[[[Slot machines await gamblers at Harrah's on Dec. 19. Texas Pacific Group and Apollo Management will acquire Harrah's Entertainment, the hotel's parent, in a $27.8 billion deal.
Photo by Isaac Brekken.]]]

[[[The Stardust, a hotel-casino with nearly 50 years of history on the Strip, was one of several properties demolished in '06.
Photo by Craig L. Moran.]]]

Private equity companies showed great confidence in Las Vegas' economy as the year wound down, even as much of the rest of the economy took a breather in 2006.*1

Private capital's interest in Las Vegas was demonstrated this month when Harrah's Entertainment accepted a $27.8 billion buyout offer from two out-of-state management firms. The deal will be the third-largest private-equity buyout in American history.

Meanwhile, many of the city's key economic indicators softened slightly in the past 12 months, following several years of breakneck expansion.

The double-digit appreciation rates that characterized Southern Nevada's residential real-estate market in 2004 and 2005 were out in 2006, as record housing inventories kept a lid on prices. Prices of existing homes were up just 3.5 percent. New homes fared better, with an overall appreciation rate of 10.6 percent, but that number doesn't reflect the massive concessions that builders were making on standing inventory.

Even gaming win faltered briefly in 2006. In June, casinos' statewide take fell for the first time in two years, dropping about 3.5 percent when compared with June 2005. The decline was more dramatic in Clark County, where gaming win was off almost 5 percent in June. By October, though, overall win had recovered, and was up 3.29 percent statewide and 4.29 percent in Clark County.

Las Vegas also had plenty of successes in 2006.

Passenger counts at McCarran International Airport and visitor volume citywide were both up. And though the Strip didn't welcome any new projects, the city's locals market received a boost in April, when Station Casinos opened its $925 million Red Rock Resort in Summerlin.

Private-capital firms weren't the only entities registering their confidence in the future of Las Vegas.

Gaming operators launched or continued construction on several billion dollars' worth of projects on and around the resort corridor. King of those developments is MGM Mirage's Project CityCenter, a $7 billion, mixed-use resort under construction on the Strip at Harmon Avenue. Project CityCenter will soon be joined by Boyd Gaming Corp.'s $4 billion Echelon Place.

But several pieces of Las Vegas history had to perish to make way for the new developments. The 48-year-old Stardust closed in preparation for Echelon Place. The Boardwalk was demolished to make way for Project CityCenter. The projects' fates renewed concerns about whether Las Vegas could continue to attract the budget-sensitive tourists who helped build the city in its early years.

Las Vegas gambling companies also invested heavily in international markets in 2006. Macau in particular surged, as Wynn Resorts Ltd. opened its $1.2 billion outpost there in September, and Las Vegas Sands Corp. continued construction of its $3 billion Venetian Macau. The property will join corporate sister Sands Macau, which opened in 2004.

Here is a closer look at the top 10 local business stories of 2006:

1. GOING PRIVATE

Over the past few decades, the gaming industry's largest casino operators and equipment manufacturers became partners with the public markets on Wall Street to raise the capital necessary for its nationwide expansion and financing for its general growth opportunities.

By late 2006, the trend was reversing.

On Dec. 19, two private equity groups struck a deal to buy casino giant Harrah's Entertainment for $27.8 billion. When the groups' initial bid for the Las Vegas-based company was announced in October, speculation began that other publicly traded casino operators would become privately held once again.

The move toward private equity financing began in 2004 when Colony Capital, a private equity fund controlled by Los Angeles real estate investor Tom Barrick, bought the Las Vegas Hilton for $280 million. Colony initially entered the gaming fray with its purchase of Resorts in Atlantic City for $140 million in 2003.

In 2005, as Harrah's was buying out Caesars Entertainment for $9 billion, Colony entered the picture and spent $1.2 billion to buy four casinos that had federal antitrust implications in the merger and needed to be sold by the companies.

Earlier this year, Nevada gaming regulators approved a 33 percent ownership purchase of Cannery Casino Resorts by Oaktree Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based private investment firm that oversees $31 billion.

Gaming analysts speculated that other casino companies would catch the private equity bug.

"All casino operators remain in play," CIBC World Markets gaming analyst David Katz said in a note to investors this month. "With shares continuing to trade on private market speculation, we recommend to investors (to) continue to own the (gaming sector) group."

The Harrah's deal, in which New York-base Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group of Fort Worth, Texas, initially bid $81 a share for the company, reverberated throughout the industry. About 10 days after the initial offer, the two groups kicked up the bid to $83.50 a share.

After nearly 10 weeks of deliberating by the nonmanagement members of Harrah's board of directors, a $90 a share deal was struck, along with the assumption of $10.7 billion in Harrah's debt.

Another sign of the future for the industry might have surfaced in early December. A management-led buyout of Station Casinos, valued at $4.7 billion, had stock speculators humming.

The Fertitta family, founders of Station Casinos who took the company public in 1993, said they were willing to pay $82 a share for the 16-casino company to take it private again. Colony Capital is a partner in the transaction.

Station Casinos' nonmanagement board members are evaluating the offer.

2. BUBBLE TROUBLE?

Las Vegas' housing market defied the economic fundamentals of supply and demand in 2006, again avoiding a bursting of the much-ballyhooed housing "bubble."

Wall Street analysts and think-tank experts have been predicting a 30 percent to 40 percent drop in home prices for years. The National Association of Realtors reported that the median price of an existing home fell 3.5 percent in October from a year earlier, but the opposite happened in Las Vegas.

Even as inventory of homes for sale climbed above 20,000 and year-over-year sales declined, median prices in Las Vegas inched upward throughout most of the year.

The median price of a new home in Las Vegas was $326,502 in October, the latest data available from Home Builders Research show. That's up 10.6 percent from the same month a year ago.

Price appreciation for existing homes was a scant 3.5 percent, up $10,000 to $290,000, following a couple years of 40 percent to 50 percent appreciation.

New-home sales dropped 3.7 percent through October to 25,053, while resales slid 27 percent to 36,461.

"Resale real estate started the year slow and stayed slow until the bottom dropped out in July," real estate analyst Jim Donohue said. "It's been a dismal fall and winter. The good news was stable prices for sellers and rapidly dropping inventory in the fourth quarter. There is some hope for spring."

The new year should bring an uptick in sales, Home Builders Research President Dennis Smith said. "Not a boom like some have suggested, but a slight rise," he said.

Average weekly sales at new subdivisions should get back to one or two a week, he said. Prices will be buoyed by the increasing number of mid-rise and high-rise luxury condos closing escrow.

3. ASIAN GAMBLE

Macau is starting to resemble Las Vegas.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. joined rival casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp. in September with the opening of the $1.2 billion Wynn Macau in the Chinese enclave and one-time Portuguese colony. The 600-room hotel-casino looks like a miniature version of Wynn Las Vegas.

But the results haven't been minuscule. With a 100,000-square-foot casino with 212 gaming tables, primarily baccarat, and 375 slot machines, Wynn Macau churned out gaming revenues of $45 million in its first 25 days of operation.

The casino's opening had all the mixture of a Las Vegas-style extravaganza, with an elaborate VIP party and fireworks display. Visitors waiting to enter the large casino watched the water show at the Wynn Macau's dancing fountains.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas Sands, which opened its Sands Macau in 2004, expanded the casino, but the company has its eyes on 2007 with the planned opening of the $3 billion Venetian Macau on the Cotai Strip. Las Vegas Sands is developing 147 acres on Cotai, which covers seven hotel-casino sites.

By the time Las Vegas Sands investment on Cotai is completed by the end of the decade, the area will have more than 20,000 hotel rooms, 2,900 table games and 16,000 slot machines.

Not to be outdone, Wynn Resorts announced plans this year to develop its own 54-acre site on Cotai.

MGM Mirage will join the fray in 2008 with the opening of the $1 billion MGM Grand Macau.

What does Macau mean to Las Vegas? Money by the pile.

Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson said Macau and Cotai will become the Las Vegas of the Far East.

"To me, it's a broadening of the market so that Asians will want to come to the real Las Vegas," Adelson said in an interview last spring.

Through October, Strip casinos had generated $5.4 billion in gaming revenues for 2006. In Macau, Sands, Wynn and several Chinese-operated casinos had generated $5.3 billion in gaming revenue through October.

"Given Macau's $690 million in revenues in (the month of) October, we think Macau may overtake the Strip in November," Bear Stearns gaming analyst Joe Greff said.

4. BOOM ON THE STRIP

The Strip was rife with development in 2006, a trend that is expected to continue.

The 2005 opening of Wynn Las Vegas triggered a spate of new projects that began appearing in 2006.

Las Vegas Sands Corp., expects to open the $1.8 billion Palazzo late next year. The hotel-casino is rising above the Strip next to The Venetian and across from Treasure Island.

That project should be followed up by Encore, a $1.74 billion hotel-casino addition that Wynn Resorts is building next to Wynn Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, construction continues on the Cosmopolitan, a $1.8 billion hotel-casino-condominium project that is headed by New York developer Bruce Eichner. The Cosmopolitan is under construction next to the Bellagio and is expected to open in 2008.

The $500 million Trump International condominium-hotel tower, behind The New Frontier, is nearing its eventual height of 64 stories. The project is expected to open in 2008.

However, the biggest change to the Strip landscape broke ground in the summer.

MGM Mirage has begun construction on its 66-acre, $7 billion Project CityCenter -- described by company executives as an "urban metropolis" with a 4,000-room hotel-casino, boutique hotels, retail, restaurants, entertainment and high-rise luxury condos.

Other projects, such as a redevelopment of The New Frontier and the proposed $1.5 billion Foutainebleau, have yet to materialize.

In the meantime, Harrah's Entertainment, which owned the Imperial Palace, Harrah's Las Vegas, Flamingo, Bally's and Paris Las Vegas, continued to assemble land along the Strip's eastern side.

By October, the company controlled 350 acres, stretching along the Strip. The last piece of the puzzle, the Barbary Coast at the corner of Flamingo Road and the Strip, was acquired in a land swap with Boyd Gaming Corp.

Harrah's is paying what amounts to $84.8 million an acre for the 4.3 acre parcel in a deal expected to close in February.

The company, which spent 2006's last two months considering whether or not to accept a private equity buyout offer, hasn't divulged its plans for the land.

5. OUT WITH THE OLD

Lovers of old Las Vegas lore lost some of their favorite hotel-casino icons in 2006.

Chief among the shuttered properties was the Stardust, a storied resort with nearly 50 years of history on the Strip. When it opened in 1958, the Stardust's 1,032 rooms made it the world's largest hotel. Its "Lido de Paris" revue epitomized Las Vegas glamour and glitz, and was one of the attractions that helped lure 1950s-era swells such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. to the property. Stardust habitues Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal and Anthony Spilotro were immortalized in the Martin Scorsese mob movie "Casino."

The Stardust closed Nov. 1 and is scheduled for implosion in early 2007.

The city bid adieu to several other properties in 2006.

The Castaways, which opened in 1954 as the Showboat, fell to the wrecking ball. The 500-room hotel-casino had been closed for nearly a year when Station Casinos bought the site for $33.7 million in September 2004. Station razed the hotel, whose 106-lane bowling center was a favorite hangout for generations of Las Vegas high schoolers, in January.

On the Strip, Harrah's Entertainment imploded the 166-room Bourbon Street on Flamingo Road east of the Barbary Coast in February. And MGM Mirage shuttered and tore down the 654-room Boardwalk just south of Bellagio in January.

The hotels are making way for upscale successors: Boyd Gaming Corp. will build the $4 billion Echelon Place on the Stardust site, while MGM Mirage is well under way with its $7 billion Project CityCenter on the Boardwalk acreage. Bourbon Street stood in the way of yet-to-be-announced plans Harrah's has for refashioning the east side of the Strip around Flamingo. Station is still evaluating the possibilities for its Castaways parcel.

David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said the upgrades will help Las Vegas expand its customer base. They'll also employ thousands more workers, he said.

Yet, the closures and implosions also raised concerns about the fate of the budget-conscious travelers who helped put Las Vegas on the tourism map in its first few decades as a gambling destination. A town once known for affordable rooms, $3 buffets and kitschy souvenir shops is now looking to make its nut on pricey accommodations, five-star restaurants and Chanel outposts. The evolution could force midmarket and budget travelers off the Strip and into properties downtown or just off the Strip. Such visitors might also skip Las Vegas altogether and opt instead for Indian casinos or other gaming markets closer to home.

Schwartz said the changes are critical to the city's future fortunes, though.

"The important thing is that these places weren't originally built to be monuments to anything," he said. "They were built to be casinos and hotels, and I think that even the original owners would agree that, at a certain point, they could attract more people by starting fresh."

6. VEGAS NUMBERS

There was a time in 2006 when gamblers actually left Nevada with more money than they came in with.

But by year's end the state's casinos got back more than enough to make up for it.

In June statewide gaming win dropped 3.5 percent compared to 2005, the first dip in two years.

During the dreary days of June 2006, casinos statewide won just $921 million from bettors, a 3.47 percent decrease.

And in Clark County, the gaming win for that month dropped nearly 5 percent to $758 million.

"It's getting harder," MGM Mirage President and Chief Financial Officer Jim Murren said in August, when the June numbers became public.

In the year's first half, fewer people visited Las Vegas than in early 2005. The decline was just 0.4 percent, however.

At the time Bear Stearns analyst Joe Greff predicted the dark days would continue.

"Looking ahead to July the calendar is unfavorable with the nine weekend days ... versus 10 in 2005," Greff wrote.

Fortunately for the state's casino owners, the dark days ended.

Win increased in July, August and October around a slight dip in September.

The latest available figures for 2006 had the state 3.29 percent ahead of 2005. Clark County was up 4.29 percent with only downtown Las Vegas posting a decline of 7.25 percent for the fiscal year.

Air traffic and tourism also gained in 2006.

More than 4 million people arrived and departed McCarran International Airport in October, pushing the 2006 total to 38.5 million, up 3.7 percent from the year before.

Southwest, McCarran's biggest carrier, also posted the strongest growth among top five airlines at the airport with a year to date increase of 11.9 percent over 2005.

Overall, visitation to Las Vegas was up 1.1 percent through October. More than 32.7 million people visited the region. Average daily automobile traffic on Interstate 15 at the California border rose 2.5 percent from 2005.

Visitor volume was flat in Mesquite and dipped 14 percent in Laughlin.

Hotels also got more money from visitors.

The average daily room rate in Las Vegas rose more than 17 percent to $120. In Mesquite the rate rose more than 48 percent through October to $64.

7. ONLINE GAMING

Other than a ban on bets from the world's richest country and arrests of Internet gambling executives, 2006 was a great time to run an online casino.

Internet gambling grew to a $12 billion worldwide industry despite a bill signed Oct. 13 by President Bush that bans processing online gambling payments from Americans.

The law came about three months after federal agents arrested former Chief Executive Officer Peter Carruthers and several other officials from the company BetOnSports and former chairman Peter Dicks of SportingBet.

"Then it sort of dawned on us, and the industry, they are not going to take (Internet) gaming lightly," said Alex Pratt, publisher of the magazine iGaming Business, during the Global Gaming Expo in November at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The arrests, and subsequent anti-online gambling law, drove Internet gambling companies that rely on American bettors into the ground.

And it left remaining online companies to refocus their businesses on customers from other nations while they wait out the turbulence in the American market.

"It is a funny time at the moment," Pratt said.

Although the legal developments dampened the enthusiasm for some in the industry, the business from American bettors quickly migrated to smaller sites that were less vulnerable to government interference.

Critics of the ban said that meant it was exposing American bettors to less scrupulous Web sites.

And the Democratic takeover of Congress offered hope the ban would be reviewed soon.

By year's end, however, American companies were getting back in the action.

On Dec. 4 Las Vegas Sands Corp. announced a partnership with wireless gaming company Cantor Gaming.

The partnership will offer Sands brands like The Venetian to online bettors in the United Kingdom.

The operation will be licensed in Alderney in the British Channel Islands.

"When the system is set up we'll test it to make sure that they can't accept wagers from U.S. citizens," Nevada Gaming control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander said. "That's the main concern."

8. COSTLY ENERGY

The cost of keeping the lights on and driving cars took a big bite out of Joe Consumer's wallet this year.

Nevada Power Co.'s retail rates continued their relentless march higher, and gasoline prices spiked to a new high in May before receding in the autumn.

Unleaded gasoline sold for $2.29 a gallon in Las Vegas on Jan. 10, AAA Nevada reported. But the price of a gallon surged to $3.15 on May 16, a month before the traditional start of the vacation driving season, AAA Nevada spokesman Michael Geeser said.

By mid-December, the average cost of a gallon of gasoline cost $2.45 in Las Vegas.

"Gas prices in Nevada and particularly in Las Vegas really took off in May," Geeser said.

The gasoline price spike stemmed from maintenance and operational problems at California refineries, said Rob Schlichting, a spokesman for the California Energy Commission.

Southern Nevada gets virtually all of its gasoline from California through pipelines operated by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners.

Clark County established a commission to review ways to obtain gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from other sources, and three other companies submitted plans for alternative pipelines. But only Kinder Morgan's plans were starting to be realized as the year ended.

Staying home did not provide Southern Nevadans any relief from high energy costs, however.

Nevada Power Co.'s rates increased during 2006, continuing a trend that started in 2000. Residential customers were paying $83.74 for 1,250 kilowatt hours of electricity in the second half of 1999, but the typical bill rose to $136.49 by March, according to the Public Utilities Commission. The electric company wants to boost general residential rates by 12 percent by June. In January, Nevada Power will file a deferred energy rate increase that could boost rates or lower overall power rates by June.

Nevada Power and affiliate Sierra Pacific Power Co. also announced plans to develop the $4 billion Ely Energy Center, which will burn coal, a stably priced fuel. A transmission line to the Ely project will enable Nevada Power to import electricity from Northern Nevada geothermal power plants, another source of power with stable prices.

9. AND THE WINNING BID IS ...

After 15 competing bids from four casino companies within a six-week time frame, the parent company of the aging Tropicana said yes in May to a $2.75 billion buyout by privately held Columbia Sussex Corp.

In purchasing Aztar Corp., Kentucky-based Columbia Sussex, which operates two casinos in South Lake Tahoe, a Laughlin casino and off-Strip Westin, becomes a nationwide casino corporation with properties in Nevada, New Jersey, Indiana, Illinois, Mississippi and Louisiana.

The transaction has been approved by federal anti-trust authorities and state gaming regulators, but is not expected to close until January.

The bidding for Aztar, at times, resembled an auction on eBay.

Las Vegas-based Pinnacle Entertainment made the initial offer for Aztar, signing an agreement on March 13 to pay $38 a share for the company. By May 19, Columbia had upped the bid to $54 a share. Pinnacle raised its bid four times, thwarting private equity investor Colony Capital and rival casino operator Ameristar, which had submitted competing bids. But in the end, Pinnacle wouldn't match Columbia's final offer.

Pinnacle, however, was paid a breakup fee of $78 million by Aztar when the deal with Columbia was reached -- of which $25.8 million covered the company's legal expenses.

The prize in the bidding war was the Tropicana and its 34-acre Strip location.

Columbia Sussex President Bill Yung III told Nevada gaming regulators it would spend $2 billion over the next few years to redevelop the Tropicana site, giving the location more than 8,000 hotel rooms and an additional hotel brand.

He said the Tropicana itself would be extensively remodeled but not closed during the construction period.

Meanwhile, focus turned toward the Riviera and its 26-acre Strip location.

In August, shareholders rejected a bid of $17 a share by a group known as Riv Acquisition Holdings. In November, Cosmopolitan developer Bruce Eichner and New York-based asset management firm D.E. Shaw, bid $21 a share, or $470 million, for the Riviera and a sister slot machine casino in Colorado.

The bid was pulled a month later when management and the bidder couldn't reach an agreement.

10. CHANGING LOCALS MARKET

With a surprise concert by Grammy-winning recording artist Sting and an elaborate fireworks display, the locals casino market went upscale with the April 18 public unveiling of the $925 million Red Rock Resort by Station Casinos.

The opening of the Summerlin casino, coming almost five months after the opening of Boyd Gaming Corp.'s South Coast, gave the locals gaming market a shot in the arm. By summer, the monthly gaming revenues reported by casinos in the local sector were year-over-year double digit increases compared to the same months in 2005.

Gaming analysts were quick to point out that many of Red Rock's customers were coming from other properties operated by Station Casinos.

Meanwhile, several smaller casinos, such as Arizona Charlie's, Rampart and Silverton, said they didn't lose as much business as they thought they would to the new casinos, meaning programs the operators put in place to keep loyal customers were working.

Red Rock Resort was the only new casino opening in 2006. The Palms opened its new hotel tower with ultraluxury suites and a hip, rooftop Playboy Club.

But the splash in the locals market came in the year's second half.

Boyd Gaming decided to eliminate the South Coast from its portfolio and concentrate on other projects, namely the $4 billion Echelon project on the site of the Stardust.

Former Coast Casinos founder Michael Gaughan, who had sold his casino operation to Boyd in 2004 and became a member of the company's board of directors, exchanged his stock in the company, valued at $512 million, for the South Coast. He also resigned from the board of directors.

Boyd retained control of the other Coast Casinos properties and Gaughan, who built the company into a locals giant, returned to the owner-operator side of the business. By October, the casino had a new name, South Point.

Station Casinos continued to put its stamp on the locals market. In the fall, the company unveiled plans for its next resort, the $600 million Aliante Station, which is expected to break ground in the North Las Vegas master-planned community by February.

Review-Journal writers John G. Edwards, Jennifer Robison, Hubble Smith, Benjamin Spillman and Howard Stutz contributed to this report.*2

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References

*1. REVIEW-JOURNAL AND GAMING WIRE. 'YEAR IN BUSINESS 2006: ...,' "Nevada News - Las Vegas Review-Journal," (December 31, 2006), Las Vegas, Nevada: Reviewjournal.com.
*2. Ibid.

For Immediate Release: December 29, 2006
Contact: Steve George, Dir. of Communications
Contact: Brent Boynton, Dir. of Communications
(775) 684-5668

Carson City, NV -- Following President Bush’s declaration that January 2, 2007 will serve as a National Day of Mourning for the loss of former President Gerald Ford, Governor Kenny Guinn and Governor-elect Jim Gibbons have announced that the date will also be a state day of Honor and Remembrance. The day will not be an official state holiday, and all state offices will be open for business. State employees and state schools will observe regular schedules as well.

Flags throughout the state will fly at half staff and Nevadans are encouraged to observe the passing of our nation’s 38th President.

“Gerald Ford was an honorable public servant who helped unite our country during a troubling time in our nation’s history," said Governor Guinn.

"On behalf of all Nevadans, Dawn and I extend our deepest condolences to former First Lady Betty Ford and the entire Ford family,” said Governor-elect Gibbons.

Gibbons plans to issue a formal proclamation honoring the life of President Gerald R. Ford after he takes office January 1st.

Office of the Governor
101 North Carson Street
Carson City, NV 89701
Fax: 775-684-7198

Grant Sawyer State Office Building
555 East Washington, Suite 5100 Las Vegas, NV 89101
Fax: 702-486-2505

***** "Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity." ---Oprah Winfrey

"Hello Dr. Lei: I just wanted to thank you for including Judge Walsh and myself in such a beautiful evening. I was quite happy to be there to witness you receive the recognition you deserve. Thank you again for including us and please accept my best regards to you and your wife," said Jeri Winter, Judicial Exec. Assistant to Judge Jessie Walsh, Dept. 10.*1 Judge Jessie Walsh attended the Induction Ball held by Asian American Republican Coalition of Nevada-CC on April 24, 2005 in Las Vegas. She was honored as a Special Guest of the Dinner and Party. She was accompanied by her Judicial Exec. Assistant Jerri Winter and Courtroom Deputy Matt Diamond.

During the Event, Dr. Tony Lei received a Proclamation of the Board of County Commissioners of Clark County. It was presented to him by Commissioner Lynette McDonald on the Event and Dinner Party after she delivered her kenote speech.*2

Judge Jessie Walsh has been honored Associate Executive Director of Pan Pacific and Asian American Forum (PPAAF) by Washington Business and Technology Institute (WBTI) on January 16, 2002.

Jessie graduate from the University of Arizona College of Law in 1992. She ran unopposed in 2001 to retain her seat in Las Vegas Municipal Court. By unanimous vote, the Mayor and City Council appointed Judge Walsh to fill a vacancy in October 1999.

Active in her profession and community, she is an elected member of the Judicial Council of the State of Nevada. She is also an Advisory Board Member of the Police Athletic League. Jessie is a member of the Southern Nevada Association of Woman Attorneys, and is the conservation chairperson for the Daughters of the American Revoluntion. In 1999, she was recognized by the Clark County Bar Association for her hard work and dedication to the Trial By Peers program.

At the dinner event and party for Mayor Goodman by the Asian American Community closing to the end of 2000, Jessie was a special guest invited by Dr. Tony Lei accompanied by Justice of the Nevada Supreme Court Honorable Nancy Becker. She was clever to share some significant acquaintanceship on both the philosophic and methodological skills in modern administration with him sitting together on the main table during the dinner.*3

Winning the election without any opponent, Judge Jessie Walsh*4 is now on her second term of her position in the Las Vegas Municipal Court. She wrote Dr. Tony Lei on February 7, 2001: "Thank you for the lovely congratulatory letter. I am fortunate and honored to have the support of people like you." At the same time, she told him that because of the enormous support and confidence she had received from him and the citizens of Las Vegas, she is honored to serve in this capacity and is dedicated to administer justice in a fair and expeditious fashion.

In May 2001, she was appointed Associate Fellow of Public Administration Institution (PAI) of WBTI. As a bright and future star in Juridical and administrative study, she is leading a group of intellectuals to enhance Dr. Tony Lei's scholarly belief that "Our knowledge, wisdom, and professionalism are all achieved by our sincere love to God!"

"I agree with District Judge Valorie Vega's idea to be honored as a Fellow of the Public Administration of Washington Business and Technology Institute. She said that, 'It will undoubtedly provide me with avenues for exploring improvements in public services to which I am most dedicated,'" said Jessie Walsh. "I'm glad also to share the similar position as one of its faculty member. It's significant, as Dr. Tony Lei told me that for community service--- that based on 'love in action is service above self'--- the abundant reward from one's humune love, spiritual excellence, and professionalism of expert are far more greater than solely her or his title."*5

Intellectuals were encouraged to attend a dinner party for Brian Sandoval, Bill Young, and David Roger by the Asian American Community. It was held on March 8, 2002 at Mike and Rita Vaswani's residence. Chairpersons were: Tony Lei, Ed. D., Ram Singh, M. D., Rita and Mike Vaswani, and Steve Wolfson, Esq. Hosts were: David Amesbury, Esq., Jal Daulat, Larry Espinueva, Azam Hakim, Basil Hamika, Sam Hamika, Greg Hartline, Bettina Ho, Tri Hua, Romeo Jurani, Steven Kwon, Vimla Lendway, Raymond Leung, Carrie Liu, Ann Melton, Raja Mourey, Richard Naft, Edmund Pasimio, Tonie Sison, Tony Smith, Ben Torres, Joey Villaflor, and Mohammed Zoubi. "Seats are very limited. Please call Dr. Peter Lok at 732-0178 before 12 noon Friday, March 1st, and gave your number of guests and their names. If you are interested to be Dr. Lei's guests, please call his wife Judy at 255-9058 before 12 noon, Tuesday, March 5, 2002," announced by the publicity.*6

The following is the most recent BIOGRAPHY of JUDGE JESSIE WALSH:

Judge Walsh is one of 33 judges serving in the 8th Judicial District Court. She was elected in November, 2002 and currently hears an all civil calendar. She began her judicial career in Municipal Court where she served from 1999-2002.*7

In December 1992, Judge Walsh graduated from the University of Arizona College of Law and subsequently joined the Las Vegas City Attorney*s Office as a Deputy City Attorney in the criminal division. As one of 6 prosecutors, she managed a heavy criminal misdemeanor caseload. She has also served as a Deputy Public Defender in the Clark County Public Defender*s Office.

In June 1996, Judge Walsh opened her own general private law practice that consisted of wills, trusts, civil and family law, criminal misdemeanor and felony cases, and probate and estate planning. She also represented indigent clients through a contract with Clark County, Nevada and was a special prosecutor for the City of Las Vegas.

Judge Walsh began her career in 1980 as a regional aide for U.S. Senator Paul Laxalt. She worked for U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Vucanovich from 1983-1989 as her regional representative.

Judge Walsh worked as a development officer for the City of Las Vegas, Department of Economic and Urban Development, from 1989-1990. She was responsible for real estate operations for City business parks, including lease negotiations and sale agreements. Judge Walsh also served as a federal legislative liaison for department projects and was the point of contact between the City and foreign dignitaries.

Active in her profession and community, she is an elected member of the Judicial Council of the State of Nevada and a former co-chair of the "Trial by Peers" program. Judge Walsh is a member and former director of the Southern Nevada Association of Women Attorneys, and is the Conservation Chairperson for the Daughters of the American Revolution. In 1999, she was recognized as the Volunteer of the Year by the Clark County Bar Association for her hard work and dedication to the Trial By Peers program. Judge Walsh served as a volunteer judge in the UNLV Law School Client Counseling Competition, Spring 2001; a volunteer judge in the "We the People...the Citizens & the Constitution" high school competition in 1999, 2000, and 2001; and a volunteer judge in the Annual Moot Court Competition in 2001 and 2002.

In 2004 Judge Walsh led the court with the highest number of days in civil jury trials.*8

---------------------------------------------
References

*1. Moss, Cheryl; Denton Mark; Chang, Tiffany. 'Jessie Walsh has been honored as Associate Executive Director of PPAA Forum,' "Special Column of Dr. Tony T. Lei on Nevada Examiner," (October 23, 2003}, Las Vegas, Nevada: Nevada Examiner.
*2. Google. 'Proclamation of Clark County Commission to Dr. Tony Lei,' "A search of 'Dr. Tony Lei' on the Google.com," (November 17, 2006), Mountain View, California: Google.com.
*3. Moss, Cheryl; Denton, Mark; Chang, Tiffany. Ibid.
*4. Jessie Walsh is a famous District Judge of Nevada. She ia also an Associate Fellow of the Public Administration Institution of Washington Business and Technology Institute (WBTI).
*5. Moss, Cheryl; Denton, Mark; Chang, Tiffany. 'Jessie Walsh has been honored as Associate Executive Director of PPAA Forum,' "Newsbrief of WBTI," (February, 2002}, Las Vegas, Nevada: WBTI.
*6. Ibid.
*7. Winter, Jeri. 'A BIOGRAPHY of Judge Jessie Walsh' "An e-mail from Ms. Jeri Winter to Dr. Tony Lei," (April 29, 2005), Las Vegas, Nevada: District Judge Jessie Walsh's Office in Department 10.
*8. Ibid.

My Fellow Nevadans:

Dema and I have had the honor and distinction of serving you for eight wonderful years as your First Lady and Governor. Through this time and the campaign leading up to my first election victory in 1998, we have come in contact with literally thousands of Nevadans who have made a difference in our lives; people who we have come to respect, appreciate, and admire for their sacrifice and sense of duty to their state and nation.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of being Governor and First Lady is traversing the state, meeting caring people who are passionate about particular issues and ideas that affect their daily lives. Our visits to communities across our state have afforded Dema and me memories and friendships that will last the rest of our lives. We are truly grateful for and appreciative of the encouragement so many of you have provided us along our way.

My job as Governor would have been much more difficult without the exceptional advice and guidance I have received from my staff, cabinet members, agency directors, and many individual state employees. Your ideas, counsel, and efforts have played a key role in our accomplishing so much together for the citizens of Nevada over the past eight years.

As I leave office, I want to express my admiration and heartfelt thanks to the thousands of state workers who have done their best on a daily basis to provide the people of Nevada with high-quality service. You are the backbone of state government. Your dedication and professionalism in making Nevada a better place for residents and visitors alike has truly been a hallmark of my administration.

I would also like to express my appreciation to legislators and community-minded citizens who supported programs and initiatives they believed would make a difference in the lives of Nevadans. As Governor, it would be impossible to get meaningful legislation passed and to adequately serve the people of Nevada without these substantial efforts. Your support and dedication to programs and initiatives such as the Millennium Scholarship, Senior Rx, Nevada Check Up, privatization of workers’ compensation insurance, and so many other fundamental changes to state government, have paved the way for a better Nevada.

In closing our eight memorable years as Governor and First Lady, we would like to say thank you to the people of this great state for allowing us to serve you. It has been a great ride!

Sincerely,

KENNY C. GUINN
Governor
DEMA GUINN
First Lady

-------------------------------------------
Reference

*1. About Governor Kenny Guinn (a concise one by the Editor of this flier):

Kenny Guinn, 70, earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in Physical Education from Fresno State University and later obtained a doctorate in Education from Utah State University in Logan.

In 1994, Guinn was recruited by the University of Nevada Board of Regents to serve as interim president of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

Kenny spent his boyhood in the small, Central Valley town of Exeter, California where he met Dema, his wife of 50 years. Kenny Guinn believes in families.

Dr. Kenny C. Guinn is Chairman of the Advisory Board of Washington Business and Technology Institute (WBTI). He is now the Governor of Nevada, U. S. A. at his second term.

"Accomplishment will prove to be a journey, not a
destination."
---Dwight D. Eisenhower

"Six essential qualities that are keys to success:
Sincerity, Personal Integrity, Humility, Courtesy,
Wisdom, Charity."
---Dr. William Menninger

"We are all faced with a series of great opportunities
brilliantly disguised as impossible situations."
---Chuck Swindoll

A very beautiful 'Christmas Blessings!' card was sent by District Judge Mark Denton to President Dr. Tony T. Lei of Washington Business and Technology Institute and his wife Judy on December 18, 2006. On the nice photo are Mark & Alice Denton; Dr. Leslie, Marianne, Jacqueline, and Patrick.*1

"It's my great pleasure to extend my warm greetings of 'Happy Lunar New Year!' to every American and Chinese here in Las Vegas and North America through the Communitylink (at http://communitylink.reviewjournal.com/lvrj/wbti) of the largest newspaper in Nevada, Las Vegas Review-Journal," said Drs. Mark Denton and Valorie Vega each on January 29, 2006.

It is with great pleasure to recognize that Judge Mark Denton and Judge Valorie Vega were appointed Vice-Presidents of the Washington Business Technology Institute. Both judges have long-standing careers in the field of law and jurisprudence, and they have distinguished themselves within the Nevada community through their dedication, hard work, integrity, and professionalism as Judges of the Eighth Judicial District Court, Clark County, State of Nevada.

"On December 3, 2003, Drs. Mark R. Denton and Valorie J. Vega were appointed Vice Presidents of Washington Business and Technology Institute (WBTI) by our President Dr. Tony Lei. The new appointments were made in anticipation of the retirement of our previous Vice Presidents, Drs. Sherman Wu and Robert Ni," said Dr. John Wang, Spokesman for WBTI.

Judge Mark R. Denton received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. in 1976. He was raised in Boulder City and graduated from Boulder High School in 1969. In 1973, Mark graduated with distinction from the University of Nevada, Reno. He completed ROTC and received a commission in the U.S. Army as reserve officer. While in college, Mark spent his junior year in Paris, France through an affiliate of UNR at the Universite de Paris.

Prior to his appointment to the bench on August 19, 1998, Mark had extensive judicial experience. He served as municipal court judge in Boulder City, Nevada for seven years. He was an arbitrator under the Court Annexed Arbitration Program of the Eighth Judicial District Court since its inception in 1992. He was an alternate Juvenile Court Referee and a Nevada Supreme Court settlement Judge. Currently, Mark sits as a judge on the Eighth Judicial District Court, handling civil cases. Mark was re-elected in November 2002.*2

Judge Denton and his wife of 29 years, Alice, have four children: Leslie Marie, 26, Marianne Yvette, 22, Jacqueline, 18, and Patrick, 13.*3

Judge Valorie J. Vega holds a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) degree from the University of Southern California's Law Center. She received a Bechelor of Arts degree from CSU Northridge. She received her graduate studies certificate in Interpretation/Translation from UC Santa Barbara.*4

Judge Vega was appointed to District Court’s Department 2 on February 21, 1999 by Governor Kenny Guinn. She was appointed to Municipal Court in 1989 and was retained and re-elected by the voters until her resignation in 1999 to accept the District Court appointment. She is a former Clark County Deputy District Attorney from 1984 through 1989, prosecuting felony cases, and was instrumental in implementing the office’s first Sexual Assault and Child Abuse team. She was an associate attorney with the law firm of Sully and Lenhard from 1983 to 1984 and clerked for District Court Judge Carl Christensen from 1982 to 1983 and also clerked for the law firm of Brandenberg, Torribio and Brazelton in Los Angeles in 1982. Before attending law school, Judge Vega, fluent in Spanish, supervised interpreters for the Eighth Judicial District Court in Las Vegas from 1978 to 1979, where she set up testing and certification for court interpreters and did Spanish-English interpretation and translation.

Judge Vega is involved in her profession and community. She is a Board Member of the Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Southern Nevada as well as the Latin Chamber of Commerce. She is also a volunteer speaker for D.A.R.E. and the Clark County School District’s PAYBACK Program. Judge Vega is a member of the American Judges Association, the Nevada District Court Judges Association, the National Association of Women Judges, the Southern Nevada Association of Women Attorneys, the Clark County Bar Association, the Latino Bar Association, Hispanics in Politics, and the National Association of Latino Elected Officials. Judge Vega is a member of the Nevada Supreme Court’s Committees on Public Trust and Confidence, Certification of Court Interpreters, and Judicial Ethics. She was honored with the 1992 "Women of Achievement Award" from the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and recognized by the Latin Chamber of Commerce as the "Hispanic of the Year" in 1995 and recipient of the 2001 Community Pride Portraits of Success Award from KLAS-TV and its Community Partners. Judge Vega is married, has one child and has been a resident of Southern Nevada since 1978.*5

A celebration Dinner Party was held by President Dr. Tony Lei of WBTI to welcome Judges Mark Denton and Valorie Vega as Vice Presidents of the Institute on December 8, 2003 at the Steak House, Binion's Horseshoe Club in Las Vegas. "Washington Business and Technology Institute has contributed substantially and significantly to help improve the quality of life for the residents and visitors of Nevada since its establishment on January 8, 1996. As one of the Vice President of this Institute, I intend to promote and enhance the development and prosperity of Nevada. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to serve in this position through the appointment by Dr. Tony Lei. This will undoubtedly provide me with avenues for exploring improvements in community services provided to the public at large. The steadily increasing number of faculty and advisory members serving in WBTI demonstrates WBTI's efforts and goals to promote what is best for the community," said Judge Vega as the celebration Party was taking place on the 26th floor of the Club with a vivid bird's-eye view of the beautiful City of Las Vegas at night.

Washington Business and Technology Institute (WBTI) has been well-recognized for its accomplishments in selecting only outstanding professionals and individuals to participate and serve. The list consists of the following: Governor Kenny Guinn, Chairman; U. S. Senators Harry Reid and John Ensign, Vice Chairmen; U. S. Representatives James Gibbons and Shelley Berkley, and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, Executive Directors of the Advisory Board. U. S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, Chairperson; Dr. Tony T. Lei, President; District Court Judges Mark R. Denton and Valorie J. Vega, Vice Presidents; Dr. William N. Thompson, Director of Public Administration Institution, Drs. E. Lee Bernick and G. Keong Leong, Deans of Graduate School of Business and Public Administration; Dr. Sue Fawn Chung, Director of Culture Institution; Justice of the Supreme Court William Maupin, Attorney General Brian Sandoval, and District Judge Stewart Bell, Honorary Chairmen of Clark County District Attorney and Police Civil Commission (CCDAPCC); District Attorney David Roger and Sheriff Bill Young, Chairmen of CCDAPCC.*6

The above list of leaders and political officials who are involved with the Washington Business and Technology Institute (WBTI) was announced and installed by Judge Denton at the Dinner Party held by WBTI at the Binion's Horseshoe Club on December 8, 2003 in Las Vegas.

The Graduate School of Business and Public Administration (GSBPA) is now one of the main institutions of Washington Business and Technology Institute (WBTI). "The mission of this School emphasizes the humanitarian orientation of public administration and the social responsibility of business management. Through academic entrepreneurship, we expect the School's endeavors to be achieved based on the human spirit, led by Chairperson Elaine Chao of WBTI," said Senator Dina Titus, Adjunct Professor of Administrative Strategies in GSBPA.

Dina Titus was born May 23, 1950 in Thomasville, Georgia. She graduated from College of William and Mary with A.B. She received her M. A. and Ph. D. degrees from University of Georgia and Florida State University, respectively. She is a Senator and Minority Floor Leader of the Nevada Senate. Dina is also a professor of Political Science at UNLV.*7

"Asian Pacific American have made profound contributions to American life, including the arts, economy, education, science, technology, politics, and sport. This community was here to help build trascontinental railroad, to serve in the Civil War, and to develop the latest Internet technology. I'm pleased to assure all you leaders of the community here today that I'll continue working to preserve and advance the heritage and value of Asian Americans. I'll put my effort to reach out and address issues of importance to the Asian American community, including the economy, education, safety, racial profiling, and hate crime, and immigration, among others. I'd like also to show my appreciation of all your accomplishments and contributions to the American way of life and your oustanding participation in the political, business , and educational processes. It's my pleasure to accept the honor as Professor of Administrative Strategies of the Graduate School of Business and Public Administration of Washington Business and Technology Institute," said Harry Reid, U. S. Senator and Assistant Democratic Leader of the Senate at Asian American Leaders Tea with United States Senator Harry Reid on May 31, 2003 at Korean Garden B. B. Q. House in Las Vegas.*8

"It's very impressive and elegant! I recognize what John Keats said about 'A thing of beauty is a joy forever,' by being the vistor's number at #37,777 on December 9, 2003 (now at #103,052 on February 2, 2006) of the WBTI website, made available through the Communitylink of the 'Las Vegas Review-Journal'," said Judge Valorie Vaga, District Judge of Nevada, on October 10, 2005 in Las Vegas.

---------------------------------------------
References

*1. Denton, Mark. 'Christmas Blessings!' "A mail from District Judge Mark Denton to Dr. and Mrs. Tony Tung-tien Lei," (December 18, 2006), Las Vegas, Nevada: District Court Dept. 13.
*2. Vega, Valorie; Young, Bill; and Chang, Tiffany. 'Mark Denton has been appointed Adjunct Associate Professor of the Graduate School of Business and Public Administration by WBTI,' A search of 'Mark Denton esq' on the Yahoo.cn," (December 22, 2006), U. S. A.: Yahoo.cn.
*3. Denton, Mark; Vega, Valoria; and Chang, Tiffany. 'Drs. Mark Denton and Valorie Vega were appointed as Vice Presidents of Washington Business and Technology Institute,' "A search of 'Drs. Mark Denton and Valoria Vega' on the Google.cn," (December 15, 2006), Mountain View, California: Google.cn.
*4. Chang, Tiffany. 'District Judge Valorie Vega honored as a Fellow of WBTI,' "Nevada Examiner," (June 9, 2000), Las Vegas, Nevada: Nevada Examiner.
*5. Vega, Valorie. "Biography of Valorie J. Vega," (December, 2003), Las Vegas, Nevada: Office of the District Judge Valorie Vega.
*6. Reid, Rory; Denton, Mark; and Chang, Tiffany. 'Effort and Cooperation will bring us a peaceful, happy, and prosperous community,' "A search of 'Harry Reid, U. S. Senator wbti' on the Google.com," (December 18, 2006), Mountain view, California: Google.com..
*7. GSBPA of WBTI. 'GSBPA of WBTI's slogan for business and tourism,' "A search of 'Business & Administration' on the Reviewjournal.com," (December 21, 2006), Las Vegas, Nevada: LVRJ.
*8. Reid, Rory; Moss, Cheryl; and Chang, Tiffany. 'Summer 2003 Symposium of WBTI is remarkable.' "A search of 'Elaine Chao, U. S. Secretary of Labor' on the Yahoo.cn," (December 26, 2006), U. S. A.: Yahoo.cn.

1. I love you not for who you are, but who I am when I'm by your side.*2

2. No person deserves your tears, and who deserves them won't make you cry.

3. Just because someone doesn't love you as you wish, it doesn't mean you are not loved with all his/her being.

4. A true friend is the one who holds your hand and touches your heart.

5. The worst way to miss someone is to be seated by his/her side and know you will never have him/her.

6. Never stop smiling, not even when youˇ¦re sad, someone might fall in love with your smile.

7. You may only be a person in this world, but for someone, you are the world.

8. Don't spend time with someone who doesn't care spending it with you.

9. Maybe God wants you to meet many wrong people before you meet the right one, so when this happens, your will be thankful.

10. Don't cry because it came to an end. Smile because it happened.

11. There will always be people who'll hurt you, so you need to continue trusting, just be careful.

12. Become a better person and be sure to know who you are before meeting someone new and hoping that person knows who you are.

13. Don't struggle so much, best things happen when not expected.*3

---------------------------------
References

*1. Marquez, Gubriel Garcia. '13 Reasons for Living,' "An e-mail to Washingon Business and Technology Institute from Ms. Becky Ung," (January 26, 2004), San Marino, California: Best Formulations.
*2. WBTI. '13 Reasons for Living,' "A search of 'Becky Ung, E. Q. Chairperson's World' on the Google.com," (December 22, 2006), Mountain View, California: Google.com.
*3. Ibid.

Fairest of morning lights appear,
Thou blest and gaudy day (festeval),
On which was born our Saviour dear;
Arise and come away!

This day prevents his day of doom,
His mercy now is night;
The mighty God of love is come,
The dayspring from on high!

Behold the great Creator makes
Himself a house of clay,
A robe of virgin-flesh he takes
Which he will wear for aye.

Hark, hark, the wise eternal Word
Like a weak infant cries:
In form of servant is the Lord,
And God in cradle lies.

This wonder struck the world amazed,
It shook the starry frame;
Squadrons of spirits stood and gazed,
Then down in troops they came.

Glad shepherds ran to view this sight;
A squire of angeles sings;
And eastern sages with delight
Adore this King of kings.

Join them all hearts that are not stone,
And all our voices prove,
To celebrate this holy one,
The God of peace and love.

All this night shrill chanticleer,
Day's proclaiming trumpeter,
Claps his wings and loudly cries,
Mortals, mortals, wake and rise!
See a wonder
Heaven is under;
From the earth is risen a Sun
Shines all night, though day be done.

Wake, O earth, wake everything!
Wake and hear the joy I bring;
Wake and joy; for all this night
Heaven and every twinkling light,
All amazing,
Still stand gazing.
Angels power, and all that be,
Wake, and joy this Sun to see.

Hail, O Sun, O blessed light,
Sent into the world by night!
Let thy rays and heavenly powers
Shine in these dark souls of ours;
For most duly
Thou art truly
God and man, we do confess:
Hail, O Sun of righteousness!

The first paragraph of this article was a profile of Dr. Sun-yuan Kung (ŤvŽOŚł). It was found by searching "Dr. Sun-yuan Kung" on the Google.com:

Professor Sun-Yuan Kung*1
Homepage
Email: [???]
Abstract of talk

Sun-Yuan Kung (ŤvŽOŚł) received his Ph.D. Degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. In 1974, he was an Associate Engineer of Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA. From 1977 to 1987, he was a Professor of Electrical Engineering-Systems of the University of Southern California. Since 1987, he has been a Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Princeton University. Since 1990, he has served as an Editor-In-Chief of Journal of VLSI Signal Processing Systems. Dr. Kung is a Fellow of IEEE. He was the recipient of 1992 IEEE Signal Processing Society's Technical Achievement Award for his contributions on "parallel processing and neural network algorithms for signal processing". He was appointed as an IEEE-SP Distinguished Lecturer in 1994. He received 1996 IEEE Signal Processing Society's Best Paper Award. He was a recipient of the IEEE Third Millennium Medal in 2000. He has authored more than 300 technical publications, including three books "VLSI Array Processors", (Prentice Hall, 1988) (with Russian and Chinese translations), "Digital Neural Networks", Prentice Hall, 1993, and "Principal Component Neural Networks'', John Wiley, 1996.*2

Dr. Sun-yuan Kung (ŤvŽOŚł) was a Kenote Speaker at The First IEEE Pacific-Rim Conference on Multimedia (2000 International Symposium on Multimedia Information Processing) on December 13-15, 2000, at the University of Sydney, Australia.

Dr. Kung presented a paper at the IEEE-PCM2000 plenary. The title was "Adaptive Techniques for Intelligent Internet Multimedia Communication".*3 The following was his Abstract:

The new trend of information processing world has rapidly converged to three major technological fields: internet, multimedia, and wireless. In this talk, we will attempt to offer a technological and applicational justification of intelligent technologies for internet multimedia computing/communication. We shall also illuminate how intelligent integration of signal processing and neural net techniques could be a versatile tool to a broad spectrum of multimedia applications. Some examples of adaptive techniques (or neural networks) with applications to internet multimedia commuincation will be
demonstrated.*4

Multimedia technologies will profoundly change the way we access information, and they provide a new opportunity for research interactions among a variety of media such as speech, audio, image, video, text, and graphics. The inevitable merger of the computer industries and information-based consumer and communication industries inevitably introduces new challenges. We investigate various research issues relevant to intelligent multimedia communication applications and implementation technology. We study various adaptive and content-based technologies for MPEG-4 applications, such as compression, indexing, and retrieval of visual information. We look into various areas in video coding and segmentation, including true-motion tracker, global-motion compensated VOP (video-object-plane) coding, video representation, multicue, and multicamera fusion, three-dimensional structure-from-motion analysis, and spatial-temporal interpolation. We study an algorithmic framework that fuses spatial, visual, and motion information from a variety of preprocessing sources: object tracker, motion edge analysis, and so on.*5

Neural networks have become one of the core techniques facilitating intelligent multimedia communication technologies. They are very effective when applied to detection or recognition of high-level features (for example, faces) and multimodality recognition and authentication. These have many critical applications to information representation/retrieval and Internet security, and many focal applications in MPEG-7. For these, we have developed a versatile decision-based neural network that bears a modular structure, while taking advantage of both unsupervised and supervised learning strategies. We look into novel neural network techniques on multisensor classification, hierarchical processing, probabilistic (fuzzy) neural networks, object detection and tracking, and content-based compression and representation.

Another major challenge lies in real-time processing speed, a key barrier before online access of massive visual information can become a reality. In fact, it is communication, instead of computing, that will be the processing bottleneck. Thus, the development of the computer technology must be closely intertwined with the information-based consumer and communication technologies. We have studied for a long time the research issues involving design and implementation of VLSI multimedia signal processing circuits and systems. Novel communication and networking technologies will be critical in order for multimedia database systems to support interactive dynamic interfaces. Truly integrated media systems must connect with individual users and content-addressable multimedia databases. This will involve both logical connections to support information-sharing and physical connection via computer networking and data transfer. Our research stresses hierarchical and scalable multimedia architecture platforms, fast architectures by minimizing memory accesses and IO operations, and systematically mapping multimedia algorithms to the new architectures. Ultimately, our research will support development of real-time information-processing systems combining digital video and audio, text, and graphics.*6

Secretary of the U. S. Department of Labor, Elaine L. Chao sent a message to speakers and attendees of Emerging Information Technology Conference.

Secretary of the U. S. Department of Labor, Elaine L. Chao wrote a message to speakers and attendees of Emerging Information Technology Conference (EITC 2002), the letter was presented by her representative in this region, Ms. Angelica O. Tang in the EITC Luncheon Brown Bag Talks.

"Our ancestors' dreams inspired them to cross a wide ocean in search of opportunity and prosperity. As the EITC so admirably represents, more and more Chinese Americans are taking their rightful place in this country's science and engineering professions, combining their individual talents with the rich cultural values of family and education. I am pleased to share with you that since taking office, President George W. Bush has demonstrated his commitment to our community by naming more than 90 Asian Pacific American appointees. Nineteen of these positions are Presidential appointments requiring Senate confirmation including, for the first time in our nation's history, two Asian Pacific Americans to the Cabinet. I am also pleased that at the U.S. Department of Labor, I have appointed the highest number of Asian Pacific Americans to top leadership positions. My team and I have launched a number of initiatives, ranging from small business development to training grants, to assist the growing Asian Pacific American community," Secretary Chao said in her letter.

Ms. Tang presented Secretary Chao's letter to EITC Conference Program Chair, Dr. Mow S. Lin of Brookhaven National Laboratory. Ms. Tang was also greeted by Princeton Township Mayor Phyllis L. Marchand, and EITC Conference co-chairs, Dr. Chun-Yen Chang, Professor and President of National Chiao Tung University, and Dr. Sun-Yuan Kung, Professor of Princeton University, as well as the EITC speakers and attendees.*7

Dr. Sun-yuan Kung is now a tenure Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Princeton University. It is our pleasure to pay a tribute to the expertise, professionalism, and accomplishment of an excellent scholar and professor.*8

---------------------------------------------
References

*1. Google. 'A profile of Dr. Sun-yuan Kung,' "A search of Dr. Sun-yuan Kung on the Google.com," (April 27, 2005), Mountain View, California: Google.com.
*2. Ibid.
*3. Kung, Sun-yuan. 'An abstract of "Adaptive Techniques for Intelligent Internet Multimedia Communication",' "A search of Dr. Sun-yuan Kung on the Google.com," (April 28, 2005), Mountain View, California: Google.com.
*4. Ibid.
*5. Princeton University. 'A profile of Dr. Sun-Yun Kung,' "A search of Dr. Sun-yuan Kung on the Google.com," (April 29, 2005), Mountain View, California: Google.com.
*6. Ibid.
*7. Kung, Sun-yuan. 'Secretary of the U. S. Department of Labor, Elaine L. Chao wrote a message to speakers and attendees of Emerging Information Technology Conference,' "A search of 'Dr. Sun-yuan Kung' on the Yahoo.cn," (December 21, 2006), U. S. A.: Yahoo.cn.
*8. Walsh, Jessie; Moss, Cheryl; and Chang, Tiffany. 'Drs. Lee Bernick and Keong Leong were appointed deans of GSBPA of WBTI,' "Nevada Examiner," (March 28, 2003), Las Vegas, Nevada: Nevada Examiner.

In our real world, people are led by leaders. A successful leader is consistently follwed by others. People follow because they have a belief in the direction, intergrity, and competence of the one leading.

We are pleased to quote the following three short but meaningful ones:

***** The ultimate responsibility of a leader is to facilitate other people's development as well as his own. ---Fred Pryor
***** To be a leader means willingness to risk--and willingness to love. Has the leader given you something from the heart? ---Hubert H. Humphrey
***** The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the leader is a servant. ---Max Dupree; "Leadership Is an Art"

It's our pleasure to post a short story from "Speaker's Source Book II" by Glenn Van Ekeren:

I went on a search to become a leader.
I searched high and low. I spoke with authority. People listened. But alas, there was one who was wiser than I, and they follow that individual.
I sought to inspire confidence, but the crowd responded, "Why should I trust you?"
I postured, and I assumed the look of leadership with a countenance that flowed with confidence and pride. But many passed me by and never noticed my air of elegance.
I ran ahead of the others, pointed the way to new heights. I demonstrated that I knew the road to greatness. And then I looked back, and I was alone.
"What shall I do?" I queried. "I've tried hard and used all that I know." And I sat down and pondered long.
And then, I listened to the voices around me. And I heard what the group was trying to accomplish. I rolled up my sleeves and joined in the work.
As we worked, I asked, "Are we all together in what we want to do and how to get the job done?"
And we thought together, and we fought together, and we struggled towards our goal.
I found myself encouraging the fainthearted. I sought the ideas of those too shy to speak out. I taught those who had little skill. I praised those who worked hard. When our task was completed, one of the group turned to me and said, "This would not have been done but for your leadership."
At first, I said, "I didn't lead. I just worked with the rest." And then I understood, leadership is not a goal. It's a way to reaching a goal.
I lead best when I help others to go where we've decide to go. I lead best when I help others to use themselves creatively. I lead best when I forget about myself as leader and focus on my group...their needs and their goals.
To lead is to serve...to give...to achieve together.
---By Anonymous*2

-------------------------------------
References

*1. PAI of WBTI is the initial of Public Administration Institution of Washington Business and Technology Institute.
*2. Ekeren, Glenn Van. "Speaker's Source Book II," (1994), Prentice Hall Press, Paramus, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Press.

An urgent need for the training of good casino hosts from the Asian countries was emphasized by Dean Dr. Stuart H. Mann of UNLV recently.

In our ever-changing world of casino gaming, the front-line casino employees hold important roles to a casino property's success. Customers will come to see your operation because of your amenities. They will play because of your people. There is a tremendous need to teach employees skills in the casino industry. Customer service is not astruism, it is simply good business. Any casino executive that underestimates its importance seriously jeopardizes his company's future. At the present and in the future, we need to inspire the importance of customer service as the key to long-term profitability for our gaming industry.*1

"Too often executives in the gaming industry see the cost side of doing business as zero-sum game. Each dollar they spend is viewed as one dollar taken away from the bottom-line profit. One dollar given, one dollar lost. Quid pro quo (Something given or received for something else.). So the cost of customer service programs may be seen by money lost. They may think, "Save the money, retain the earnings." But there is a short-sightedness in this way of thinking. Some things in the casino business may be zero-sum games, but investments in customer service are activities in a positive-sum game, or what can be called a win-win game. The customer wins better enjoyment of products offered, and the casino wins with renewed and repeated patroage. We wish to emphazsize this aspect of customer service throughtout our book. That is why we chose to entitle our book Casino Customer Service = The WIN WIN Game," stated in the Foreword of a popular book.*2 The book, "Casino Customer Service = The Win Win Game," was written by Dr. William Thompson*3 and Ms. Michele Comeau. What the book is really about is customers -- winning their allegiance and keeping it. The successful casino executive must deliver exemplary customer service and bottomline performance are to be reliazed in today's gaming markets. Customer service is the sine qua non ( An absolutely indispensable or essential thing.) of today's successful casino operations.

There are many good reasons why gaming establishments should shower extra attention on existing and repeat customers. Gimmicks and high-cost marketing win the first-time customer. Good service keeps the established customers. It cost more than five times as much as to win a new customer as it does to keep an old one. Good service is by far the better bargain for the casino.*4

A Professor in UNLV Department of Public Administration, Dr. Thompson is also Director of Public Administration Institution and Chairman of Gaming Study Committee of Washington Business and Technology Institute. He has published numerous books and articles on casino law and gaming. His achievements in the field of gambology for many years has made him a famous advisor for several large casinos. He has remained a famous authority in casino industry specializing in successful gaming management and the entertainment business.

"Lots of managerial personals I had in relations in Southestern Asia countries could bring many valuable customers from those countries both in traveling and gaming to Las Vegas. Through a certificate of Executive Host Program we may train them and bring prosperious business to this Silver State. To start with the program, I may recruiting a lot of participants," suggested Jimmy Hsu at the Summer 2003 Symposium of the Graduate School of Business and Public Administration(GSBPA) of Washington Business and Technology Institute (WBTI). The mini symposium was held by WBTI at the Zax Restaurant of Golden Nugget Casino and Hotel on May 19, 2003 in Las Vegas. The Panelists included Dr. E. Lee Bernick, Dean of the Graduate School of Business and Public Administration , Washington Business and Technology Institute and Chairman of the Department of Public Administration, UNLV; Nevada District Judges Valorie Vega; and Las Vegas Manucipal Court Judge Bert Brown.

Las Vegas is an entertainment capital as the best place to learn about casino and hotel management through its hospitality industry. With about 100,000 hotel rooms, hundreds of restaurants, resorts, conventions, and trade shows, Las Vegas is a living laboratory for the study of hotel administration. This program of the Graduate School is designed to cooperate with UNLV, Pepperdine University, or among others to offer the Certificate Of Exective Host (COEH) for qualified professionals through training and education of hospitality. Dr. Keong Leong, Chairman of Department of Business, UNLV, and Dr. E. Lee Bernick, Chairman of Public Administration, UNLV, are Deans of the School.

Participant may receive a Certificate of Executive Host (COEH) in meeting general requirement and successful completion of all the following courses plus a study paper:

1. Introduction to Hospitality Management
2. Human Resources & Personal Relations
3. Customer and Food Services
4. Financial and Quantitative Ananlysis
5. Principles and Practice in Casino and Gaming Management
6. Seminar on Hospitality
7. Field Trips to Casino
8. Professional Paper

The above proposal for the Certificate of Executive Host (COEH) was designed by the GSBPA of WBTI on July 2003. To promote customer service for the gaming industry, we need the Certificate Executive Host as a good program.

In the achieved book, "Casino Customer Service = The Win Win Game," Dr. Bill Thompson stresses the importance of customers or players to the growth of the casino industry. Treating customers like guests is a win-win game for casino management. Like the others in our worldwide democratic societies, democratic management is popular and encouraging for most organizations especially business to customers.

There are many casino executives with good knowledge and skills in customer relations. These people have been one of the significant contributors to casino revenues. Unfortunately, some casino supervisors are overbearing that they have scared some important players away. If we need gaming as one of our main resources in Nevada, we need to develop it as a business just like some others. And one does not need to be a gambler to own or manage a casino.*5

Use effectively the seven functions of management (planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, representing, budgeting, and systematizing), and you are sure to win and make a sizable profit by your good management. Successful theory and practice in casino management may well bring us from the economic down-turn to a more prosperous industry in Nevada.*6

-----------------------------------------------------------
References

*1. Thompson, William; and Comeau, Michele. (2003) "Casino Cusomer Service = The WIN WIN Game," New York City: Gaming & Wagering Business.
*2. Ibid.
*3. Chang, Tiffany. (1996) 'William Thompson has been appointed Fellow and Director of the Public Administration Institution by WBTI,' "Nevada Examiner," Las Vegas, Nevada: Nevada Examiner.
*4. Thompson, William; and Comeau, Michele. (2003) "Casino Customer Service = The WIN WIN Game," New York City: Gaming & Wagering Business.
*5. Chang, Tiffany. 'The win-win game for casino management,' "Nevada Examiner," (February 9 - 15, 2001), Las Vegas, Nevada: Nevada Examiner.
*6. Ibid.

On July 11, 2004, District Court Judge Cheryl Moss e-mailed Washington Business and Technology Institute (WBTI) about the following information:

>Judge Cheryl B. Moss's presention on Problem Gamblers and
>the Family Court System submitted on July 9, 2004 as requested.
>
>By Craig Chinault
>Judicial Extern*2

Columnist Sandy Thompson: Gambling Impact on Families Explored

FAMILY COURT Judge Cheryl Moss is
taking a closer look at problems families face
in divorce and custody cases.

Moss, one of three new judges who took the bench in
January, has started a pilot program in cases where
one side accuses the other of gambling away child support or community assets. She refers the case to an agency for assessment.*3

Moss hopes other judges will address the issue as well. So does the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling . . .
August 17, 2001 Las Vegas Sun

"The goal is to share information with the judges on what is problem gambling, since they're encountering the consequences of it," says Carol O'Hare, executive director of the council. "We want to learn from them how we can make sure they have the resources to effectively deal with folks impacted by problem gambling." *4

Problem gambling is a mental illness, O'Hare says. Courts should deal with it in the same manner as drug and alcohol abuse.*5

***Cheryl B. Moss
District Court Judge
Family Division Department I
Clark County, Nevada
702-455-1887

***Judicial Staff:
JEA - Suzanna Zavala
Law Clerk - Katherine Creathorne Bailiff - Elvis Easley
Judicial Extern - Craig Chinault

It is my appreciation to "Nevada Examiner" for its publication of my statement several times:

In community service, Dr. Tony T. Lei's hero is the great servant who has given all for the betterment of others' lives. Let our candles fuel a fire that will fan out an ever-lasting circles. With these circles together we can close our eyes and envision a community that is safe, peaceful, and healthy. The Bible teaches: "...let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth (1 John 3:18)." District (Family) Court Judge-elect Cheryl Moss wrote Dr. Tony Lei, "I am delighted and honored to be appointed as an Associate Fellow of the Public Administration Institution of Washington Business and Technology Institute. Thank you for this opportunity to serve, and I hope to gain more knowledge, insight and awareness about public service and community issues through your prestigious institution. I remain dedicated to helping the community, and I am inspired by your leadership, wisdom and guidance. I am also fortunate to have met you and your wife, Judy, because you are both active and dynamic individuals in the community. Your accomplishments and achievements have demonstrated that taking part in the community does make a difference. Best wishes and thank you again for your unselfish kindness, support and encouragement." *6

[[[Subject: FW: www.ktnv.com : courtroom brawl video
Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 00:10:16 -0800

----- Forwarded Message ----
zip (???) has sent you an item from http://www.ktnv.com

Courtroom Brawl
http://www.ktnv.com/Global/story.asp?s=5820647]]]*7

"Merry Christmas!" A very beautiful Christmas card was sent to Prsident Dr. Tony Tung-tien Lei of WBTI by District Court Judge Cheryl Moss on December 14, 2006.

------------------------------------------------------
References

*1. Cheryl Moss is a District Court Judge of the Familily Court Department I of Nevada, U. S. A.
*2. Moss, Cheryl. 'My coming speech on 'Problem Gamblers and the Family Court System,' "An e-mail from District Court Judge Cheryl Moss to Dr. Tony Lei," (July 11, 2004), Las Vegas, Nevada: Family Court Department I.
*3. Ibid.
*4. Moss, Cheryl. 'My coming speech on 'Problem Gamblers and the Family Court System,' "A second e-mail from District Court Judge Cheryl Moss to Dr. Tony Lei," (July 11, 2004), Las Vegas, Nevada: Family Court Department I.
*5. Ibid.
*6. Chang, Tiffany. (2000) 'Cheryl Moss has been appointed Associate Fellow of the Public Administration Institution of Washington Business and Technology Institute,' "Special Column of 'Nevada Examiner'," Las Vegas, Nevada: Nevada Examiner.
*7. Moss, Cheryl. 'FW: www.ktnv.com : courtroom brawl video,' "An e-mail from District Court Judge Cheryl Moss to WBTI," (December 14, 2006), Las Vegas, Nevada: Family Court Department I.

Innovation is practical for a real need. It is not a random process. "When it works, it works because someone has identified a real need, and found a way to bring new ideas or new technologies to bear on that need," said Lewis W. Lehr. An innovator's life is governed by "to create" lists. She or he is incessantly pursuing new possibilities and refinning existing ones.

We are pleased to quote the following three short but meaningful ones:

***** Make a technical contribution, innovate, don't emulate. ---David Packard

***** Any business that does not learn how to innovate within the next few years will not be around by the year 2000. ---Peter F. Drucker

***** Innovation has to be linked to a market-driven mentality, tied in with customer needs. It can't be done in a vacuum, or as innovation for its own sake. ---Jim Beard*2

It's our pleasure to post a short story from "Speaker's Source Book II" by Glenn Van Ekeren:

"Business has only two functions," writes Peter Drucker, "marketing and innovation."
Consider these phrases posted on separate roadside signs: A peach looks good...with lots of fuzz... but man's no peach... and never was... Burma Shave! In 1925, Burma Shave knew they had a great product but were ineffective in marketing it. So, their roadside advertising was implemented. Today, the Burma Shave commercial are highly recognized as memorable trivia.
Here's another exemplary approach combining innovation and unique marketing. A small garage-based company took a single product, biodegradable soap,broke the customary marketing trends and amassed a fortune.
Using multi-level marketing, Amway left its competitors green with envy. First, they produced a quality product, developed unique packaging, attached distinctive labeling, and then used direct salespeople to sell their product. It is working to the tune of an estimated $1 billion in annual revenues.
Domino's Pizza shocked the industry with their original idea: "Guaranteed delivery in 30 minutes or $3.00 off."Quick service is now a minimum standard in the food industry.
Innovative marketing-could it be the third function of business?*3

Innovation is one of the most important traits for the prosperity of American business.

-------------------------------------
References

*1. PAI of WBTI is the initial of Public Administration Institution of Washington Business and Technology Institute.
*2. Ekeren, Glenn Van. "Speaker's Source Book II," (1994), Prentice Hall Press, Paramus, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Press.
*3. Ibid.

In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold him,
Nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When he comes to reign:
In the bleak mid-winter
A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty
Jesus Christ.

Enough for him whom cherubim
Worship night and day,
A breasful of milk
And a mangerful of hay;
Enough for him whom angels
Fall down before,
The ox and ass and camel
Which adore.

Angels and archangels
May have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim
Thronged the air,
But only his mother
In her maiden bliss
Worshipped the Beloved
With a kiss.

What can I give him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise man
I would do my part, __
Yet what I can I give him,
Give my heart.

CARSON CITY -- Cynics might laugh at the unwieldy size of the transition teams appointed by Republican Gov.-elect Jim Gibbons, but political scientists and even state Democratic Party Chairman Tom Collins credit him with a politically savvy move.*1

"It's like he is putting together a Rolodex of people he can call when he has a problem," Collins said. "It's a good idea. If you make people feel important, then they are going to be more willing to help you down the road. Build a rapport with people."

Gibbons on Wednesday finished naming the last of his 10 transition teams, or working groups. In all, he named 197 people to serve on the teams.

He takes the oath of office Jan. 1 before Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Maupin.

Key team members include former Republican Gov. Bob List and former Democratic Gov. Richard Bryan, who beat List in the 1982 governor's race.

Former gaming executive Mike Sloan, a key member of the committee that proposed $1 billion in tax increases in 2003, is in one working group. George Harris, the arch-conservative publisher of Liberty Watch magazine, is in another. Perry Comeaux, who prepared state budgets for Govs. Bob Miller and Kenny Guinn, was coaxed out of retirement to share his views with Gibbons as part of another team.

The gaming work group leader is Bill Weidner, president of Las Vegas Sands Corp. and owner of the nonunion Venetian and other properties. One of the members of that committee is D. Taylor, secretary-treasurer of Culinary Local 226.

In naming the transition teams, Gibbons said Friday that he wanted to get past the negativity of the election campaign and move forward in a bipartisan manner.

"It is time we bridged the differences," Gibbons said. "The election is over. There are a lot of good ideas outside the political arena that never come to light. I see it as an opportunity to hear from whose who often are on the sidelines, but should have their voices heard. Hopefully, it is going to help me to be a better governor, and the state will be a better place for the people who live in it."

Gibbons said the transition team concept has been used in other states, and the public tends to appreciate the chance to be heard.

"Who else ever got D. Taylor and Bill Weidner to serve together on anything?" Harris said. "If that doesn't show he is reaching out, then what would?"

Finding anyone to publicly criticize Gibbons' plan is difficult. As one legislative insider said, "It would be crazy to criticize Gibbons on anything if you have dealings with the Legislature or the administration."

Longtime legislative lobbyist and Las Vegas advertising agency owner Billy Vassiliadis said people should give Gibbons a chance and see if the transition team concept brings positive results.

"If nothing comes out of it, he is open for criticism," Vassiliadis said. "It is smart because he is building a support group for his legislation. Part of the problem is we are too skeptical when something new comes along. This is really unique for Nevada."

Brent Boynton, director of communications for Gibbons, said the incoming governor does not expect lengthy reports or recommendations from the committees. What he wants is their analysis by Jan. 15 of what they view as the problems and potential solutions in the subject areas to which they have been assigned.

Gibbons expects contrasting views in those analyses, Boynton said.

"It may not be even in written form. The governor-elect may come to them and ask them what they have found. He wants frank discussions. He has made it clear that the buck stops in the governor's chair. He makes the final decisions."

Members receive no pay. They interact in person, through telephone calls or by e-mail.

Some teams will continue to meet periodically even after the legislative session begins on Feb. 5, Boynton said. Individual members might continue to serve as advisers to Gibbons, he added.

Harris said his committee meets by conference call. Each member receives a code and joins the others in telephone discussions.

"These are busy people," he said. "You don't need to go to a meeting (in person). This is the 21st century."

State Archivist Guy Rocha said all incoming governors have had advisers to assist them in the transition, but he found in researching the topic that there has never been such a large group of them.

"It's unprecedented," Rocha said.

Fred Lokken, a political science professor at Truckee Meadows Community College, said Gibbons only gains by the appointments.

"We all joke about the size, but it is not a joke," Lokken said. "It mirrors what goes on at the national level. He is giving a little thanks for those who worked on his campaign. You need a reward system. People can say, 'I served on the transition team.' And he is mending some fences and creating a spirit of bipartisanship by appointing Democrats and potential opponents. He is signaling it is time to bury the hatchet."

University of Nevada, Reno political science professor Eric Herzik shares that view.

"Look, he has (university system Chancellor) Jim Rogers on a committee," Herzik said. "He at least is creating a potential for dialogue. It looks like he is reaching out to the D's. I have been impressed by the Gibbons' transition."

Rogers was one of the harshest critics of Gibbons during the gubernatorial campaign.

Collins served with Gibbons in the state Legislature in the early 1990s. He said the governor-elect needed to identify and listen to experts on issues facing the state after largely being away from Nevada for 10 years. Gibbons has been the 2nd Congressional District representative since 1996.

Although he credits Gibbons with political smarts, Collins also has a warning for the governor-elect. Collins predicts the good will Gibbons has created will vanish if the transition teams are all for show and he doesn't listen to their views.

"It won't be any good if you don't listen to them," Collins said.

Gibbons realizes the potential of upsetting team members if he ignores their ideas.

"A lot of good ideas will come out of this," he said. "Some we won't be able to implement. But you want to hear them. There may be a nugget that will save democracy. Democracy is not going to be saved in Washington, but in the Carson Cities of this country." *2

---------------------------------------
References

*1. Vogel, Ed. 'Gibbons wins high marks for team approach,' "Nevada News - Las Vegas Review-Journal," (December 16, 2006), Las Vegas, Nevada: Reviewjournal.com.
*2. Ibid.