Stadium. Young. 6:30pm. April25; 9 Academic Enrichment 895-3207. Marjorie Barrick Museum 1-2 Theatre: Dance of Bees. ley Theatre. 895-2787. New Literary Crossroads:' 2pm April 26. Wilson Base­ Center: Awards ceremony. ball Stadium. 895-3207. 2pm. Artemus W. Ham of Natural History: 8pm March 1; 2pm March 10 Educational Outreach: 4th 7:30pm. Barrick Museum 17 Re-entry Services: NUTS Concert Hall. 895-4777. (702) 895-3381 2. Black Box Theatre. Annual Industrial Ventila­ Auditorium. 895-3401. Student Peer Support 25-27 Dance: Black Box Dance 895-2787. tion Conference. Sam. Off­ 25 Women's Tennis: vs . Stand­ Group. 2:15pm. Moyer Concert. 8pm Apr 25-26; 15-17 Baseball: vs. Utah. 6:30pm. University Libraries: 4 University Forum Lecture: Campus. 895-3394. ford. 2pm. Fertitta Tennis Student Union. 895-4475. 2pm Apr 26-27. Black Box May 15 & 16; 2pm May 17. (702) 895-2286 Complex. 895-3207. Theatre, Ham Fine Arts Wilson Baseball Stadium. "Considering Abraham: 10 Klai::Juba Lecture Series: 17 Klai::Juba Lecture Series: UNLVtickets: (702) 739-3267, Building. 895-2787. 895-3207. The Role of Abraham in Presenting Margo Grant 26 Nevada Small Business Presenting Glenn Murcutt, toll-free (866) 388-3267, Judaism, Christianity, and Walsh, vice chair of Ginsler Development Center: Haz­ winner of the 2002 Pritzker 27 Charles Vanda Master 16 Boyd School of Law: Class or www.unlvtickets.com Islam." 7:30pm. Barrick Worldwide. 7pm. Paul B. ardous waste management Best of the New York Stage: Architecture Prize. 7pm Paul Series: Andre Watts. 4pm. Celebration Ceremony. seminar. 9am. Off-Campus. Patti LuPone Events are subject to Museum Auditorium. Sogg Architecture Studies B. Sogg Architecture Studies Artemus W. Ham Concert lOam. Artemus W. Ham change/cancellation 895-3401. Library. 895-3031. 734-7575. March 30 Library. 895-3031. Hall. 895-2787. Concert Hall. 895-3671.

24 I UN L V M A G A Z IN E 5 PRING 2 0 0 3 I 25 CLASS NOTES

• 1970s William E. Rinne, '71 MS Biologi­ Kathryn Ann Norris, '74 BS Sec­ Board of Licensure for Professional Jack Fe rguson, '70 cal Sciences, was recently named ondary Education, is foun der and Engineers and Surveyors. A licensed BS Hotel Administra­ director of operations fo r the U.S. operator of a geographic information professional engineer, she is the tion, is vice president Burea u of Reclamati on in Washing­ mapping business in Gunnison, manager of Rerracon, a geotechnical Soaking It Up: of co nvention sal es ton, D.C. He will oversee operations Colo. She has served as a project con­ and environm ental engineering Cheryldee Huddleston, '97 MFA Playwriting for the Philadelphia in 17 Western states, working direct­ sultant for Gunniso n and Hinsdale firm . She also holds a mas ter's Convention & Visi­ ly with the bureau's commission to counties in Colorado, for Bio-Envi­ degree in geological engineering Jenny Laird, '96 MFA Playwriting tors Bureau. He is also Ferguson ensure agency proj ects are consistent rons, and for the U.S. Bureau of Land from UNR. a partner in Lea rnSystem.com, a with federal and state laws, interstate Management. She received a master's management consultation company compacts, and intern ational treaties. degree from the University of Wis­ Norman Tsang, '84 BS Acco unt­ heryldee Huddleston likens her experience in the College your muscles should hurt because you're working really hard, for the hospitality industry. He lives He previo usly served as deputy consin, Milwaukee and a geographic ing, is an Allstate Insurance agent in of Fine Arts to being a sponge that soaked up knowledge in Lansdale, Penn., with his wife, Jo. regional di rector of the Lower Col­ information systems certificate from Mo nterey Park, Calif. He lives in San C but the lack of oxygen has you feeling punch-drunk. So, you and techniques from her professors. For Jenny Laird, those They have three grown children. orad o Region, managing the Col­ the University of Colorado, Denver. Ga briel with his wife, Ki Sook Lee, continue to put one cramped foot in front of the other, sim­ orado River fro m Lee's Ferry in Ari­ and two children. same mentors helped her peel away the surface layers so she ply admiring the view, completely unaware of the intensity of Albert R. Ginchereau Jr., '71 BS zona to the Mexican border and pro­ • 1980s could fmd the truth in her writing. the climb. Hotel Administration, is director of viding states, Indian tribes, and local Jocelyn Jensen, '82 Ed.D. Post Sheila Scott, '86 BS Hotel Admin­ Since receiving master's of fine arts degrees in playwriting, "Looking back, I see that my the Sylvan Learning Center in Mid­ water resource organizations with Secondary Education, was appoint­ istration, has worked in hospitality Huddleston and Laird have had numerous works published dletown, R.I. Previously he held planning and development ass is­ ed conductor of the Las Vegas Mas­ management for 15 years and is now professors helped me to peel away and performed, both receiving prestigious awards for their positions in asset manage ment, tance. ter Singers. She also recently served focusing on teaching at the universi­ layer after layer of artifice, fear, and works. operations management, and mar­ as guest adjudicator and conductor ty level. She lives in Lubbock, Texas. southern politeness in my writing keting in the hotel industry. He has DeAnn Fisher (Burns) Mitchell, of the Go ld Heritage Festival in New Huddleston recently won the esteemed PEN Center USA and in myself." taught hotel management courses at '74 AA Nursing, was awarded a doc­ York City, along with Andre Sue Davis, '87 BA and '89 MA 2002 Literary Award for Drama for her play Who Loves You Laird says Marlin-Jones seemed the college level. His wife, Jean torate in nursing from Texas Thomas, Anton Armstrong, and Political Science, is an assistant pro­ Jimmy Orio?, which she wrote while attending UNLV. Ginchereau, '74 M.Ed. Curricu­ Wo man's Universi ty. She recently David Stocker. fessor at Denison University in to give her covert lessons in writ­ "(Professor) Davey Marlin-Jones and (former professor) lum & Instruction, is th e assistant retired with the rank of commander Granville, Ohio. She received a doc­ ing. "Everything from my writing director of graduate admissions at from the U.S. Naval Reserve. She lives Mary E. Wells, '82 BA Geolo gy, torate degree from Emory Universi­ Julie Jensen trusted I had talent and told me to write whatever to the way I walk through the I needed to write," Huddleston says. "They gave me a home to Bryant College in Smithfield. in Ft. Worth, Texas. was appointed to the New Mexico ty and previously served as an world was influenced by his explic­ adjunct professor at the Air Force help me turn myself inside out. Davey taught me the dramat­ it and uncompromising commit- Special Operations School. ic power of silence, and Julie Huddleston ment to 'truth."' she says. "Though knocked my socks off. I was like a Frances Pease Ell is, '88 BS Hotel he could have just as easily coerced In Memoriam: Roman J. Zorn Administration, and Ron Ell is, '89 sponge. They made it very clear to the truth in my writing to the surface, instead, with a few BS Hotel Administration, were me that I could write whatever I swift strokes and a magician's sleight of hand, Davey would ormer UNLV president and professor the classroom for a expecting their first child at dead­ needed to write. " pick the fleas off of any beast I placed before him, take their Roman J. Zorn died Aug. 8. He was 85. period of time to serve lin e. Frances has owned and operat­ Who Loves You explores love, F ed her own business in Las Vegas temperature, sing to their soul, breathe life into their wayward He served UNLV as president from 1969 to as an administrator;' race, magic, sexuality, and hope in sin ce graduating. Ron is the internal imaginings, and then gently return them just where he'd 1973, and then as a history professor until his wrote Leonard "Pat" audit manager for the Hard Rock a story set in a 1966 Tennessee found them- all the while letting me believe that I was the retirement in 1981, when he was named pro­ Goodall, UNLV's Hotel and Casino. He previo usly trailer park. PEN Center judges one with the real power to nurture." fessor emeritus. fo urth president, in held positions as director of internal described the play as "richly sym­ "Jenny and Cheryldee are two students who arrived with He was posthumously awarded an hon­ Reinventing the System, audit and as regional audit manager bolic theatrical work with fresh extraordinary talent and skills," says Jeffrey Koep, dean of the orary doctor of laws degree during the 2002 a book on the history with Hyatt Gaming Services. characters, vivid dialogue, and a Laird College of Fine Arts. "They are the type of students whom we winter commencement ceremony. "Zorn of the University and timeless theme." Rodney Richter, '88 BS Account­ shall justly be proud of for years to come. Watching such tal­ brought to UNLV the energy and dedication Community College ing, is director of internal audit and "Winning this award has been wonderful;' Huddleston ent mature and develop was exciting, and continues to be so." necessary to significantly expand the student System of Nevada. loss prevention fo r Grocery Outlet, a says. "The armouncement was made in June and the ceremo­ The two playwrights both hail from the mid-Atlantic body, add more than 100 faculty members, He fought the lingering perception that 11 8-store chain of retail grocery ny was in October, so I had a long time to relish it." region of the country, Huddleston from Maryland and Laird build new facilities, and start new programs;' UNLV was just a branch campus of UNR, stores. He lives in Piedmont, Calif. Huddleston received a $1,000 cash prize and had her play from Virginia. When they met at UNLV, each says, it was if President Carol C. Harter said during the cere­ Goodall wrote. "Zorn worked hard to define Dale Sarver, '88 BS Finan ce, is published by Dramatic Publishing. Her other plays include she had known the other for years. mony. "Dr. Zorn was among the first to sug­ UNLV's role within the system .... He was president and CEO of Sarver's Well­ Children of an Idol Moon, Madame John's Legacy, AprillO, "Jenny and I had many discussions," Huddleston says. "She gest, in 1969, that UNLV build a law school." widely respected as a firm spokesman for the ness Group. He previously worked 1535, and Lysergic Acid Diethylamide. Her work has been pro­ was one of the few people I would show my work to and she During Zorn's tenure as president, UNLV state's southern campus:' as a corporate director of purchas­ duced throughout the country, including Vital Theatre in ing. He received an MBA in 1989 was definitely my favorite writer in the program." established the colleges of Hotel Administra­ Before coming to UNLV, Zorn was presi­ New York City and Oakland Public Theatre. She now lives in from the University of Maryland. He "We were kindred spirits," Laird says. "We both had an tion, Arts and Letters, Education, Business and dent of Keene State College in New Hampshire Pleasant Hill, Calif. lives in Meyersdale, Penn ., with his affinity for lyrical realism in our writing and we were both Economics, and Allied Health Professions. He and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at wife and three boys. Laird, a 1996 graduate, teaches playwriting at DePaul Uni­ very interested in exploring the creative process as much as oversaw the construction of the Business Ser­ the University of Rhode Island. He received a versity in Chicago and is a resident playwright with Chicago the technical end of writing." vices, Chemistry, Flora Dungan Humanities, bachelor's degree from River Falls State Rena M. Schoonmaker, '88 BS Dramatists, where her play Ballad Hunter received its world Management Information Systems, Huddleston arrived in the MFA program a year after Laird and William D. Carlson Education buildings, Teacher's College in Wisconsin and a master's premiere and a nomination for the Jeff Award for New Work. recently joined Harrahs Entertain­ and they participated in many writing workshops together. as well as the Judy Bayley Theater, Holbert H . degree in philosophy and a doctorate in Amer­ ment, Inc., in Las Vegas as an infor­ Her recent play, Sky Girls, received a National Endowment of "Cheryldee is a fantastically talented writer and a lovely Hendrix Education Auditorium, and the foot­ ican history from the University of Wisconsin. mation technology development the Arts development grant and is being featured in Chicago's human being to boot. Our friendship was definitely one of the ball stadium now named for Sam Boyd. He is survived by his wife, Ann Zorn, manager, specializing in the slots Northlight Theatre through March 9. bonuses I received as a result of attending UNLV," Laird says. Zorn was a "typical 'scholar-administrator' of Las Vegas, four children, and three grand­ and marketing areas. "My time at UNLV was a life-altering experience," Laird who saw himself as a faculty member who left children. says. "It was sort of like hiking at high altitudes. You know Weslie S. Metcalf, '89 BA Politi­ - by Jennifer Vaughan cal Science and BA Criminal Justice,

26 I UN LV MAGAZINE S P RING 2003 I 27 NOTES

the Association of Professionals in dle school science and history in Bris­ assistant professor of English at St. Marketing of Nevada, {nc., which Business Management in June. ton, Penn. He is involved in the Youth Louis University. She recently earned offers marketing services for small­ Environmental Outreach program, a Mellon Fellowship to study at the and medium-sized businesses. He is Setting an Example F. Travis Buchanan, which teaches students about ecology Huntington Library in San Marino, married to Stacey Benson Allen, '92 BS Management, and helps them acquire survival Calif. She was appointed managing '98 BS Health Education and '00 Marcus Threats '87 BA Hotel Administration and '99 MBA was recently selected skills. He coaches a boys basketball editor of Thalia: A Journal of Literary M.Ed. Health Promotion, a teacher from 300 applicants team using a "Runnin' Rebel" playing Humor and Web manager for the with the Clark County School District. hen 16-year-old Marcus Threats Threats, a casino accounting manager he says. "Auditors don't have to see the to be ass is tan t general style, he says. During summer breaks, American Humor Studies Associa­ started his first job as a busboy at The Mirage, volunteers in "Be A cash; we just have to see the numbers." counsel for the Los he runs a tour company for young tion's site. Francis J. Rodgers, '96 M.Ed. Spe­ Angeles Unified adults. Wat the Four Queens Casino Hotel, he Rebel Day," an event that brings local He also combats the myth that col­ cial Education, is a special education School District, the second largest Peter Weingartner, '94 BS Hotel teacher at Cox Elementary School in high school students, particularly those lege is only for high school students at quickly saw how limited his options district in the country. He advises Kenneth Kuykendall, '92 BS Administration, and wife Michelle, Henderson. He received the 2001-02 the top of their classes. "I didn't do well would be without a college degree. from disadvantaged areas, to campus to and defends the district in litigation Architecture, owns Intrepid Develop­ '91 BA Communication Studies, own Distinguished Educator Award for Now, he hopes to inspire minority teens learn more about the William F. Harrah in high school," he says. "I wish I'd had involving the federal Individuals with ment, a custom homebuilding com­ and operate Michelle's Bridal, an invi­ the Southeast Region of the Clark to seek more than just a job after high College of Hotel Administration. He better study skills coming in. I want the _ Disabilities Education Act, the Amer­ pany in Las Vegas. Last year, he and tation, accessory, and newlywed County School District. He expects to also is involved in the college's mentor kids that I talk to to know that it's never icans with Disabilities Act, and the wife Ginger Graves had their first financial planning business in Las receive a master's degree in educa­ school. Rehabilitation Act. Previously, he was child, Caden Cutler. Vegas. They have three children, Tyler, tional leadership from UNLV in May. program, which pairs industry profes­ too late to get those skills. They will suc­ legal counsel in the labor and Patty, and Brandon, and a 95-pound if sionals with current UNLV students, ceed in college they try." employment section of the Los Ange­ Jeff Moser, '92 BA Sociology, is a black lab. William James and serves on its alumni advisory board. With the exception of seven years as les Department of Water & Power. He captain in the U.S. Army, stationed at Schut, '96 BS Recre­ "Unfortunately, in Las Vegas a num­ a Navy pilot, Threats has spent his lives in Carson, Calif. Fort Eustis, Va. He is also pursuing a Melissa Harness Sangis, '95 BS ation, is assistant ber of kids just don't get the message entire working life in casinos. In high master's degree in instructional design Hotel Administration, is a sales sys­ director of athletics school, he worked as a busboy and cook. Paige D' Alessio, '92 BS Hotel and technology from Old Dominion tem analyst and group room coordi­ for NCAA Compli­ that a college degree is something they Administration, is an account man­ University in Virginia. After graduat­ While working on his bachelor's degree, nator for Four Points Sheraton in San ance Student Services really can - and should - attain:' ager for the corporate service group ing from UNLV, he was commissioned Diego. Her husband, Lawrence, is at the University of Threats says. "They want to get out of he started dealing cards. Joining the of the San Francisco office of into the Army Signal Corps and general manager of the South Mesa Albany in New York He ensures high school, and they look forward to Navy after graduation, he says, gave him Insignia/ESG. She is the on-site man­ attended basic and advanced officers Staff NCO Club on the Marine Corps compliance with NCAA, America earning tips as dealers or bartenders. a chance to pursue his childhood dream agement representative of the group's training at Fort Gordon, Ga. He previ­ Base Camp Pendleton. East Conference, and Northeast largest account, Fireman's Fund ously commanded a signal company Conference regulations. He has cre­ They don't always see that, long-term, of flying. It also financed his adult Insurance Co., in Novato, Calif. She is of 170 soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, Elaine Hernandez Sanchez, '95 ated and now directs a comprehen­ the college degree will open so many dream of getting an MBA. responsible for strategic planning, and a recruiting company of 40 sol­ BA Political Science and BA Criminal sive program for NCAA rules educa­ doors for them. Now Threats is finishing a second project and transaction management diers in Las Vegas. Justice, has been promoted to senior tion and monitoring. He also over­ "It's important for kids to know that master's degree, this one in accounting, oversight, and client relations. She public information officer for the city sees several intercollegiate sports they can work and get a degree. In fact, and has law school in mind for next previously worked for Trammell Keegan Rodriguez, '93 BS Hotel of Las Vegas. She serves as press secre­ programs. Previously, he was coordi­ Crow Company, where she held dual Administration, is president of K and tary for Mayor Oscar Goodman and nator of NCAA academic compli­ if you're not working while going to the year. "Going to school is almost like a roles of marketing services director S Solutions, a Las Vegas company that was recently elected vice chair of the ance for UNLV He lives in Guilder­ hobby to me," he says. "Instead of going Hotel College, you're missing out on the for Northern California and human specializes in corporate events and Las Vegas-Clark County Library Dis­ land, N.Y. best part of a UNLV hotel degree. out for a drink after work, I go to class. I resources manager for the company's tradeshow planning. She previously trict board. There's no other place where you can plan to attend law school, and then my five-office region. She is active in worked at the MGM Grand Hotel Adam Botwinik, '97 BA Psychology, get this kind of on-the-job and in-the­ college education will be complete." Commercial Real Estate Women, and Casino. Kristine Le Blanc Duncan, '95 BS and Lisa Stefaniak, '98 BA Political Corporate Real Estate Network, and Hotel Administration, is senior cater­ Science, were married in September classroom training." Eventually, Threats wants to return to Junior Achievement. Gregg T. Schultz, '93 BA Interdisci­ ing manager for the Hyatt Regency in 200 l. He received a master's degree in daily casino operations as a well-round­ The Las Vegas native said the men­ plinary Studies, is a labor and Denver. She previously lived in Chica­ school psychology from Northern torship activities also provide him a ed executive. ''I'm like every other per­ Justin Doucette, employment attorney for Exxon go. In September, she and Daniel Arizona University and is a school chance to give students a realistic image son in the industry - someday I want '92 BS Accounting, '00 Mobil Corp. in Fairfax, Va . He gradu­ Duncan were married at Inverlochy psychologist with the Dry Creek Ele­ of the business of casinos. For example, to be the president of the property;' he MS Hotel Administra­ ated from the University of Virginia Castle in Scotland. mentary School District in Roseville, tion, has been named School of Law in 1996. He lives in when he tells students what he does for says. "That's certainly a possibility for Calif. She obtained a law degree from to the Taxpayer Advo­ Falls Church. Ken Tomory, '95 BA Communica­ the University of the Pacific's McGe­ me just as it is for the kids I talk to." a living, he invariably gets the comment, cacy Panel by the tion Studies, is division administrator orge School of Law and is a deputy "You must see a lot of money." Not so, - by Cate Weeks executive office of the Doucette Thomas Thorn, '93 BS Accounting, for the Division of Rheumatology, district attorney with the Sacramento U.S . Treasury Department. He was is chief financial officer of Laurich Allergy & Immunology and for the County district attorney's office. selected from a field of 1,300 appli­ Properties, a Las Vegas-based com­ Division of Dermatology at the Uni­ cants to serve on the independent mercial real estate development com­ versity of California, San Diego's Andrea Pulgarin Hodge, '97 BS adviso ry committee, which provides pany. He is a charter member of the Department of Medicine. His respon­ is president and CEO of both Patri­ Lisa Bowman Ror­ lives in Calabasas, Calif., with her Jennifer Gribbon Malone, '90 Mechanical Engineering, is a post­ BA Communication Studies, is co­ direct citizen input into Internal Rev­ Theta Omicron of Beta Alpha Psi. He sibilities include systems and person­ doctoral researcher at the prestigious ot Financial, Inc. and Pirate Enter­ man, '90 BS Market­ husband, Patrick, and their three founder and general manager of enue Service policies. He is a partner and his wife, Julie, have four children nel management, business planning, Lawrence Livermore National Labo­ prises. He is also a champion ing, '00 M.Ed. Special children, two of whom have medical in Mark Miller's Coyote Cafe restau­ and one grandchild. fiscal analysis, clinical program man­ ratory in California. She recently powerboat racer and competes with Education, is pursu­ and special needs. The Rorman fam­ Homerun Entertainment, a televi­ rants in Santa Fe, N.M., and Las agement, billing and collections, com­ received a doctoral degree in materi­ the American Offshore Powerboat ing dual law and mas­ ily's story of special needs and strug­ sion production company. She cur­ Vegas, as well as president of Justin Jennifer Zajac, '93 BS Hotel puter services, and research programs Association. He lives in Orange, ter's degrees in dis­ gles will be featured in an upcoming rently oversees production of 15 als science and engineering from Rorman series and specials for various cable Time Business and Tax Solutions. He Administration, is director of sales at operations. He previously served as Northwestern University. She lives in Calif. pute resolution at issue of a parenting magazine. Pepperdine University School of television networks. She lives in also serves as chairman of the Nevada the Hilton Garden Inn in Sacramento, business coordinator of the UNLV Dublin, Calif. Beverly Hills, Calif. Restaurant Association and as vice Calif. She previously worked for the Student Health Center and worked to • 1990s Law in California. She participates Darrin Brightman, '90 BA Sociolo­ chairman of the Nevada Restaurant Four Seasons Hotel in Boston and Stacy Bloom, '90 BS Hotel Admin­ in Pepperdine's Special Education gy, is senior project manager for Eric­ get the student health fee passed when Brandon Witkow, '97 BA Criminal James V. Covey Ill, '91 BS Man­ Self-Insured Group. The Regent Hotel in Hong Kong. he served in student government. He Justice and BA Political Science, grad­ istration, is a major account manag­ Legal Clinic and is involved in advo­ sson Wireless Communications in lives in La Jolla. uated in 2000 from Emory University er for Kinko's Inc. She is responsible cacy issues for children with special San Diego, and a major in the U.S. agement, is the operations manager of AAA Emergency Road Service in Michael Gerenda, '92 BS Hotel Jan Mclntire-Strasburg, '94 MA School of Law in Atlanta. He lives in for the convention markets in Las needs. She plans to become a special Marine Corps Reserve. He also com­ Administration, holds a master's English, '98 Ph.D. English, is director D.J. Allen, '96 BA Communication Vegas, Arizona, New Mexico, and El education attorney and mediator in petes in the Willow Springs Motorcy­ Las Vegas. He earned the certified Los Angeles and is an associate attor­ business manager designation from degree in education and teaches mid- of computer-assisted writing and an Studies, '02 MBA, fo unded Imagine ney in the litigation and advocacy Paso, Texas. both California and Nevada. She cle Club's novice roadracer division. SPRING 2003 I 29 28 I U N L V M A G A Z I N E CLASS NOTES

division of Manatt, Phelps and Benita Crook, '99 BS Hotel Admin­ he worked at the Madison Renais­ Danielle Saye, '01 BS Hotel Phillips. He focuses on complex istration, was named branch manag­ sance Hotel in Seattle. Administration, is operations coor­ President's Message democracy, art, freedom of expression, and creativity, simply fasci­ commercial litigation. er of the West Sahara location of dinator for Activity Planners, Inc., a continued from page 2 nating. I also believe you will admire them for having the strength Adecco in Las Vegas. Debbie Ramm, '00 BS Hotel corporate and association meeting of conviction to answer, "Why not?" when asked "Why Las Vegas?" Joe Csicsila, '98 Ph.D. English, is an Administration, is a leasing consult­ planning company in Las Vegas. She and compelling possibilities for UNLV, much as the founders of assistant professor of English at East­ Nicholas Anderson, '99 BA Com­ ant for Group Interland Manage­ started working for the company as They carry on the spirit of the many individuals who gave the the International Institute of Modern Letters are. ern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. munication Studies, lives and works ment. She and Scott Tufts, '00 BS an intern while attending UNLV. same answer when the progress of our university was at stake at He has been appointed the executive in Santa Ana, Calif. Hotel Administration, were married So it is with great pleasure that I introduce in this issue the various times over the course of the last five decades. And, ulti­ coordinator of the Mark Twain Cir­ in January. The couple met in a hotel Kenneth Tam, '01 MS Accounting, is wonderful visionaries behind the institute. I believe you will find mately, they represent the expansive thinking and high ideals that cle of America. • 2000s accounting class at UNLV and live in a special agent with the FBI's Modesto, their personal stories, as well as their thoughts about literature, make UNLV what it is today. m Trayce Brice, '00 BS Civil Engineer­ Santa Clara, Calif. Calif., office. He lives in Salida. Tony Letendre, '98 BS Hotel ing, is project manager for Turner Administration, is a senior assistant Construction in Chicago. He lives in Yi-Ching Yeh, '00 BS Hotel Admin­ Ryan Hall, '02 BA Sociology, was golf professional at The Reserve in La Calumet City, Ill. istration, is a sales coordinator for one of 10 finalists for the Cardinal Modern Letters readings and conducting workshops for Quinta, Calif. He is working to Salquisa S.A., a ceramic tile maker Bernardin New Leadership Award, UNLV graduate students. continued from page 13 Institute of Modern Letters become a full member of the Profes­ Daniel Costello, '00 BS Hotel and raw material supplier in Taiwan. presented each year by the Catholic The teachers receive $1,000 grants and Hosts Public Readings sional Golfers' Association. Administration, was part of the Campaign for Human Development. fiction and poetry published annually in are required to take a three-credit graduate opening management team of Del Meng Lin, '01 MBA, is technical The award recognizes adults under Award-winning authors involved in the the United States are translations from course on contemporary literature taught by Kristine Jayona Segura, '98 BS Webb's Anthem Country Club in Las project associate for the Council for the age of 30 working to overcome the Writers-in-the-Schools program will give Management, received a master's Vegas. Currently, he heads the Valley Excellence in Government, an organ­ systemic problems of poverty. He is another language. Douglas Unger, director of UNLV's M.F.A. public readings of their works. The read­ degree in library science from the of The Sun United Way's new-busi­ ization that works to improve the living and working at the Las Vegas The reasons for that gap are primarily in creative writing international program ings will be held at 7 p.m . in t he Moyer University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee ness initiative program. He is also the performance of government at all Catholic Worker and has helped economic - the cost of translating works can and the institute's director of grants. in 2001. She recently married Leo co-founder of Arizona Arrive Alive levels and to improve government's Student Union Ba ll room on: organize a 10-week program on spiri­ easily consume the small profit they may The teachers each choose one "literary­ Segura. Both are librarians with the and is participating in the Leadership place in the lives and esteem of tuality and non-violence at Christ the generate - but the result is just as chilling to Las Vegas-Clark County Library Scottsdale program. Previously, he American citizens. He lives in King Catholic Community. minded" student to participate. "We're not • Feb. 28 - San dra Cisneros. a fiction District. was corporate sales manager for Bladensburg, Md. societal progress as censorship by dictators, necessarily looking for honors students;' writer whose works include The House Remington Hotel Corporation in St. • In Memoriam Olsen says. "It has an isolating effect on our Unger says. "We want to select the students on Mango Street and Caramelo . Valerie C. Miller, '98 Petersburg, Fla., where he also was a Vincent S. Palrose, '01 BS John Standish, former director of culture. It limits our ability to understand who are very smart, but perhaps need an BA Communication volunteer with the United Way. Mechanical Engineering, is an • March 28 - Mary Karr, a poet and the financial aid, died Jan. 8 at the age of global changes, our ability to understand the added push to enroll in college." Studies, was awarded ensign in the Navy assigned to Naval 79. He came to UNLV in 1965, and in author of the memoir Th e Liar's Club. people of other countries, such as the U.S. Small Busi­ Christian Gonzales, '00 BS Hotel Mobile Construction 7th Battalion, 1969 was named director of financial The students receive up to $800 to take ness Administration's Administration, is the group sales based in Gulfport, Miss. During a aid. He also served as associate dean Afghanistan and Iraq and Korea." preparatory classes for college admissions •April 11 -E. Ethelbert Miller, poet and Journalist of the Year manager for the Mexican and South­ recent deployment in Rota, Spain, he of students. He retired in 1985. He is author of the memoir Fathering Miller exams, as well as $1,000 scholarships to be Award for Nevada in eastern United States markets at the helped construct a landing strip and survived by his wife, Joyce; daughter Writers in the Schools awarded once they are admitted to a college Words: Th e Making of an African 2002. As a reporter for the Las Vegas Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita, a 35,000-square-foot base camp. He Jane Standish-Stratton; son Tom While the institute clearly has an interna­ or arts institute. "By selecting students who American Writer. Business Press, she covers small-busi- which is located 45 miles north of also worked with Spain's military to Standish; sister Dorothy McKenzie; tional focus, it is not neglecting the local ness issues. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Previously, make road improvements. and two grandchildren. were on the verge of disengaging from community. In 2001, the institute launched school, we feel our small program can make literary and cultural activities, and other Writers in the Schools (WITS) as a pilot a big difference in their lives;' Olsen says. economic impacts on the community." 1r------~ D U A L• Or fill out our Class Notes form online at: program to promote contemporary litera­ David Winkler, a novelist and Clark James Frey, dean of the College of Liberal : rop S lfle www.unlv.edu/News_Bureau/UNLV_Magazine/ ture in area high schools. County School District teacher, is leading Arts, believes the NEA grant is a clear sign of 1 The innovative project caught the atten­ the 10 weekly student sessions, which last Your classmates want to hear about you! Please fill out the form below completely, type or print clearly, and avoid abbreviations. Information also can be UNLV's rising status in the literary commu­ tion of the National Endowment for the : submitted via e-mail. Please supply home and office telephone numbers so we can reach you if there is a question about your entry. We encourage you to two-and-a-half hours each. nity. "The institute not only brings notoriety Arts, which awarded a $40,000 grant to the I submit a head-and-shoulders photograph of yourself to accompany your Class Notes entry. Beyond the classroom, the high school to UNLV and to the English department's I institute to present a full-scale program this I students receive long-term mentoring from M.F.A. program;' he says, "it also enhances 1 Name semester. That grant was matched with graduate students in the creative writing the literary opportunities for students, facul­ I fim maiden last I $46,374 in applied research initiative fund­ program. The graduate students will guide ty, and community members by virtue of : Year Graduated Major Type of Degree(s) ing from UNLV and more than $62,000 in the teens through the college application the programs it sponsors. Both the campus I (e.g., Bachelor of Arts. Master of Science) private patron support through the institute. process and work with them on writing and the community are enriched by its I Park Place Entertainment, which operates skills through the fall semester. 1 Address efforts to bring internationally acclaimed I Caesars Palace, Bally's, c. ~.d the Paris gaming The institute also is partnering with the writers to campus and the community to : E-mail Daytime Phone properties, has made a significant contribu­ College of Business' Center for Business and share their craft." I tion to the project. Economic Research. Jennifer Stikich, an 1 News Wiley adds, "The City of Asylum got I WITS is bringing Clar . :ounty teachers, economist in the center and graduate stu­ tons of media coverage - that will be I high school juniors, and award-winning I dent, is conducting a cost-benefits analysis repeated time and time again as we get this I writers to UNLV's Lied Library for intensive of the WITS program. project moving. I predict in the next half I workshops. As they read the works of Tom I The study will offer ground-breaking decade the institute will show itself as the I Perrotta, Sandra Cisneros, Mary Karr, and E. research, Unger says. "Nobody has crunched I flagship center of UNLV" m I Ethelbert Miller, the participants will have the numbers before to determine the cost­ For more information on the Interna­ I the unique experience of learning directly I benefits of a literary arts learning program;' tional Institute of Modern Letters, call I Send entries to: Cate Weeks, UNLV News and Public Information, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Box 451012, Las Vegas, NV 89154-1012; fax 702-895-4057; or e-mail from the award-winning writers. he says. "We want to find out how m uch Eric Olsen at {702) 895-3033 or visit 1 [email protected]. Deadline for the fall issue of UNLV Magazine is May 15, 2003. The authors also are presenting public such a program stimulates book buying, www.modernletters.org. ~------30 I UN L V M A G A Z I N E S P RI NG 2 0 03 I 31 Face Lift The Boyd School of Law hit another mile­ stone in the fall with its move to its per­ manent home on campus. The old library buildings were renovated to accommo­ date the law school's classrooms and offices as well as the 225,000-volume Wiener-Rogers Law Library.

The 67,030-square-foot building pictured here was renamed the James E. Rogers Center for Administration and Justice in honor of the local lawyer, businessman, and philanthropist. The connecting 57 ,700-square-foot round building was renamed William S. Boyd Hall in honor of the school's namesake patron.

The law school received full accreditation from the American Bar Association in February, the earliest time possible under ABA guidelines.

The Lied Library's special collections department houses a vast collection of UNLV and Southern Nevada historical photos. For more information, visit www.library unlv.e du/speccol/index.lltml.

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