REVIEW-JOURNAL ENDORSEMENT: Board of Regents, District 5
Running for Board of Regents, District 5, are former Nevada State Board of Education member Patrick Boylan and Dr. Nick “Doc” Spirtos, medical director at Women’s Cancer Center of Nevada.
Mr. Boylan has a long background as an educator, including training first responders. He believes Nevada’s higher education system should provide “more opportunity for different subjects to be studied in the future.” He would like to see collaborations with the Nevada Test Site and more efforts put into robotics and medical research. He’s concerned about attempts to increase student costs and would like to pare back on campus administration. He also opposes affirmative action programs.
Dr. Spirtos is making another run for regent after falling short in a 2014 effort. His passion, as you might expect from a doctor, is the UNLV School of Medicine. He objects to the current plan to spend $150 million to $200 million on a building. If UNLV is going to spend the money, it needs to “build a 100-bed teaching hospital.”
He also thinks Nevada’s university system needs to “invest in brain power. We need to invest in academic talent.” He believes the accomplishments of top academics will help induce contributions from potential donors. Dr. Spirtos is also concerned about how many students enter UNLV without being competent in the basics of reading and writing.
Dr. Spirtos would provide valuable insight on medical school issues, but Mr. Boylan is more focused on issues concerning the entire system. We urge a vote for Patrick Boylan.