UNLV Boyd School of Law in the National Law Journal.

Law schools dealing with budget cuts
Private law schools may have it worse.

Karen Sloan / Staff reporter

January 19, 2009

The William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas has seen its state funding shrink by 9% through two cuts since December 2007, said Dean John Valery White. The housing crisis hit Nevada earlier than many other states, prompting legislators to cut higher education spending sooner.

“You have to cut a little bit of everything in order to get up to a pretty big number,” White said. The law school has left some positions empty, cancelled some staff training and faculty travel, decreased its library staff, reduced the number of course sections and switched to more electronic publications to reduce library costs, he said.

The law school also is using some donation money to cover a portion of operational costs, such as staff salaries. In better times, that donation money would go to things such as capital projects or student travel.

“It’s really just a stop-gap,” White said.

Not exactly what one wants to be in the National Law Journal for….

Hope we can weather this storm….

Prostitution tax in Nevada?

That’s a proposal by Bob Coffin one of our state senators in dealing with our huge budget shortfall. I never really thought of that as a source of revenue, but I suppose that would work. Gives new meaning to the term “legalize it.”

Nevada’s proposed budget cuts to higher education

I’m linking to a post made by one of my colleagues, Nancy Rapport about the budget crisis in Nevada.

I came to Nevada over 10 years ago with the specific purpose of establishing the William S. Boyd School of Law, Nevada’s only law school. I saw the school grow from literally nothing to what it is today. Way back in ‘98, we didn’t even have our permanent quarters. We had a few offices and the staff lounge in the physics department. We then moved to the old Paradise Elementary school for a few years and finally here to the UNLV campus. I’m very proud of my professional as well as institutional accomplishments here. Now it appears the education system in Nevada is going to take a HUGE step back. I’ve done all I could to prevent it. I’ve contacted my state legislator, Dennis Nolan, as well as Dina Titus and Harry Reid. Nevada is already behind statues like Alabama and Mississippi in term of amount spent and quality of education. Now it looks as though Nevada will permanently be last.

Onioin predictions on the Bush presidency

This originally appeared in the Onion on January 17th, 2001. It would be funny if it wasn’t so true.

Bush: ‘Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over’

During the 40-minute speech, Bush also promised to bring an end to the severe war drought that plagued the nation under Clinton, assuring citizens that the U.S. will engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years.

“You better believe we’re going to mix it up with somebody at some point during my administration,” said Bush, who plans a 250 percent boost in military spending. “Unlike my predecessor, I am fully committed to putting soldiers in battle situations. Otherwise, what is the point of even having a military?”

On the economic side, Bush vowed to bring back economic stagnation by implementing substantial tax cuts, which would lead to a recession, which would necessitate a tax hike, which would lead to a drop in consumer spending, which would lead to layoffs, which would deepen the recession even further.

“We as a people must stand united, banding together to tear this nation in two,” Bush said. “Much work lies ahead of us: The gap between the rich and the poor may be wide, be there’s much more widening left to do. We must squander our nation’s hard-won budget surplus on tax breaks for the wealthiest 15 percent. And, on the foreign front, we must find an enemy and defeat it.”

Recall Governor Jim Gibbons

Once again, Gibbons proved he’s the worst governor in the country. Tonight in his state of state address, he proposed the biggest cuts for higher education. According to the Las Vegas Review Journal,

“Of the $632 million Gibbons proposed cutting from the level budgeted in the previous two-year cycle, $473 million, or 75 percent, was to come from the university system. “

C’mon, Jim, get your head outta your ass. You know the secondary education system in Nevada is horrible and the higher education system is the glorified finishing school for Nevada’s high school grads. Most enter college without the basic skills necessary for a university education. I’ve been in this state for 10 years and here’s just one of my observations. I’ve known quite a few Nevadans who are products of their education system. Not one person I’ve met made it to pre-calculus in high school. I’ve known one who didn’t make it past Algebra 1 and another who received a D in Algebra 2. I’ve had countless students in my department take Algebra 2, trigonometry and pre calculus and pay college tuition for it. I’ve even had a few students refer to it as ‘retard math.’

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think it’s the fault of any of these students. Like Mr. Miagi says “no bad students, only bad teachers.” But higher education should be exactly that: highereducation, not remedialeducation. Throw on top of that the burden of a $473 million budget cut, and one can see how much of a disadvantage Nevada’s college students have.

It would do Gibbons well to notice who Nevada voted for president. For the first time in a long time, if not ever, Nevada voted Democrat. Don’t go spouting red state rhetoric in a blue state. It’s time for Gibbons to be recalled.

What Would Jerry Do?

Ticket prices were just announced for the 2009 Dead spring tour. The average price for a seat is $100. WTF? That’s being very ‘unDead.’ I was expecting something along the lines of what Phish is charging for their tour, around $50. Not to mention it’s only the Core Four plus Warren. I’m disappointed they’d do this to the fans.

To quote Phil in an interview a few days ago:

Presale tickets go on sale January 13 — and even though sold-out shows have been a way of life for The Dead, Lesh isn’t taking their fan base for granted. “It’s rough times. Of course it’s an object of concern,” he says. “All you can do is play the best music you can, and hope people can get out to hear it.”

Yes Phil, you can hope people get out to hear the music, and I’m sure the reality will be much different. But you have to ask, if he were still around, what would Jerry do?

I hate to say it, but I’m going to boycott this tour and just wait for a summer Ratdog tour.

Let there be songs to fill the air

2009 is off to a good start. The Dead announced a tour in the Spring, their first tour in four years. Bobby, Phil, Mickey and Billy will be joined with Jeff Chimenti from Ratdog on the keyboards and and one of my of my all time favorite and perhaps the most underrated guitar players of all time, Warren Haynes. I’m a little disappointed that only three shows take place west of the Rockies. One show in Denver, one in L.A. and one in Mountain View. Not exactly ‘tour’ friendly for those of us on the West coast. In any case, I’m going to the L.A. show, ticket or not. I haven’t had a good Shakedown Street experience in years. To me, it’s almost as fun and entertaining as the actual show. Can’t wait to get some good veggie burritos, goo balls and join in a drum circle.