UNLV students protest Titus ‘cheat sheet’

College Republicans at University of Nevada, Las Vegas aren't happy that Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., apparently broke the rules during a televised debate Thursday night with her Republican challenger Joe Heck.

Titus, who is a professor of political science at UNLV, carried a binder to the podium for the debate and referred to notes during her closing statement even though organizers had stated the candidates weren't allowed to bring notes to the forum. The candidates were allowed to bring a card for a portion of the debate in which they asked each other prepared questions.

The college Republicans put their objection in writing to UNLV President Neal Smatresk, alleging Titus' use of notes during the closing statement was "no different from a student bringing unauthorized notes into a classroom exam." (letter attached) The college Republicans letter followed a complaint by the Heck campaign immediately after the debate, to which Titus spokesman Andrew Stoddard responded.

"The rules were that candidates could bring in notes relating to the questions they wanted to ask," Stoddard wrote in an e-mail. "She referred to something she had in those notes on the questions she prepared at the end."

In their letter the college Republicans asked Smatresk to admonish "such behavior to protect the integrity of the (u)niversity." The letter included a link to a video of the debate and noted points at which Titus flipped through the notes during her closing statement.

Smatresk was unavailable at his office number late Friday to respond to the letter.