Study of Potential Integrated Management of Water Resources in Las Vegas Valley

Water resource management under short term system perturbations such as storms and longer-term systemic changes caused by climate change such as droughts is a challenge when multiple agencies are involved. To address this challenge this research focuses on water management under changing climate conditions and population growth through understanding the agency water jurisdictions, management strategies, and modes of operation in Las Vegas Valley. A framework for integrated management through sharing data and models is presented that combines drinking water supply, flood control, and waste water treatment. This framework can be adopted to improve coordination among different water management agencies

The Environmental Impact and Formation of Meals from the Pilot Year of a Las Vegas Convention Food Rescue Program

Annually, millions of tonnes of leftover edible foods are sent to landfill. Not only does this harm the environment by increasing the release of greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change, but it poses a question of ethics given that nearly 16 million households are food insecure in the US, and hundreds of millions of people around the globe. The purpose of this study was to document the amount of food diverted from landfill in the pilot year of a convention food rescue program and to determine the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions avoided by the diversion of such food. In the pilot year of the convention food rescue program 24,703 kg of food were diverted. It is estimated that 108 metric tonnes of GHG emmisions were avoided as a result, while 45,383 meals for food insecure individuals were produced. These findings have significant implications for public and environmental health, as GHG emissions have a destructive effect on the earth’s atmosphere and rescued food can be redistributed to food insecure individuals

Hispanic Construction Workers and Assertiveness Training

BACKGROUND: Hispanic (Latino) construction workers experience disparities in occupational death and injury rates in the United States. The cultural value of respect for those in authority may hinder these workers from requesting safe working conditions from supervisors. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether Hispanic construction workers in Las Vegas, Nevada found assertiveness training more useful than non-Hispanic trainees and whether or not they practiced this behavior at work after the training. METHODS: An assertiveness training simulation was part of fall prevention classes offered to area construction workers. Eight weeks after the training, participants were interviewed by telephone about class topics they found most useful and whether or not they had made any subsequent behavior changes at work. RESULTS: More than half of the 760 fall prevention trainees completed telephone interviews. A smaller proportion of Hispanic trainees found assertiveness training to be useful (11%) than non-Hispanics (28%) (p _ 0.001). Only 2% of both groups identified practicing assertiveness at work. CONCLUSIONS: A large proportion of Hispanic trainees valued other knowledge more highly. They may weigh job security as more important than speaking up about safety issues, which might threaten their employment. Interventions to improve safety should focus instead on improving work safety climate and engineering controls

Employment and Economic Development in Southern Nevada

Wealth influences a person’s health. People who are higher on the socioeconomic scale tend to have better health outcomes. To improve the health of a community, it is important to understand the employment opportunities of the people living in the community. Southern Nevada’s economy was hit hard between 2008 and 2012. Unemployment rates in the region exceeded national and peer regions between during this time period. Construction; leisure and hospitality; trade, transportation and utilities; and professional and business service sectors experienced the greatest job loss during the recession. The Education and Health Services sectors did not experience a decrease in the number of employees during the recession. With the economic recession, Clark County experienced a decrease in tourism; however, activity in this sector increased in 2011 compared to 2010. All occupational categories are projected to have positive growth between 2010 and 2020 with a combined growth projection of 11.4% during the decade. The region’s working age population has a lower level of educational attainment compared to peer regions. This might be because 38.2% of occupations require less than a high school diploma and 43.1% require a high school diploma or equivalent in the region. The Education and Health Services industry sector did not experience a decrease in the number of employees during the recession and healthcare is one of the segments projected to have significant growth in the next decade

CSI Las Vegas: Privacy, Policing, and Profiteering in Casino Structured Intelligence

This Article argues that the intricate, vast amounts of consumer information compiled through casino structured intelligence require greater protection and oversight in the contexts of both bankruptcy and law enforcement. Section II examines the various types of casino technology and information gathering that casinos perform. Section III considers the available protections of private information in terms of security breaches, law enforcement sharing, and sales in the context of a bankruptcy. Section IV discusses additional safeguards and ethical concerns that should be considered as casinos continue to increase their data mining efforts. Finally, Section V concludes that, minimally, consumers are entitled to more candid disclosures and a meaningful opportunity to protect their own privacy

One October tragedy in Las Vegas: An overview of tourists' perceptions

Purpose: This study seeks to examine Las Vegas visitors' perception about security in Las Vegas and the perceived risks associated with traveling to Las Vegas following the One October mass shooting. It also aims to explore potential Las Vegas visitors' attitudes towards the proactive security measures implemented by Las Vegas resorts after the One October tragedy. Methods: The study is descriptive in nature. The data was collected through a web-based survey that comprised a national sample of 414 adults from the United States. Results: The results indicate that despite the tragic One October mass shooting in Las Vegas and the associated media coverage, security is not a major concern for visitors to Las Vegas. The findings of this study also suggest that Las Vegas visitors approve of existing and emerging security procedures. Implications: Findings point out to an opportunity to capitalize on the perceived enhanced security measures in Las Vegas and to put emphasis on addressing financial risk concerns via marketing and public relations campaigns

Building Justice

On December 10, 2007 and January 24th, 2008 Interfaith Worker Justice convened fact-finding delegations of religious leaders from around the country to learn more about working conditions in the home construction industry in Phoenix and Las Vegas. These religious leaders visited home developments and talked to workers who build homes for Pulte Homes, one of the largest home construction companies in the country, as well as officials and organizers from the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), the Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA), and the American Federation of Labor -- Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). Officials from Pulte Homes and several Pulte contractors refused to meet with the delegations despite repeated requests.The delegations quickly discovered a disturbing pattern of injustice and abuse among contractors paid by Pulte to build homes for the company

Sex Industry and Sex Workers in Nevada

Las Vegas has long been known as the symbolic center of the commercial sex industry. Nevada is host to the only legal system of prostitution in the United States. From the early legalization of quickie divorce and marriage to the marketing of its large resorts, sexuality has been a key component of Nevada’s tourist economy. If trends continue, for good or for ill, the sex industry will be an even larger part of the economy in the future. The sex industry refers to all legal and illegal adult businesses that sell sexual products, sexual services, sexual fantasies, and actual sexual contact for profit in the commercial marketplace. The sex industry encompasses an exceedingly wide range of formal and informal, legal and illegal businesses, as well as a wide range of individuals who work in and around the industry. This report will review the context in which sexually oriented commercial enterprises have flourished, discuss general trends in the Nevada sex industry, and make policy recommendations

Branded: Corporate Image, Sexual Stereotyping, and the New Face of Capitalism

In the context of unionized workforces covered by collective bargaining agreements, companies have-at most-been required to demonstrate a reasonable relationship between the grooming code and the business\u27s effort to project a corporate image that it believes will result in a larger market share.5 In a small number of cases, sexualized branding that exposes workers to sexual harassment or is predicated upon sexual stereotypes not essential to performance of the job has been curtailed by the antidiscrimination mandate of Title VII.6 However, challenges under Title VII have been effective only where corporate branding is at odds with community norms; where the branding is consistent with community norms that encode sexual stereotypes, customer preferences and community norms become the business justification for branding