I have managed to alienate Blogger.

After I got hacked, I tried to change my administrative login credentials to my new email address, but Blogger doesn't believe me.  Let's just say it's hard to survive a hacking.

Urban Meyer is one of my heroes.

And here's why.

An open letter to Nevada's governor and legislature and to the Board of Regents.

I was hoping to be able to speak at today's special meeting of the Board of Regents, during the public comment session, but I had to leave to teach my class later this morning. Here's what I would have said:

You have a very difficult task in front of you, with Nevada's budget situation getting worse every day, and I don't envy you. I did want to give you a feel for how some of the research done at the Boyd School of Law contributes directly to Nevadans and to the country as a whole.

First, some bragging about our students. I'm one of the faculty advisors to the Gaming Law Journal and the Nevada Law Journal (lexis.com). Those two magazines publish both faculty research (not just our faculty's research, but the research done by scholars elsewhere as well) and student research. The GLJ is still rather young, but the NLJ's research has been cited by courts here in Nevada, including the Nevada Supreme Court, and by other courts. One of the country's most famous and well-regarded judges, the Hon. Richard Posner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, has cited the NLJ more than once. By publishing useful and high quality research, our students are providing courts with the means to make good decisions.

Second, the research that I'm doing in terms of bankruptcy ethics (the behavior of bankruptcy lawyers) is part of my overall research agenda, which is geared to supporting the behavior of good lawyers and to getting bad lawyers out of the legal system. It's not every day that I see, on the front page of the Review-Journal, an article on the reasonableness of attorney fees in bankruptcy cases (here). Part of my own research involves developing ways to help bankruptcy courts determine whether attorneys fees are reasonable. Reasonableness is a balancing act. The fees must compensate good lawyers and other professionals for their work in helping a debtor reorganize, but they can't carry a lot of redundancies and inefficiency. Dollars saved by reviewing fees for reasonableness can inure to the benefit of unsecured creditors, who get paid after the professionals are compensated for their work. (Distribution of payments in bankruptcy is more complicated than this description, but this one will suffice here.) Based on my work in this area, I've been asked twice to assist a bankruptcy court in Fort Worth in reviewing fees of two large chapter 11 cases, and I'm currently assisting the bankruptcy court here in Nevada in a similar capacity. The Boyd students and graduates who help me in this work are learning about how large chapter 11 cases work, and about how lawyers and other professionals fit into that process. It's good hands-on learning that will serve them well in their careers.

My research in bankruptcy ethics has also enabled me to help out the Office of the U.S. Trustee (which is part of the Department of Justice) in ferreting out lawyers who may be violating the ethics rules about the unauthorized practice of law. My ability to be useful in such matters is directly tied to my research. In my view, teaching, research, and service are inextricably linked.

My research about legal education has also informed my teaching. I've been hearing for some time that law students are trained to write memoranda--not to advise clients. (Our clinic students, of course, get the training that comes with dealing with live clients.) That's one of the reasons that my upper-level Professional Responsibility students are doing presentations in class. It's also why those presentations require teamwork. Teaching students legal ethics in a way that forces them to construe statutes (the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and figure out how to convey information to people who don't already know it is part of their legal training. Again, it's a mix of teaching and research that lets me give students the opportunity to practice some of the skills that they'll need after graduation.

While I was waiting in line to speak this morning, I heard numerous examples of what the budget cuts will do to the educational system in Nevada. I couldn't help thinking about what a success story Boyd is. We're a young law school, and yet we're able to turn law students into skilled and ethical lawyers. We're doing a very good job on what amounts to a shoestring budget: we're understaffed, our students' tuition dollars are stretched to the breaking point, and we still do everything that a good law school must do in order to be relevant to legal education and to the public.

Several of us have had many opportunities to go elsewhere. I'm choosing to stay because I believe in the strength of our school, even in the face of this budget crisis, and because I value what my colleagues are doing to keep our school's trajectory moving in the right direction.

As you consider how to deal with the budget crisis, I would urge you to focus not just on how (and how much) we at UNLV teach but also on how our research benefits the state and the country (and, for some of my colleagues, the international community). Investing in education here in Nevada is crucial if our state is to survive. We can and should invest wisely--with all that "investing wisely" means-- but we have to invest.

We're number 51, and I am NOT happy about it.

See here.

Greetings from a non-mediocre institution.

It's no secret that Nevada's budget is in horrible shape, and that problem is not likely to improve in the near future.  We are living in interesting times, with all that that phrase entails.

But I took umbrage when I read this piece in the National Law Journal (here) about what the budget cuts might do to our school.  (Thanks, though, to all of my buddies who passed along the article to me.)  I haven't seen the summary to which the article referred ("A summary accompanying Smatresk's letter notes that the plan would require significant tuition increases. 'These additional increases will undermine the law school's successful formula and render it a mediocre institution,' the summary reads.")  Whoever wrote that summary was, I'm guessing, trying to communicate that the burden for keeping us from drastic cuts will fall on our students, who will have to pay significantly more in tuition if the state can't figure out a way to help subsidize their education.  "Mediocre," though, doesn't describe us now and won't describe us later.

So far this year, we've hired:

Linda Berger, Mercer School of Law.  Seven edited volumes on legal writing, rhetoric, and the burgeoning field of metaphor & narrative. 11 articles.  Founding editor of J. ALWD.

Ruben Garcia, Cal Western.  Labor law expert, former Hastie Fellow, VAP at UC Davis.  16 articles, one book in progress (NYU Press).

Ian Bartrum, Drake University Law School.  Ribicoff Fellow in Law at Yale Law School, VAP at Vermont Law School.  12 publications on constitutional interpretation and theory.

Michael Kagan, entry-level hire.  Experienced refugee expert in the Middle East and North Africa with stints at Asylum Access, Africa Middle East Refugee Assistance (AMERA), Negotiations Support Unit, Frontiers Association, Musa'adeen Refugee Project, and Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, Amnesty International.  13 articles and book chapters.  Teaching experience at American University in Cairo and Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law.

Year-long visitor:
Lisa Bingham, Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs.  Visitor at Berkeley, Hastings, Maxwell School of Syracuse, and Aberdeen School of Law.  Fulbright fellow in Sweden.  Industrial relations, ADR, and Labor Law expert with over 60 articles in peer-reviewed and law journals, over 25 book chapters, and 5 book reviews.  Expert in labor negotiations and mediation.

That's on top of the folks we've hired over the last few years, each of them gems.  Take a gander at our faculty home page (here).

Ultimately, Nevada has to decide if having an educated workforce is important and, if so, how it might help to encourage and maintain such a workforce.  Not even 12 years ago (we're not even old enough to have a bar mitzvah yet), Boyd was a baby law school, formed out of Nevada's desire to keep its budding law students from having to leave the state to get a law degree.  There has to be some happy medium between the low/no taxes stance we have now and the too-burdensome taxes that too many states have.  In a competitive world, where employers can outsource almost anything to very smart people in other countries, we have to have smart, innovative people on the ground here in Nevada.  That takes education, for starters. 

Mediocre law school?  Nope.  We have a good law school, with engaged faculty and staff members and dedicated students.  It's a warm community--one of the best I've ever enjoyed.  I have confidence that we'll be able to figure out a way to go forward without losing our momentum.  Whether the state is able to figure out a way to get its momentum back is another issue entirely.

Nevada's budget, as seen through the eyes of the UNLV/Brookings Mountain West study.

See here for some very sensible advice.

Another suggestion for dealing with the housing crisis.

See this New York Times op-ed (here).  We have to figure out some way to give banks an incentive to help the folks who can pay their mortgages but who are so underwater that they feel like shnooks for continuing to make payments.  Although I still favor the Van Niel proposal (see here), this one's not a bad start, either.

Another good column on the housing crisis.

I always look forward to the Sunday columns by Gretchen Morgenson (see the latest one here).

Another good column on Nevada's budget crisis.

I look forward to John L. Smith's columns in the Review-Journal, and today's column is no exception (see here).  Let's face it:  imposing taxes on tourists isn't working well for us, because there is a price point at which tourists will choose another vacation location, rather than paying through the nose for lodging.  Imposing higher taxes on food is more broad-based, but it's going to fall disproportionately on the poorest among us, who look to stretch every penny of their budgets.

Mining, on the other hand, probably hasn't reached its price point for taxes.  A couple of observations:  (1) the minerals are here, so as long as the mining companies want to mine here, they're captive; and (2) I'll bet that there are other businesses that aren't at the price point for leaving the state or laying off their employees.  That second point is tricky, because raising taxes on businesses across the board will hurt those smaller businesses with razor-thin profit margins.  And we don't want to go around killing more businesses.  They're dying left and right already.

We need more broad-based taxes, but let's try to levy them on sources that have a solid profit margin (so that the businesses are still left with a hefty profit), rather than on people and business that are struggling to survive.  Maybe it's time for a state luxury tax?

Best explanation of what Nevada needs to do to turn the state's economy around--EVER.

See here.  The whole "we don't have to raise taxes to fix the state's economy" problem brings to mind my favorite speech that Michael Douglas gives as President Andrew Shepherd in The American President (see here):

President Andrew Shepherd: For the last couple of months, Senator Rumson has suggested that being president of this country was, to a certain extent, about character, and although I have not been willing to engage in his attacks on me, I've been here three years and three days, and I can tell you without hesitation: Being President of this country is entirely about character. . . .  America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the "land of the free". . . .  We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. . . .
[pauses]
President Andrew Shepherd: I've loved two women in my life. I lost one to cancer, and I lost the other 'cause I was so busy keeping my job I forgot to do my job. Well, that ends right now. . . .  We've got serious problems, and we need serious people, and if you want to talk about character, Bob, you'd better come at me with more than a burning flag and a membership card. If you want to talk about character and American values, fine. Just tell me where and when, and I'll show up. This is a time for serious people, Bob, and your fifteen minutes are up. My name is Andrew Shepherd, and I *am* the President.

It's time for our candidates to step up to the plate.  Stop going for the votes, and start thinking seriously about how to fix Nevada's economy.  I know that you don't have the scriptwriter of The American President there to make your words powerful, but let's see if you can show that you're serious about your responsibilities to Nevada's citizens.

Does higher education have some explaining to do?

I was reading the op-ed page this morning, and I came across Glenn Cook's A Few Questions for Carson City (here).   Among the questions that he asked, two in particular caught my eye:

-- Why are higher education officials and lawmakers giving a moment's thought to closing Nevada State College at Henderson when its students actually make progress toward degrees and graduate in large numbers, while most UNLV undergraduates drop out? 

-- How much research at UNLV and UNR is funded by taxpayers to explore professors' personal interests, when those professors could be teaching classes instead? In this economy, and with the sacrifices UNLV and UNR face, is it really that unreasonable to ask faculty to suspend all research that isn't self-funded?

Let's take these two questions together.  Assuming that Mr. Cook's stats are correct--and I have no independent info, one way or another, about the graduation rates of either Nevada State College or UNLV--his questions actually illustrate why we need a strong community college system and a strong research university system.  Community colleges and research universities serve different purposes.

In my mind, the mission of community colleges is access.  Excellent community colleges give their students the ability to build a solid foundation for the careers that they choose.  Take a look at Nevada State College's mission statement (here):  "Through student-centered learning, Nevada State College emphasizes and values: exceptional teaching, mentoring, advisement;* scholarship; career and personal advancement; continuing education; and service to our community." 

The mission of research universities is discovery.  Excellent research universities don't just disseminate already-discovered knowledge well; they build upon that knowledge with new discoveries.  And these discoveries aren't the same as the important discoveries that industry produces.  Industry-funded discoveries are intended, by definition, to develop industry objectives and bottom lines.  University-based discovery advances our knowledge in the arts and sciences, and that discovery activity makes our teaching better.  We can talk with our students about what our discoveries mean for our fields, and we can have our students participate with us in those discoveries.** We are changing the fields in which we teach.

So, in response to Mr. Cook's two questions:

(1)  Good for community colleges with good graduation rates!  Those high graduation rates are helping our economy recover from this deep recession by putting better-prepared employees in our workforce.

(2)  If UNLV's graduation rate is too low, let's figure out why.  Is it that UNLV faculty members aren't doing their jobs well, or is it that, with the budget cuts that UNLV has already suffered, UNLV has had to cut back on how often it offers certain core courses?  I know that the latter point is true, and I also know that many of us are picking up larger teaching loads than we used to have. 

I quit private practice in large part because I enjoy teaching students, and I know that my colleagues take pride in their teaching, too. 

But the idea that we should quit researching, unless someone else besides Nevada taxpayers foots the bill, means that we would quit making those discoveries that move our fields forward and enable us to give our students a different experience than they could get at schools without a research mission.  Sure, I'm all for funded research--that research adds to a university's bottom line, thanks to the surcharge that the funding agency pays to the university for overhead.  But not every field has the same access to funding sources, and we shouldn't stifle discoveries in the other fields.  Advances in music, art, and dance will eventually find their way to Nevada's tourism industry.  Advances in the liberal arts will make Nevadans better writers and thinkers. 

If we say, "make UNLV into a teaching institution," then we're creating a massive redundancy in the system and wasting money.  We can have great institutions that have, as their primary mission, a teaching focus, and others that have, as their primary mission, a research function.  Nevada needs both--and now, it needs both more than ever.

*I'm assuming that "advisement" is a typo and that the College means "advising."
** The relative teaching loads in community colleges and research universities means that it's just that much more difficult for professors in community colleges to have time to conduct extensive research in their areas.

Dear Government of the State of Nevada: here are some revenue-raising ideas

Dear Government of the State of Nevada:

As Nevada slips ever further into a budget deficit, and the Governor seeks proposals for up to 10% cuts from state agencies (see here), it's time to consider options for raising revenue, rather than simply cutting further. Some combination of revenue-raising and cutting may be in order, but if we persist in the Governor's cut-only plan, we're going to ruin any hopes for economic recovery.

Here, then, is my list of proposals to help Nevada through this crisis. I'm no genius, and I don't make any claim that my ideas are the best ones out there. I just want to start the ball rolling.

1. California's loss can be our gain, part 1. Both today's New York Times (here) and the Wall Street Journal (here) report that Sen. Dianne Feinstein wants to protect more than one million acres of the Mojave Desert from being used for solar power. Hey, we have desert land--lots of desert land. And even though most solar power uses a lot of water in its processing, there are technologies out there that use less water (see, e.g., here). Why don't we consider becoming the nation's preeminent source for solar power? (Of course, we'll need to build ways of transmitting that power, or it'll be useless. But wait! That will . . . create jobs.)

2. California's loss can be our gain, part 2. California's going through an unprecedented economic crisis, and among other problems that it's facing is the draconian budget cut of its flagship university system (see here). Take a look (here) at what the UC system has achieved, even during a financially disastrous year. I'll bet that some professors in the UC system might be open to coming to Nevada, if Nevada would be willing to invest in what makes professors happy: money to do research, money for travel, money to support students. In the "it'll take spending some money to make money" category, investing in luring some top brains to Nevada--especially if Nevada leverages the new relationship with the Brookings Institution and UNLV (see here)--could create a think tank to solve problems (and . . . create jobs) out here in the desert.

3. McCarran is a good airport, so why isn't Las Vegas a shipping center? When you think gateways, do you think Memphis? (See here.) FedEx did. I like Memphis as a city--loved visiting Graceland, love the music scene--but Las Vegas makes perfect sense as a business-friendly shipping hub. Heck, we're suffering so much economically that if we could give a nationally based business some decent tax breaks, there would be a reason for that business to come here. Oh, and that would . . . create jobs.

4. Go easy on the tourist industry, and make the tax base more even. In a great interview (see here), UNLV Prof. Mary Riddel has pointed out the danger of being a single-industry town. Well, Las Vegas seems to be a single-industry town, and Nevada sure seems to be a single-industry state. And that industry is based on attracting people with discretionary income--income that's increasingly rare these days. Raising the costs for tourists to come here by, say, increasing taxes on them, is not helping our single industry. What would happen if we lowered those taxes, while replacing that lost income for the state by a smaller, broader-based tax generally? I know that increasing taxes is anathema for Nevada politicians, but Albert Einstein (as usual) was right: insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Refusing to reconsider our state's tax system and expecting to come out alive from this recession are mutually exclusive actions.

5. Don't get me started on how many different ways Nevada has gotten Yucca Mountain wrong. (See here.) Here's a riddle for you: why is it safe to store nuclear waste above ground in every other state but not even reasonable to consider storing it on and near the Nevada Test Site (one of the most contaminated areas in North America)?

6. Don't cut the budget across the board. Think about budget cuts this way: when you're facing a personal budget problem, do you cut everything by 10%, or do you figure out which parts of your budget are discretionary and which parts are necessary, so that you can leverage your cuts for the maximum effect? Smart people don't say, "Hmmmm. I need to cut my food intake by 10%, my housing by 10%, and my entertainment budget by 10%." Smart people keep the necessary spending and jettison the discretionary spending.

7. Find a group of smart volunteers who aren't dependent on re-election to do some of the heavy lifting for the politicians. I get it: politicians really can't make the hard decisions, because too many voters have short memories and will resent economically expedient measures if those measures affect their own interests. (Don't gore my ox!) So why can't politicians gather together some smart Nevadans--especially those who own small businesses, the mainstay of any economy--to provide good ideas and political cover? Again, I'm not the best person for the job, by any means, but I'd sure be willing to help if asked.

I keep using the quote that Michael Douglas said in The American President (1995): "We've got serious problems, and we need serious people." We don't need partisan politics; we don't need grandstanding. We need smart people of good will who want to make Nevada thrive. I know that there are such people in our state's government, and there are such people in our state generally. Let's use those brains and, to quote the great Gene Kranz, as played by Ed Harris in Apollo 13 (1995),* "Let's work the problem, people. Let's not make things worse by guessing."

*Wow. 1995 sure was a good year for movies.

Our latest take on Nevada's budget crisis

We still love it here, but we're concerned about Nevada's future (see here for yesterday's op-ed in the Las Vegas Sun).

Of course, not everyone thinks that we should wait until retirement to leave. My University email inbox had this, um, testy response from a Mr. Ed Chapman (ed_chapman2002@yahoo.com):

.......don't you just love the Review-Journal and the Sun when they frequently print pieces by people who whine and compalin [sic] about the"system", [sic] but offer no solutions. If Houston is so wonderful, why don't you move there. Move now, we do not want you here. Just another academic with a law degree. Too many attorneys in Las Vegas anyway, just like there are too many dentists. Go away. No one has asked you to stay here.

Bye!

Dear Mr. Chapman: It's nice to know that you read the Sun and the Review-Journal. I have actually suggested solutions to the crisis--cut some expenses and add some taxes. Reasonable minds can disagree as to whether a combination of cutting and raising revenue can work. But Jeff and I haven't given up on Nevada yet.

And another great idea for the economy

In response to this post (here), one of our best friends suggested the following:

Here's my plan: (1) stimulate the economy by increasing federal monies available to state universities -- I received a heck of an education and now pay back by working and paying taxes -- others will do the same - give a person fish and they eat one meal, teach them to fish and they eat for the rest of their lives; (2) stimulate the economy by investing in our infrastructure -- roads, railroads, etc. will be useful for a long time and create jobs; (3) don't do universal health care -- we can't afford it; (4) increase the social security tax but create a higher payout for those who contribute far more to the program -- make it more palatable; (5) change the internal revenue code so that home equity loans are no longer deductible -- that's what got us into this mess people borrowing against their homes to buy stuff they really didn't need; (6) keep the Bush tax cuts in place at least for now -- people need to have more money in their pockets, not less; (7) create tax incentives for buying American-made cars (even Honda if they are truly made here); and (8) require all seniors in high school between the ages of 18-20 to attend one summer in basic training (unfortunately, we are not ready if we need to call up more troops -- a little discipline, physical fitness, and readiness would not be a bad thing for our kids and this country -- although not tied to the economy, we are going to need more troops in the coming years (Iran and Afghanistan)).

Thanks, Scott--we always like your VERY sensible advice!

My letter to the Nevada Legislature

Each of us can weigh in on Nevada's budget.

Here's a text version of what I've sent.

To my colleagues in the Nevada Legislature:

I know that today’s economic climate is exceptionally challenging, and my thoughts are with you as you navigate toward a reasonable budget for our state.

I am writing to you to urge that you invest more in Nevada’s educational system, not less—and certainly not the “less” that the Governor has proposed.

My husband and I moved to Nevada in July 2007. He is a solo practitioner working for Nye County, and I am the Gordon Silver Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. We moved here from Houston, Texas. He is a native of Columbus, Ohio, and I am a native Texan, hailing from a small town outside of Houston.

Many things attracted us to Nevada: we like the climate, we enjoy the outdoors, and we have a great respect for the spirit that built Nevada. Our move was initiated by UNLV’s offer to have me join the Boyd School of Law.

This law school is an unparalleled success story: barely ten years old, and the only law school in the state, Boyd School of Law was accredited and granted membership to the prestigious Association of American Law Schools in record time. The school is nationally known for its legal writing program, its conflict resolution program, and its clinical program, which trains law students how to be ethical, competent, caring lawyers. Its graduates now pass the Nevada bar at rates far exceeding the state average, and they (and several of us on the faculty) provide proportionally more pro bono work than other lawyers in the state. My colleagues and I on the faculty take part in nationally and internationally recognized research, evidenced in part by court options that cite to our research, “top ten” lists in the Social Science Research Network tracking system,* and numerous invitations to speak at conferences all over the world. We are a top-notch law school that provides high-quality teaching, research, and service to the state, the nation, and – at least for our scholars in international law – the world. In my opinion (and I recognize that I’m biased), our law school gives far more to the state than it costs.

I know that you understand how crucial it is to help Nevadans receive a decent education, from K-12 through college (and beyond). And I know that you’re stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place when it comes to funding that education. I am extremely sympathetic when it comes to your difficult position.

I have blogged about the crisis of Nevada’s budget before: see http://nancyrapoport.blogspot.com/search/label/Nevada%27s%20budget. I have also published an opinion piece in the Las Vegas Sun: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/nov/16/recover-nevada-must-adjust-its-model/.

If we are to see Nevada through this economic crisis, though, we need to support those sectors that will rebuild Nevada’s economy – including sectors that can attract new businesses to Nevada. Nevada’s low tax rate may have worked well in the past, when the population was smaller and we could build our economy on a very few sectors, such as gaming. I’m willing to bet, though, that we could still attract new types of businesses here if we make such moves worth their while by educating their employees and the children of their employees; by providing the type of medical and other research that makes their businesses more efficient, their employees healthier, and their streets safer; and by making Nevada a place where government and the private sector combine forces to maintain a decent infrastructure.

I’ve worked at several research universities, including The Ohio State University and the University of Nebraska, before coming out here. The dollars that have come from national research grants earned by faculty members have helped to make those universities stronger, and that increased strength resulted in benefits to the citizens of those states. My own research and expert advice is about to result in jobs for several Boyd law students and graduates; I am about to be appointed as the fee expert in one of the nation’s largest bankruptcy cases, and part of that appointment carries with it the ability to hire assistants to help me sift through millions of dollars of professional fees in that case.

I would like to stay in Nevada and continue to build an exceptionally good law school. My husband would like to stay in Nevada to work with Nye County on its regulatory issues. We like it here—very much. But we both worry about what decisions you are going to have to make in this legislative session.

I am a former bankruptcy lawyer, and I have participated (and continue to participate) in the reorganization of many companies. I know that cuts are necessary, but I also know that cuts must be tempered by selective investment in profitable ventures if a business is to survive.

Please don’t follow the Governor’s proposal, which would eviscerate Nevada’s K-12 system and its system of higher education. Please come up with your own, better way to save our economy. If I can be of service in any way in your deliberations, please call on me. I have attached my resume for your convenience.

Very truly yours,

Nancy Rapoport

* Based on an SSRN count that I did earlier this month, four of us are among the top 1500 most-downloaded law authors in the country (Michael Higdon, at 1177; Jay Mootz, at 340; Jean Sternlight, at 452, and me, at 440). There are over 195 accredited law schools in the country, many with sizable faculties. For a small law faculty like ours (fewer than 50 faculty members, including non-tenure-track faculty members), this statistic is no small feat. Best of all, of these four professors at Boyd, one—Michael Higdon—is a Boyd graduate himself (class of 2001).

Why the State of Nevada needs a strong higher education system.

I'm heading home to Las Vegas this afternoon, having attended the Winter Board Meeting of the Association of Rice Alumni. This afternoon's meeting included a talk by Rebecca Richards-Kortum, the Stanley C. Moore Professor of Bioengineering. She described the many ways in which Rice University professors' research can be used to address global health issues (water-borne diseases, the high costs of getting technology to the medical personnel in developing countries who need them, etc.). Take a look (here) at what Rice's "Beyond Traditional Borders" project is doing all over the world. What makes Rice's program so special (well, among many things) is that undergraduates at Rice are participating in the research and outreach on an international scale (see here). You can read some of the students' blog posts here.

I can't think of a better illustration of why university research is such an integral part of all students' education. The film that we watched in the board meeting illustrated how Rice undergraduates were involved in the research, design, and dissemination of "science that matters." Not only were scientists involved, but also people from the Jones Graduate School of Management, as well as other disciplines, took part in the real-world problem-solving question: how do we get ideas and tools for improving health to communities with no resources at all?

I've had the pleasure of being at two flagship state universities: The Ohio State University and the University of Nebraska. Even at the less-than-flagship-funded University of Houston, faculty members do research that affects on-the-ground, real-life issues. And, of course, we at the Boyd School of Law at UNLV take our research and outreach missions very seriously. The students who take courses at any of these universities from any of the professors conducting this research or creative activity (don't forget the fine arts at all of these schools!) are benefiting from faculty members who are at the top of their game, and the students get to see for themselves what it means to have a life infused with meaning. Trust me: when you get paid to think about issues that are important to you and to convey your knowledge to other people, you have a life with meaning.

Now I'm living in a state in which the governor has proposed a cut amounting to 50% (yes, you read that right: 50%) of the budgets of the two public research universities. With a cut of that magnitude, there's no way to preserve any sort of benefit to the local, state, national, or international community from the research or outreach that we faculty members can do. The basic functions of these two universities will be gutted by these budget cuts, let alone any ability to discover and implement useful new ideas. (Even combining the two universities--an idea proposed by Geoff Schumacher in the Las Vegas Review-Journal last week as a way to navigate the budget cut--would be impossible with a 50% cut.)

Rice University graduates students who become astronauts, novelists, doctors, journalists, lawyers, and teachers. (See here for some examples.) Part of the reason that Rice has such a great track record with its graduates is that it has enough funding to attract the best minds--students, faculty, and staff. I actually don't think it's an exaggeration to say that some of what Rice does can save the world--or at least parts of it.

One of my favorite movies is The Right Stuff, and one of my favorite scenes in that movie explains the politics of the space program this way:

Recruiter: Funding. That's what makes your ships go up. . . . No bucks, no Buck Ro[]gers.

I'm not trying to compare Rice to any of the large public universities with which I've been associated. Rice has a very different mission from other universities and, as you can tell, I'm passionate about Rice. I am as proud of the work that Rice is doing with its Beyond Traditional Borders program as I've been of the fact that President Kennedy announced his goals for the space program at Rice in 1962.

But Nevadans deserve to have its best people working on difficult issues, teaching Nevadan (and non-Nevadan) students, and adding far more to Nevada's economy than any state appropriation "pays for." Unless the governor really thinks that it's more important to keep taxes low than it is to improve the Nevada economy for the future, this blow to higher education is taking away our "Buck Rogers" moments. Do we really want to give up reaching for the stars so soon?

An opportunity to give Jon Ralston your thoughts about the proposed cuts to higher education

See here. I've voted in this poll. You might want to do so, too. Thanks!

More on Nevada's budget crisis

My colleague Sylvia Lazos (here) just reminded us of an interview that our Dean, John Valery White (here) gave to In Business Las Vegas last semester (here), in which he quite rightly pointed out how devastating more budget cuts would be for our law school. Reporter Stephanie Tavares began the article by observing:

The Boyd School for the past decade has built a well-respected curriculum amid low tuition and high community support.
It recently announced increases in tuition meant to take Boyd into its second phase of building a great law school.
But state-mandated budget cuts could reverse that progress.
....
The law school already has a small faculty and staff compared with similar schools
across the nation.

I'm proud of our school and the education that our students receive here. I'm proud of the research and service that my colleagues and I do here. And I believe that having more well-educated, ethical lawyers is, yes, GOOD for Nevada and everywhere that our graduates will serve.

And I'm worried that the Governor's proposed cuts (see here) will devastate Nevada's educational system (K-12 as well as higher education).

Look: Nevada doesn't have a very diversified economy. We need to attract more businesses here, and so we need to be attractive to both employers and employees. I "get" that very high taxes might scare off businesses, but wouldn't well-below-par educational systems scare off employees? Do the children of Nevada deserve to be less prepared for the 21st century than children in most other states?

We need to think hard about how to solve the budget shortfall and attract more revenue. A mantra of "no new taxes" isn't going to help--especially when the Governor has said that he is willing to tax state employees w/a 6% pay cut. Let's spread the pain out a bit and increase revenue so that we can build a better state.

Dear government of the State of Nevada: some thoughts

I know that you're struggling right now with a horrifyingly bad economy, and you're trying to minimize the pain to Nevada's citizens. I don't envy you your choices, because you're at the point where you're deciding between choices that are devastating and those that are merely awful.

It's a bit self-serving of me personally to point out that the 6% pay cut and similar suggestions are penalizing one sector of your economy much more than the rest, especially given the trade-offs in job satisfaction that I get from working at UNLV. But I'm relatively well-compensated, compared to many of my colleague workers here. As an example, here's a recent letter written by one of my co-workers:

Honorable Legislators,

I have great concern for the proposed increases in health care cost, removal of health care for State Workers after retirement, and the proposed 6 percent pay cut for State Workers. I manage a crew of 50 grounds personnel, all of whom do not have computer access. So I am writing not only on my behalf but theirs. Some of these employees' entry wages start out at around $11.92 per hour. We have already removed their merit increases and these further cuts would be devastating to their income, child care, and health. I have served my country in the United States Marine Corps, and have served the State of Nevada for the last 24 years. On behalf of myself and those whom work along side of me, working for the State, we request that you and the State Representatives do not allow these cuts to occur; please vote against them.

I have lived in Nevada for 47 years and watched the population expand; there has to be other ways to increase revenues, business taxes for example, to raise the revenue
needed other than placing the burden on those who have served and dedicated
their life for the State of Nevada.

Sincerely yours,
Robert Lynn
Facilities Manager
UNLV Landscape and Grounds (letter edited slightly)

I've made a similar point before (see here). It's time for Nevada to consider a much more broad-based economy. We need to look more like, say, Texas (many different sectors of the economy) than like Michigan (which is teetering on the brink of failure because so much of its economy relates to the automotive industry). Texas is hurting, but Michigan may be dying.

(Actually, in one sense, I'd like to see us look a lot more like Texas or Michigan--at least in terms of support for such public goods as education and health care. That would make us a far more attractive place to recruit new types of businesses. People want to see their children well-educated and their families well cared for and safe. A slash-and-burn approach to our budget woes is the exact opposite of what we need in order to attract new businesses here. With low taxes that cannot support even the basic needs of its citizens, Nevada "gets what it pays for"--not very much.)

After I left the world of private practice to take a job in higher education, a very wise person told me that people believe in ideas that save lives or change lives. Health care saves lives; education and research changes lives. It's time to ask everyone in Nevada--not just its state employees--to invest in saving and changing lives.