Quick and Dirty: A notebook of news and politics

Higher learning

It's tough being a conservative college professor. For one thing, you're wrong most of the time (just kidding). For another, higher education is so crowded with lefties that it's hard to get a word in edgewise. And if you do speak up, you may be shouted down and forced to sit in a corner and wear a sweaty Rush Limbaugh mask by the oppressive liberal supermajority. Happens all the time, apparently.

A new survey tracking the political persuasion of UNLV faculty members says 91 percent of professors are Democrats or Greens. That's a lot. But the survey is misleading. First of all, the survey looked at 125 professors, which is only part of the UNLV faculty. Second, it focused almost entirely on liberal arts professors, which, again, is only part of the picture. It's fair to assume that if all disciplines had been surveyed, the 91 percent figure would have dropped significantly. Third, the 91 percent is based only on professors who have a registered party affiliation. Lots of them are registered independent or nonpartisan, or aren't registered at all. Of the entire 125, then, only 56.8 percent are actually registered Democrat or Green.

Still, that's a lot of progressive politics to contend with, and the UNLV chapters of Students for Academic Freedom and the College Libertarians aren't happy about this lack of "ideological diversity." "Instead of a broad base of ideas, we are given only one side of the issue," contends Adriana Jewel, president of Students for Academic Freedom, in a news release. "As a college student, I expected to be able to speak my mind freely, but I was wrong." Jewel, by the way, does not actually cite an instance in which a liberal professor refused to allow her to speak her mind freely. She also, apparently, doesn't believe it's possible for a professor who is a registered Democrat to present more than one side of an issue during classroom instruction. Amanda Moran, a freshman political science student who worked on the survey, says she feels "cheated out of a proper college experience." As a freshman, of course, that might be a slightly premature judgment. Brandon Robison, president of the College Libertarians, says he was surprised to learn that liberals even lurk within the "traditionally conservative discipline" of economics, as if Reaganomics has dominated the world marketplace for the past 300 years.

Roger Roots, a Ph.D. student and sociology instructor who oversaw the project, charges that the lack of political diversity on campus is a product of "systematic discrimination against conservative and libertarian job applicants." "Despite claims that UNLV provides a diverse atmosphere for learning, its faculty selection committees rarely even consider a conservative or libertarian for any faculty position," Roots contends. That's a strong accusation, one that Roots does not bother to back up with actual data.

UNLV may face bigger problems than a lack of ideological diversity. First, there appears to be a severe shortage of understanding of the principles of conducting a scientifically relevant survey. And second, there seems to be a problem with logic, exemplified by the wild conclusions reached by the folks who conducted this survey.--GS

Penalty shots

Bill Pelke's 78-year-old grandma Ruth was the kind of person whose faith was exceeded only by her sense of hospitality. So on May 14, 1985, when four ninth-grade girls came to her door asking about Bible lessons, she happily invited them into her home. The girls repaid her kindness by hitting her over the head with a vase and stabbing her 33 times--all for $10 and Ruth's 10-year-old car.

A year later, 16-year-old Paula Cooper was apprehended for the crime and subsequently became the youngest female on death row in America. Originally supportive of Cooper's conviction, Bill Pelke eventually forgave her and worked to overturn her sentence. Cooper is now sentenced to 60 years in prison, has completed a college degree and works for a tax preparation company.

Pelke will speak about this and other death penalty-related issues at UNLV's Flora Dungan Humanities Building on March 24 from 6-8 p.m. He will be joined by Juan Melendez, who spent 18 years on death row in Florida before having his conviction overturned, and Abe Bonowitz, the director of Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

Says Bonowitz: "We advocate accountability and responsibility. We don't have any problem with seeing people locked up for their crimes, but we'd like to take it a step further and see people in prison contributing to society. It's far more productive than having them waste away on death row."--NB

Bonaventure: Biased or not?

The Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission appears to be in no hurry to determine whether District Judge Joe Bonaventure violated judicial canons a few years ago when he showed up at Binion's Horseshoe to sign autographs.

Matters before the commission are generally protected with the same degree of secrecy reserved for nuclear weapons, so no one involved will either confirm or deny even the existence of the Bonaventure complaint, but it's real. In fact, there may be more than one.

The complaints were filed back in April 2002 after Bonaventure showed up at Binion's and happily signed copies of Las Vegas Sun columnist Jeff German's book about the Ted Binion murder trial, a book that many considered to be very supportive of prosecutors and the Binion family. Also on hand for the book signing were the two prosecutors in the case, author German and Becky Binion Behnen.

More than a few eyebrows were raised by the judge's appearance at such an event, especially since it was known that his court would be the central battleground for likely appeals issues in the case. Bonaventure hanging out with the Binions and the prosecutors seemed to demonstrate bias, in the eyes of some.

Here it is, two years later, and the Judicial Discipline Commission still hasn't finished its investigation of the matter. After numerous delays and postponements, the commission informed interested parties earlier this month that it needs more time to gather facts. Exactly which facts have proven so elusive to track down is not known. The chief investigator for this commission, by the way, is Mary Boetsch, who was formerly chairwoman of the Nevada Ethics Commission.

With a second Binion murder trial slated to begin later this year in front of Bonaventure, it would seem prudent for the Judicial Commission to finish this painfully long process and announce whether Bonaventure is biased or not.

Crying fowl

Leave it to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to make its press releases scream. Last week, it blasted out a mass e-mail missive that declared, "PETA ASKS LAS VEGAS COMMUNITY TO DECLARE TRUCE IN WAR ON WATERFOWL."

Um, what war? That's what people at Desert Shores, the target of the press release, are wondering.

According to PETA wildlife biologist Stephanie Boyles, the honchos at Desert Shores, a suburb next to Summerlin boasting five fake lakes, are planning to kill the ducks, coots, geese and swans that make the place home. "There are plenty of alternatives to killing the birds," Boyles says. "Residents need to admit they're part of the problem and do something about feeding the animals. Or they can try egg-addling, which is shaking the bird eggs in an early stage of development [so the eggs never hatch]." Boyles fired off a letter March 10 to Mitchell Kuhn, president of the Desert Shores Board of Directors, asking him to "please immediately reconsider your plans to kill the birds and, instead, accept our offer to assist you in developing an effective, humane waterfowl-control program that everyone can live with, including the birds."

But Desert Shores general manager Rita Peterson said they never decided to snuff out the waterfowl in the first place. "We had some speakers from the USDA come in January, and all they said was that some of the feral ducks could be euthanized. The board said thanks for coming, and the plan was never put on our agenda." Nonethless, the next day the neighborhood was plastered with signs and packets calling the board "duck Nazis."

"The board hadn't done anything. It was all blown out of proportion," says Peterson. "All we did was ask for the [USDA wildlife specialists'] opinion. That didn't mean we were going to do it." Still, Peterson says the birds are a problem--between the droppings and the nibbled turf--and the board will begin posting signs encouraging people not to feed them. "It's not the birds' fault, it's the two-legged folks who park their cars and come out with bags of breads." About as bad as those other humans who succumb so easily to hysterics.--AK

Libertarian Latinos?

Ever heard of a Latino libertarian? Not exactly a political buzzword. But Stan Vaughan, Libertarian candidate for Assembly District 7, says his campaign might just coin that term as he begins pounding the pavement in earnest for the seat currently held by Democrat Morse Arberry. According to Vaughan, a retired professional chess player, he has a few advantages on his side of the board. "Arberry has got so many liabilities piled up over the 22 years he's been in there," Vaughan says. "People I've talked to in the district are mostly mad about last session, with him taking $25 million in taxpayer money to have a [telecommunications] building at CCSN named after himself." And being tainted by the double-dipping scandal doesn't help.

But Vaughan has some disadvantages, too: among them, a third-party affiliation and the fact that Democrats outnumber Republicans in the district by more than 8,000. But Vaughan sees hope in the fact that the district is 42 percent Latino. "Contrary to Arberry, I'm pro-life," Vaughan explains. "And most of the Hispanic population is Catholic, so the pro-life position is where I'll split the Democratic vote. I also think I'm going to get very strong support in the black community. Arberry's not really a man of the people here, he doesn't live in the district anymore and hasn't been taking care of it." Will a pro-life, libertarian, former chess pro win the district? Vaughan predicts a checkmate.--AK

One fine week

Good news for anyone who's had Victor Hugo's 1,400-page opus Les Miserables checked out since 1999: Between Sunday, April 18, and Saturday, April 24, the library will be waiving fines up to $25 for overdue, lost or damaged materials. As a bonus, lost library cards will be replaced free of charge. Feel free to use the time to borrow more books that you will never read and are unlikely to return. We recommend something by Tolstoy.--NB