Clean energy won’t be stopped

To the editor:

In response to your Friday editorial, “Solar complex goes dark”: ENN Mojave Energy’s solar project planned for Laughlin might be temporarily interrupted, but I can assure you, huge operational solar or other clean-energy projects are the reality for the future. The massive commitment required to bring clean, inexpensive electrical energy to the United States — and indeed the world — will happen. Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come.

This was a pioneering effort by many people. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Bob Bilbray and many others worked to bring this project to Laughlin, putting their time, effort and reputations on the line to bring it as far as it got. Fossil fuels will fill in for the time being and are necessary. The timeline for such huge and complex projects is 25 years, but it has to start now, as environmental laws will eventually mandate clean-energy systems purely for necessary survival of our species. The degradation of our air, water and land is worsening, and responsible leaders will do what is necessary to clean up our living space.

Although job creation would be a short-term payoff, forward-thinking Nevadans looked at the most important aspect of such projects: the preservation of the planet’s resources for the survival of future generations. Solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and other clean-energy technologies will flourish, and those who have been a part of this pioneering effort are to be applauded.

ROBERT PSENKA

LAUGHLIN

English immersion

To The Editor:

There is a common-sense solution to resolve the argument that language is the primary obstacle to success in the classroom for many of our students. With every “expert” in the field of education reinventing the wheel every school year, it occurred to me: Keep it simple, stupid.

Any first-year, non-English-speaking high school student should be immersed in English. For example, among that student’s course load should be three classes learning to speak English and two more learning to write it. You can then introduce the second-year student to other course work, such as science and social studies, etc. If the student graduates in five years instead of four, so be it. Isn’t it worth it to send a better, more qualified person into the workforce, or one who is better prepared for higher education at the university level? Our professors consistently tell us our graduates are not prepared for that first year of college.

Surely this is a strategy that could be tried, and the data can then be measured.

The other side to this strategy is not as politically correct, but it needs to be stated: The district must get the parents of these students to buy into learning English as well. Only from repetition and usage will mastery come. Someone far smarter than me once told me if you don’t practice it, you won’t learn it. We are relying too much on the English Language Learner training wheels, and it is time to remove them. I think it would be worth a try.

FRANK RUSSO

HENDERSON

Supreme Court stalling

To the editor:

Regarding Tony Badillo’s letter about the tip-pooling case, now in the hands of the Nevada Supreme Court (“Supreme Court should halt tip pooling,” June 16), Mr. Badillo should not expect a speedy decision.

This same Supreme Court said Sheldon Adelson and his Las Vegas Sands Corp. did not have to pay $58 million to a consultant, throwing out the 2008 verdict by ruling that hearsay had been allowed into evidence. It went back to a jury, and now Mr. Adelson stands to pay even more.

The state Supreme Court still hasn’t decided the fate of the dog who killed a 1-year-old Henderson child more than a year ago. (There will be a hearing July 3).

So Mr. Badillo, forget about a decision within the next few years. And even then, it’s an even-money bet that the Supreme Court gets it wrong.

JAY FRIEDMAN

LAS VEGAS