In his Sunday column, the Review-Journal's Geoff Schumacher wrote about architect Frank Gehry's design for the Lou Ruvo Alzheimer's Center. The only pictures I've seen of the design are of the outside. Maybe the inside is more standard.
Advertisement
Alzheimer's is a loss of cognitive ability occurring over a period of years. Having had a relative with this condition, I am aware of how disturbing it was to him to realize that the orderly and predictable things in his life seemed to be breaking down.
What would have happened if we had housed him in an asymmetrical building that held no points of reference for him? One can't help but wonder if he would have deteriorated more rapidly or if his medication would have been as effective if he were housed in what would seem to him to be a bizarre environment.
Can we separate our need for the latest architectural achievement from our concerns for mentally disabled human beings? Mr. Gehry expects the public to study his design and to be intellectually challenged by it. I submit that individuals with Alzheimer's are not capable of this, and we will do them a disservice to house and treat them in this type of environment.
Mr. Gehry's design should be used for some other purpose.
Marie Jones
LAS VEGAS
Another sweet deal
To the editor:
So city of Las Vegas officials are going to spend more than $25 million to build a sports complex and other things at Freedom Park, then they're going to turn it over to be run by a California company (Sunday Review-Journal)?
This company has a 35-year contract. The Review-Journal reports that the city will start receiving between $300,000 and $400,000 a year after four years. Has anyone done the math on this sweet deal? Collecting $400,000 a year for 31 years gives the city nowhere near the $25 million it will have invested. If the city has $25 million lying around to be invested, it would be better to put it in bonds paying only 4 percent per year.
Lately, we have heard about some sweet deals the city has handed out, but this one is really laughable. Once again, the taxpayer gets it in the pocketbook.
Charles Jamison
LAS VEGAS
Greased pigs
To the editor:
A black mark on Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's record has been removed and an almost toothless state Ethics Commission has had another tooth pulled (Tuesday Review-Journal).
I am not challenging the decision of District Judge Mark Denton or the mayor's right to challenge the Ethics Commission in court, but Friday's ruling certainly challenges the ability of the Ethics Commission to effectively do its job.
It seems that putting your arms around an unethical politician in Nevada is like trying to put your arms around a greased pig. You can try your damnedest to catch it, but eventually the pig gets away.
Louis Frederick
NORTH LAS VEGAS
A case for socialism
To the editor:
The cover of Sunday's Parade magazine, "What people earn," continued my move away from conservative capitalism toward supporting socialism. There is something drastically wrong with a society that pays people such as Howard Stern $31 million per year, Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant $15.9 million per year and a nuclear physicist $66,200 per year.
It shows that our capitalistic system does not value years of education and hard work. It rewards amoral people such as Mr. Stern and those who can throw a ball through a hoop and penalizes those who have spent years helping others and those who have achieved scholarly positions.
Jack Asgar
LAS VEGAS
Future teachers
To the editor:
I see where the Millennials, the current generation of technologically savvy undergraduates, are spurring teaching changes at UNLV (March 6 Review-Journal).
I assume those changes will affect the teachers UNLV is producing, and that they will understand that high school students have also been acclimated to fast-paced information.
We need to have professors teaching our K-12 teachers to understand the dynamics of students who are sitting in our classrooms today. Most education professors have not been in a K-12 classroom for years and have no clue to what is taking place there now.
How about requiring education professors to teach a high school class one semester every couple years?
