Resort Association president takes issue with regent’s statements

By Charlotte Hsu

Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008 | 5:58 p.m.

William Bible, president of the Nevada Resort Association, had the following choice words for Ron Knecht, a member of the Board of Regents that governs higher education in Nevada: "What on earth were you thinking?"

Bible's question was in reference to a statement Knecht had made to a television reporter in Reno, saying, “one of our problems is that we’ve built our economy, especially the 73 percent of it now down in Clark County, on gaming, and overwhelmingly, gaming and hospitality does not need, sad to say, a well educated work force.”

Bible, who took issue with the statement, sent Knecht a letter Monday addressing the issue. Calling Nevada's casinos and resorts "the most sophisticated in the world," Bible pointed out that theater and show production, gaming machine development, casino floor surveillance all require educated workers to be successful.

"If I had not seen you making these comments on camera, I would not have believed they were coming from a Regent for the Nevada System of Higher Education," Bible wrote.

"What on earth were you thinking or are you simply unaware of the workforce needs of the state's largest industry and its strong record of support for Nevada's system of public education?" Knecht, for his part, says Bible misinterpreted his statement, which was broadcast on KRNV Channel 4 in Reno, a station that Jim Rogers, chancellor of Nevada's public higher education system, owns.

The segment in which Knecht appeared discussed the value of education in Nevada. "In part of the interview that Mr. Rogers’ TV station chose not to use," Knecht wrote in a letter to Bible today, "I mentioned some of the kinds of technical and back-of-the-house jobs that you cite in your letter that do require higher education, especially engineering."

That said, Knecht stood by his previous assessment of the gaming and hospitality industry, saying most jobs in that industry do not require a higher education.

"One needs a good work ethic, but does not need a college degree to change a bed, serve food, deal cards, park cars, etc.," Knecht wrote.

The spat between Bible and Knecht has also sparked tension between Knecht and the chancellor, who have been at odds over funding for education.

Rogers has called repeatedly to create new taxes in Nevada while Knecht has opposed that stance.

In an interview today with the Sun, Knecht pointed out that the chancellor had distributed Bible's letter to the media.

The regent called Rogers an "extremist ideologue who doesn't understand the public interest and doesn't understand the facts and doesn't understand what damage he does to higher education with this ancillary agenda and his behavior."

"We lose credibility, we lose political allies, we lose lots of time and lots of opportunities to protect higher education," Knecht said.

"Sounds to me that Mr. Knecht's talking about himself," Rogers said when he was read Knecht's comments. Of Knecht's on-air statements, Rogers said, "I think that's very bad for a person who is a regent to be making statements like that."

In recent weeks, Rogers has made public letters from state leaders including Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley and Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio supporting a series of memos Rogers has issued outlining the damage state-mandated budget cuts would do to higher education.