Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Shaping The Future Of Southern Nevada Conference Key Points, Ron Smith

Shaping the Future of Southern Nevada: Economic, Environmental, and Social Sustainability

General summary of key points raised at the conference

Concurrent Panel Session 2: Service Learning: Linking Students And Community, Daniel Mclean, Jane Pike, Seth Pollack, Fran Smith, Jean Whitney, Cheri Young

Shaping the Future of Southern Nevada: Economic, Environmental, and Social Sustainability

Moderator: Peg Rees, UNLV Public Lands Institute Scribe: Melanie Taylor, UNLV Department of Criminal Justice Conference white paper & Full summary of panel session, 4 pages

Concurrent Panel Session 1: Sustainability In Community Development And Architecture In Las Vegas, Alfredo Fernandez-Gonzalez, Craig Galati, Mary Kay Peck, Jeff Roberts, Suzanne Sanders, Richard Serfas

Shaping the Future of Southern Nevada: Economic, Environmental, and Social Sustainability

Moderator: David Frommer, AIA, UNLV Planning & Construction Scribe: Michael Spurr, UNLV Department of History Conference white paper & Full summary of panel session, 5 pages

Concurrent Panel Session 2: Challenges Facing Our Youth And Aged Populations, Michele Clark, Claudia Collins, Chris Kearney, Ed Jost, Larry Mason, Carla Sloan, William Sullivan

Shaping the Future of Southern Nevada: Economic, Environmental, and Social Sustainability

Moderator: Dr. Ann McDonough, UNLV Gerontology Program Scribe: Lisa Gioia-Acres, UNLV Department of History Conference white paper & Full summary of panel session, 4 pages

Concurrent Panel Session 1: Challenges Of Economic Growth & Diversification & Labor Preparation In Las Vegas, Maggie Arias-Petrel, Cedric Crear, Somer Hollingsworth, Mike Majewski, John Restrepo, Mary Riddel, Keith Schwer, Dina Titus

Shaping the Future of Southern Nevada: Economic, Environmental, and Social Sustainability

Moderator: Dr. Mel Jameson, UNLV College of Business Scribe: Angela Moor, UNLV Department of History Conference white paper & Full summary of panel session, 6 pages

Concurrent Panel Session 1: Environmental Sustainability And Las Vegas, Dale A. Devitt, David E. James, Patricia Mulroy, Alan O'Neill, Thomas C. Piechota, Doug Selby, Krystyna Anne Stave, Michael Yackira, Bruce Turner

Shaping the Future of Southern Nevada: Economic, Environmental, and Social Sustainability

Moderator: Dr. Stan Smith, UNLV School of Life Sciences Scribe: Crystal Jackson, UNLV Department of Sociology Conference white paper & Full summary of panel session, 6 pages

Engaging The Community: The Metropolitan University, Jonathan Fink

Shaping the Future of Southern Nevada: Economic, Environmental, and Social Sustainability

31 PowerPoint slides Abstract: -Phoenix late entry in global, high-tech competition -ASU assists Metro Phoenix with all aspects of sustainability -University provides expertise, ideas, tools, workforce -Global Institute of Sustainability aligns ASU & regional needs -Decision Theater: Policy-making plus technology -Lessons should be relevant to Las Vegas and UNLV

Las Vegas X 3 @ 2030-Part 1 & 2, Arthur Chris Nelson

Shaping the Future of Southern Nevada: Economic, Environmental, and Social Sustainability

Part 1, 12 PowerPoint slides

Shaping The Future Of Southern Nevada Moderators & Panelists Biographies

Shaping the Future of Southern Nevada: Economic, Environmental, and Social Sustainability

Moderators & Panelists biographies

Shaping The Future Of Southern Nevada Conference Cover Artwork, James B. Pink

Shaping the Future of Southern Nevada: Economic, Environmental, and Social Sustainability

Artwork Credit: Blue Moon, Acrylic Painting, 4' x 5' by

The Renewable Engergy Boom: How Nevada Is Playing A Vital Role In The Growth Market, Kathleen M. Drakulich

UNLV Renewable Energy Symposium

This inaugural event is dedicated to showcasing the renewable/sustainable energy projects of UNLV faculty, staff, students, and collaborators, as well as other external projects underway statewide and nationally. The development and utilization of new technologies to protect the environment, achieve energy independence, and strengthen the economy will be explored. Speakers and poster-session presenters will provide further insight to many ongoing projects and innovative research ideas.

Organized by UNLV’s Office of Strategic Energy Programs, the event offers participants the opportunity to learn about energy projects and will encourage networking and collaboration. This symposium is intended for researchers, educators, students, policy makers, …

Renewable Energy - The Future Is Now, Thomas Fair

UNLV Renewable Energy Symposium

This inaugural event is dedicated to showcasing the renewable/sustainable energy projects of UNLV faculty, staff, students, and collaborators, as well as other external projects underway statewide and nationally. The development and utilization of new technologies to protect the environment, achieve energy independence, and strengthen the economy will be explored. Speakers and poster-session presenters will provide further insight to many ongoing projects and innovative research ideas.

Organized by UNLV’s Office of Strategic Energy Programs, the event offers participants the opportunity to learn about energy projects and will encourage networking and collaboration. This symposium is intended for researchers, educators, students, policy makers, …

Session 11 - Radioactive Dispersion Devices (Rdd): What Are The Odds?, Dennis Bechtel

International Symposium on Technology and Society

Since the tragic events of September 11th, 2001 there has been apprehension that the United States may be ill-prepared to prevent future terrorist events. One source of concern is that a Radioactive Dispersion Device (RDD) could be detonated at a vulnerable target anywhere in the nation. A RDD, also known as a “dirty bomb, is a conventional explosive packed with radioactive material. The explosion could disperse radioactive material over a wide area. The target could be an icon associated with American democracy and government, critical systems and infrastructure, a water supply, a nuclear power plant and others. Such an event …

Session 9 - The Century Of Living Dangerously, Part Ii: Confronting Uncertainty, R. J. Bogumil

International Symposium on Technology and Society

Probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) methodological limitations as well as environmental application-specific features confound much needed objective analysis and hope for equitable remediation of anthropogenic climate change. Issues addressed include: risk subjectivism, the difficulty of mathematical and computer model prediction-validity assessment associated with chaotic system dynamics, as well as standards of scholarship and the obstacle to societal reform posed by commercial, consumer-driven mass-media journalism.

Session 7 - A Comparative Geographic Analysis Of The Impact Of Scale On Hazards And Vulnerability In Industrialized Continental Lands And Small Pacific Islands, William J. Smith Jr.

International Symposium on Technology and Society

Geography, specifically scale, has significant impacts in terms of hazards and vulnerability. Small islands, such as those found in the Pacific, experience the impacts of their relatively unique geography and scale in terms of hazards and vulnerability in at least five ways: 1) Perception and communication; 2) Impact and escape from impact; 3) Technology; 4) Recovery; and 5) Socio-environmental justice. Comparative analysis in these five areas between the Pacific’s small islands and industrialized continental regions illuminates differences regarding the way hazards and vulnerability should be conceptualized in the under-treated small islands of the world. Lessons from this analysis will aid …

Session 7 - Technology And The Creation Of Wilderness: The Making Of Quabbin Reservoir, Timothy J. Farnham

International Symposium on Technology and Society

Large dams in the United States have frequently been the targets of attacks by environmentalists who believe that the dams and the reservoirs they create are violations of wilderness. There are currently numerous proposals to dismantle some dams in order to restore river ecosystems to their pre-dam conditions, including Hetch Hetchy Reservoir’s O’ Shaunnessy Dam. Less attention has been paid to those dams and reservoirs that have arguably created protected areas that otherwise may have been subject to degradation from development. The Quabbin Reservoir, the primary water source for metropolitan Boston, serves as a prime example. Viewed as an engineering …

Session 6 - The National Environmental Policy Act (Nepa): Is It All That It Can Be? The Case For Evaluating Stigma Effects, Dennis Bechtel

International Symposium on Technology and Society

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) has long been regarded as the“Magna Carta” of environmental policy legislation. The government in implementing its requirements on NEPA is required to evaluate potential environmental impacts from “significant” projects, to examine alternatives to proposed actions, and to enable the public to provide meaningful input to decision-makers. Despite the significance of NEPA there is evidence to suggest that environmental impact analyses may in fact be understating potential negative effects to citizens and communities. In particular potential impacts associated with stigma have been almost universally ignored in documents prepared under NEPA. The proposed high-level nuclear waste …

Session 2 - Societal-Consciousness In The Computing Curricula: A Time For Serious Introspection, Daniel Moix, Srini Ramaswamy

International Symposium on Technology and Society

This paper addresses the growing need for inculcating appropriate ethics within the computing curriculum by fostering the development of a societally-conscious ethical framework among our students to address the use of information technology vis-à-vis government, business and society. We propose a new integrated model based approach (IDEA) and suggest its adoption to encourage students on reflecting upon the social and ethical ramifications of technology, beyond the narrow, project focused tunnel vision that currently (subliminally) exists in many computing curricula, and in particular, in today’s profit-focused, consulting and contract-based software industry.

Session 1 - Cold War Technoscience In Nevada: The Nevada Test Site Oral History Project, Mary Palevsky

International Symposium on Technology and Society

During the Cold War, the United States conducted over 1000 nuclear weapons tests. Of those, 928 took place at the Nevada Test Site (NTS). One hundred tests were in the atmosphere and 921 underground at the 1375 square mile site located 65 north of Las Vegas. Nevada Test Site Oral History Project (NTSOHP) researchers have conducted over 300 hours of interviews with individuals affiliated with and impacted by the NTS, documenting the diversity of experience among many communities of voices including: weapons scientists, test site officials, laborers, contractors and support personnel, the military, American Indians, communities downwind of the NTS, …

Session 1 - Rationalizing The Home Front: The Cold War, The Nevada Test Site, And Radiation Exposure, Leisl A. Carr

International Symposium on Technology and Society

Beginning in 1953, radiation exposure and its effects became a hotly contested issue between the government, members of communities surrounding the Nevada Test Site (NTS), and researchers within the national scientific community. The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), concerned about maintaining a continental testing facility and aware that atomic testing would impact communities surrounding the NTS, sent representatives to areas potentially affected by fallout to instruct and reassure the affected public. How government officials perceived neighboring communities and how these communities perceived these representatives of the government often determined public responses to the atomic testing program. The story of radiation monitors …