Fire sprinklers in the home save lives

To the editor:

In humble response to Curtiss Williams' Friday letter on the county debating whether to require sprinkler systems in new homes:

I would ask Mr. Williams: How much did he pay for the upgrades to his kitchen, or bathroom or carpets? The cost to install a complete fire sprinkler protection system in the average Las Vegas home (2,000 square feet) is the same as your standard carpet or countertop upgrade. A fire sprinkler system costs less than $2 a square foot and reduces your homeowners insurance by 5 percent.

Modern fire sprinklers cannot be set off accidentally by smoke; each sprinkler activates individually and separately by heat in excess of 165 degrees. As to his misconception of risk vs. reward, I would ask, "What is the value you would place upon the lives of your family and yourself in the event of a fire? Would it outweigh that granite countertop or Berber carpet?"

Once upon a time we were told that smoke detectors would be too cost prohibitive for the market to bear. Now we all have them in our homes. It is a national standard. Have you checked the batteries in those lately? Home fire sprinklers require no more maintenance than major appliances and last the life of the home. Over 30 years, it's about $8 per month. Residential fire sprinklers are an advance in technology whose time has come. Simply put, fire sprinklers save lives.

Todd W. Byington

Las Vegas

The writer is a fire sprinkler pipe fitter.

Outsourced jobs

To the editor:

If you have a choice between starting a business in the United States, which has the highest taxes in the world and massive documentation requirements, or overseas, where there are minimum taxes and documentation, where will you place your new business?

The fact is that businesses do not pay taxes. They are required to become surreptitious tax collectors for the taxing authority. The consumer -- you -- pays the taxes.

The same can be said about manufacturing goods. Will you choose a country that seeks to make energy very expensive, as is the case with Barack Obama and the Democrats in the United States, or will you choose a country with cheap energy?

The time has passed for blaming American businessmen and businesswomen for outsourcing jobs. We must place the blame where it belongs, directly on the Democrats.

Charles Lingo

Henderson

Downtown advances

To the editor:

The owners of the Plaza hotel and casino are to be praised for their foresight in these trying economic times. They will renovate the 1,037-room hotel, which will be closed for a year during this time. The slot machines, Firefly restaurant and showroom will remain open -- as will the ever-popular bingo parlor, which will be relocated in November across the street in the Plaza's brother casino, the Las Vegas Club.

The Plaza remains the only downtown casino offering bingo, and its dedicated, excellent staff will continue to serve the people.

Plaza officials say the renovation timing is right because it will take a year for the downtown gaming economy to return to former highs. Also, the Plaza renovation is in keeping with downtown redevelopment projects. Mayor Oscar Goodman says the renovation is a progressive move in sync with the renaissance of downtown.

The Plaza is a Las Vegas landmark with an illustrious history. And it will continue to be so, as evidenced by this new, grand renovation project.

Clyde Dinkins

Las Vegas

Higher tuition

To the editor:

None of our political candidates or educational leaders mentions the need to raise tuitions in our current fiscal situation. The reasons are obvious: They don't want to inflame members of the public who view higher education as an absolute entitlement.

I can remember when residents of Nevada established a mailing address in California (or other states) to quickly qualify for an essentially free higher education into the California system. My three children attended UNLV and UNR at bargain-basement prices. Two went on to the University of Nevada School of Medicine at approximately $5000 a year ... a fire sale cost when out-of-state medical schools would have been $20,000 a year or more.

Today, our medical school is $15,000 and out-of-state comparables are $40,000 to $60,000 per year. The private Osteopathic Medical School in Henderson is $38,000 and they had no problem filling classes of more than 100 students.

I'm sure these numbers parallel the shortfalls in most of the university system's higher education schools and departments.

This is public money we're talking about. It's time those in the Ivory Tower -- seemingly disconnected intellectuals running our higher education system -- wake up to the working people's situation ... no free lunches.

Len Kreisler

Las Vegas