A ‘very safe’ project with four deaths?

To the editor:

I was appalled by the comments of Scott Allison, a Clark County Fire Department spokesman, and Yvette Monet, a spokeswoman for CityCenter project owner MGM Mirage, in your Saturday front-page article about this year's fourth fatality at CityCenter.

Ms. Monet said the CityCenter project was "very safe" and Mr. Allison agreed, calling it one of the safest construction sites in the county. Mr. Allison went on to say "four fatalities is sad, but considering ... the number of people working there and the size of the project, that's not really all that bad."

I have worked on construction projects for more than 40 years, and any job that has killed four construction workers in eight months is not a "very safe" project. I wonder if Mr. Allison would feel the same way if four firefighters were killed in eight months.

I agree with County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani that our elected officials need to look into safety on the CityCenter.

Jerry L. Glenn

HENDERSON

Eye surgery

To the editor:

As Nevada's first and most highly trained laser vision surgeon, I thank you for running your recent article on the problems people can encounter after LASIK and other forms of vision correction surgery ("Side effects possible after eye surgery," Saturday). The article echoed the stories I hear every day when patients are referred to me from other centers to take care of these complications.

One fact overlooked in your article is that 99.9 percent of these severe complications are entirely preventable -- they are the result of surgeons who do not adequately evaluate patients; technology marketed in advertisements; and LASIK surgeons operating at centers in multiple states (hence they are not immediately available to take care of problems early on when they can be more easily treated).

Slick marketing, fancy offices and false promises all too easily seduce patients who either do not take the time or do not know how to do proper research and preparation for their surgery.

When NASA and the U.S. Air Force endorsed LASIK for their astronauts and fighter pilots, they insisted on strict standards, both technologically and in the caliber and conduct of its surgeons. Virtually all of the severe problems after LASIK would be prevented if patients demanded the same for themselves. Although this same level of care, safety and crisp vision is available in Las Vegas, you will not find it at places that market themselves based on price.

KENT L. WELLISH, M.D.

LAS VEGAS

Language problem

To the editor:

I just finished reading Jane Ann Morrison's Thursday column about Rebecca Mughetti's fight at the Mandalay Bay to get her co-workers to speak English in front of her. While it is inevitable that the "racist" charges would be fired her way, did anyone stop and think that it might be racist to purposely exclude those who are not of your background?

Individuals who choose to speak a foreign language around those who don't speak that same language are purposely and maliciously disregarding those who "just" speak English. It sounds like they have the problem, not Ms. Mughetti.

Shame on MGM Mirage for not promoting inclusion among its workers.

TONY PERKINS

LAS VEGAS

Voting rights

To the editor:

In his Friday letter, Mark Mikowski attempts to refute letter writer Darrell Sikes' claim that the right to vote is not written in the Constitution. Mr. Sikes is correct and Mr. Mikowski is not.

Neither the 15th Amendment, the 19th Amendment nor the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution grants the right to vote. A careful reading of these amendments shows that they prohibit restricting or denying the right to vote "by the United States or by any State," each of these amendments addressing a particular grievance. Explicitly prohibiting restrictions on the right to vote does not implicitly grant a right to vote.

It is an easy trap to fall prey to unless one carefully reads Section 4 of the Constitution, to wit, "The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof." Thus Section 4 defers the responsibility of defining voting privileges to each individual state.

In Nevada, it is the Nevada Constitution, Article 2, Section 1 -- "Right of Suffrage" -- that grants the privilege of voting to eligible citizens, eligibility being defined in that same section.

DAVID R. LLOYD

LAS VEGAS