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IN BUSINESS EDUCATION No Wrongdoing Found With CSN's Hiring REGENT RESPONDS TO LATIN CHAMBER'S LETTER: SCHOOL IN COMPLIANCE WITH POLICIES AND LEGAL REQUIREMENTS By Tovin Lapan staff writer T he College of Southern Nevada's hir- ing practices, despite coming under fire by the Latin Chamber of Commerce, are in line with state policies, the Nevada System of Higher Education's chairman said in a letter to the Latin chamber. In the letter dated July 26, Jason Ged- des, the Nevada System of Higher Edu- cation Board of Regents chairman, said an investigation "determined that the recruiting and hiring procedures fol- lowed by CSN are in compliance with Board of Regents' policies and legal re- quirements." Geddes' response comes more than a month after the Latin chamber ex- pressed "serious concerns with the College of Southern Nevada and its un- Las Vegas' No.1 Business Resource Has Never Been More Important. COURTS BANKRUPT BUSINESSMAN MUST STILL REPAY CASINO MARKERS By Cy Ryan staff writer A two casinos, Las Vegas businessman who de- clared personal bankruptcy must still repay the worthless markers he wrote at the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled. check convictions of Martin R. Brown, who wrote $20,000 in worthless mark- ers at Wynn Las Vegas and a $25,000 bo- gus marker at the Bellagio. Because of a downturn in his busi- ness, Brown, who was described as a lover of gambling, filed for personal bankruptcy. He then wrote the worth- less checks on his M&I Bank account, which was closed. Get your one-year subscription to and we'll include our best leads via email. All for only $50 a year. For additional information call 800.254.2610 or email subscriptions@gmgvegas.com VEGASINC.COM/SUBSCRIBE 8 The casinos filed criminal charges against him and he was convicted of passing the bad checks. He was placed on five years' probation and ordered to make a $21,625 payment to each casino. He was also ordered to stay out of casi- nos for the purpose of gambling. Brown was directed to perform 16 hours a month of community service unless he was a full-time worker or student. He appealed, arguing the state's bad- check law was unconstitutional because The court refused to set aside the bum ning or continuing a criminal action af- ter an individual has filed a petition for bankruptcy. It also rejected Brown's argument that the criminal prosecution in the two cas- es was improper debt collection and the casinos were barred by the bankruptcy discharge of the debt. The decisions upheld the rulings of District Judge David Barker. In a third case, the court rejected the petition of New York-New York for a pre- trial summary judgment in connection with a shooting in July 2007 in which four people were injured. The resort was sued by Carrie Zer- avica on grounds it was negligent permitting the shooting by Stephen Zegream, who said at the time he was despondent, in The court said New York-New York failed to show "extraordinary relief is warranted" at this time in the suit. | 6 AUGUST 2012 | it violates his federal right to declare bankruptcy. He maintained the state could not prosecute him after his debts had been discharged in bankruptcy. The Supreme Court said the federal law does not prevent a state from begin- acceptable record of hiring and promo- tion of Hispanic employees." "(O)ur investigation concluded that there have been no complaints of dis- crimination at CSN and we have found no evidence of discrimination with re- gard to the issues raised in your letter," Geddes wrote of the investigation con- ducted by Brooke Nielsen, the Nevada System of Higher Education vice chan- cellor for legal affairs. Geddes acknowledges it is clear the Latin Chamber "is not satisfied with the efforts made by CSN with respect to di- versity, especially within the Hispanic community," and suggests a meeting between himself, College of Southern Nevada President Michael Richards, Latin Chamber of Commerce execu- REGENT JASON GEDDES VEGAS INC FILE said he appreciated Geddes' efforts on the matter and welcomed the opportu- nity to meet with the chairman and rep- resentatives of CSN. "The important thing to remember, though, is that we have been holding tives, Nevada System of Higher Educa- tion Chancellor Dan Klaich and Regent Kevin Page. The Latin Chamber's letter, first re- ported by Las Vegas Sun columnist Jon Ralston, indicates the organization has been complaining since 2005 about un- der-representation of Hispanics among staff and faculty at CSN. Javier Trujillo, chairman of the board for the Latin Chamber of Commerce, meetings now for seven years. This is not something that has happened overnight; it's been in the making over years," Tru- jillo said, citing past meetings with for- mer and current administration. "I'm glad Geddes took some steps to look into these concerns and that we can reiniti- ate that conversation and come together. The most important thing for us is that (the hiring process) is transparent and all candidates have an equal opportu- nity to apply and be considered." Geddes' letter cites data from CSN showing that 38 percent of the college's 1,148 employees are minorities and just less than 16 percent are Hispanic. At CSN, which is the largest school in SEE CSN PAGE 13