 BARBWIRE
Slam-dunks
with Ma Bell & Mary Ellen McMullen  Everybody knows that the dice are loadedEverybody rolls with their fingers crossedEverybody knows the war is overEverybody knows the good guys lostEverybody knows the fight was fixedThe poor get poor, the rich get richThat's how it goesEverybody knows.-- Leonard CohenThe University of Nevada system is corrupt, and everybody knows it.
Things are so bad that people with legitimate criticisms fall into two
silent camps. One fears retaliation and is afraid to speak up. The other
loves the institution so much they feel that revealing the truth would cut
the flow of badly needed contributions.Would you donate to UNR if you knew your money was going to pay for a car
for the use of President Joe Crowley's wife? Would you support an outfit
seriously considering skimming off one percent of scholarship and endowment
funds to turn over to the already profligate fund raising bureaucracy?
(Dead people can't protest, so who cares what their bequests mandate?)Would you donate to a system that can't reconcile its bank accounts to the
tune of, perhaps, $7.6 million? Hell, what's a few million between
friends? (This Tuesday at 11:00 a.m., the regents' audit committee will
get a report on the subject. The official meeting notice only says "a
discussion will be held on bank procedures and reconciliations." The
session will be held at the corner of Evans and Enterprise at UNR. The
building is near the baseball field.)When the university board of regents was discussing buying off former UNLV
basketball coach Rollie Massimino's illegal contract, interim Pres. Kenny
Guinn (early favorite to be our next governor) showed a friendliness for
abusing scholarship funds the same way now being discussed. According to
official Board of Regents meeting minutes of October 19, 1994, Guinn
"related there would in essence be no tax dollars or student money used for
this, but only using receipts from advertising, sale of programs, etc., or
ticket sales and scholarship monies from donors."The university system settled with Massimino for $1.8 million (remember
that figure). Which brings me to Barrick Goldstrike Mining, which brings
me to bigtime lobbyist Sam McMullen, which brings me to Mrs. McMullen, a
candidate for the board of regents in Reno.Lawyer Sam McMullen, who spent a long time in the Harrah's hierarchy, is
one of the heaviest hitters at the Nevada Legislature. His clients include
tobacco giant Philip Morris, Sierra Pacific Power, the Reno-Sparks
Convention and Visitors Authority and the gambling-industrial complex. His
most recent claim to fame was engineering the ill-fated Labor Day weekend
compromise trying to get the Incline Village richfolk to agree to back off
their opposition to the Washoe County school bond.One of Mr. McMullen's lobbying clients is Barrick Goldstrike Mines, which
recently won praise from the Reno Gazette-Journal for paying (I am not
making this up) $1.8 million in taxes upfront so that Elko County could
begin construction on a new school.The foreign mining company will extract a whopping $10 billion in gold
from Nevada and pay close to nothing for the privilege. (The 1872 mining
law allows them to buy our land for pocket change, five dollars an acre or
less. The U.S. is a laughing stock around the world for charging no
royalties on mineral extractions.)Barrick Goldstrike, Mr. McMullen's client, has donated $750 to Mary Ellen
McMullen's campaign for university regent. So what?Barrick hires the likes of Mr. McMullen to broker influence, that's what.
They are worth billions and litter the landscape with dollars. Mining
firms frequently utilize universities for research, eventually controlling
whole departments. Whenever the Nevada Legislature starts talking about a
severance tax or gross proceeds royalty in exchange for raping the land,
they will cash in all their contributions so carefully and cheaply laid.The perception of power is power. Which brings me to Mrs. McMullen's
campaign treasurer, lawyer Harvey Whittemore. Moreso than even Sam
McMullen, Harvey represents a who's who of big time special interests.
Harvey is ARCO's boy, those wonderful people so good at keeping gasoline
prices artificially high and upon whom I've been reporting all year.
Harvey also works for slot machine maker IGT, contributor of $2,500 to Mrs.
McMullen's campaign, and for another tobacco giant, RJ Reynolds. Like Sam
McMullen, Harvey is one of the main men at the Ledge imposing the will of
the gambling-industrial complex.Harvey was the point man for Hilton in winning passage of the Tailhook
Bill last year. A future Lt. Paula Coughlin who inadvertantly walks into
danger at a Nevada hotel-casino would find suing very difficult if not
impossible here in the land of orgies-are-us.Harvey was also a prime mover behind the Blackball Bill, which would have
legalized the blacklisting of casino workers. Assemblyman Bernie Anderson
(D-Sparks) did his best to help stop it, the only major casino-pushed
legislation which Lord Darth Vader and the Dark Side failed to get passed
in the last session.Down at the biennial petting zoo we lovingly call our legislature, if you
are perceived to have power over a public official, you do. Sooner or
later, that perception means someone will come to you with a deal, this for
that, my guy's vote for your guy's support later.Simply because of her husband and campaign treasurer, Mary Ellen McMullen
stands pre-brokered before ever taking office. Could she resist pressure?
She doesn't have to. She need have "no knowledge" of whatever's going
down. In Washington, they call it plausible deniability.But she will be used because of how the game is played. Were she running
for a lesser office, it might not look so bad. But she is an admitted
insider in what is already a proven corrupt university system.The heart of that corruption lies with the multifarious university
foundations. Legally, they are part public, part private. In reality,
they have become money laundries and cookie jars, all to the detriment of
the students.Everbody knows the boat is leaking
Everybody knows the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died
Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose
Everybody knows.The UNLV Foundation was used to park the illegal, hidden contract
involving Coach Massimino. When UNR engineering Prof. Carl Looney
questioned the UNR Foundation's spending, including the car for Mrs.
Crowley, Sam McMullen's law firm represented the foundation before the
state ethics commission in 1992. Ethics commission chairman Spike Wilson
found spending for Mrs. Crowley's car illegal, along with a lot of other
profligate payments to UNR officers or employees. Mr. McMullen's firm is
still the foundation's law firm today. Mary Ellen McMullen currently sits
on the foundation's board, and has used that position to help make the case
for her candidacy.The university regents are technically foundation "shareholders" but have
no real power. The regents can't even make a decision to raise tuition
anymore, having conceded that power to the university bureaucracy.The UNLV foundation is basically controlled by Las Vegas casino mogul
Steve Wynn, whose Mirage Resort is a McMullen campaign donor. As president
of the heartland of the jockocracy, the UNR Wolf Club, Mr. Whittemore sat
on the UNR Foundation board until June 30, 1996. The McMullen Strategic
Group, Mr. McMullen's lobbying and media firm, contributed $10,000 to Mrs.
McMullen's campaign. Attorney Whittemore is also a main player in the
upscale Wingfield Springs housing and golf course development north of
Sparks proper.The corrupt cookie jars sitting on nefarious foundation shelves were
apparently the reason longtime University and Community College System of
Nevada Treasurer Janet MacDonald resigned last June. Ms. MacDonald, a CPA
and former member of the Nevada Public Service Commission, protested the
"unsound financial policies" of Chancellor Richard Jarvis."I don't want to be associated with them," she told the Associated Press
at the time. "MacDonald said her concerns focused on university investment
practices, foundation funds and endowments. Regarding investment
practices, she said the university is like a family that starts spending
more than it takes in by using such things as credit cards and other
instruments, then winds up in financial difficulty," the AP reported.
MacDonald also expressed worry about student fee hikes and salary
increases."How long can the public spend? Where can the line be drawn?", MacDonald
said in June. The Crowley-Ault administration continues to skim money from
student health services to subsidize the school's pro sports teams, a
practice now about a decade old.Last July, MacDonald expressed worries about IRS troubles arising from
money generated by a Humboldt County gold mine donated to the university.
The mine's proceeds are funneled through - surprise - the UNR Foundation."It's a brilliantly constructed system, with foundations set up to shield
the university from accountability to the public," one official said.
Fearing retaliation, that official must remain nameless. "Until the
structure is changed, it won't matter who sits on the board of regents,"
the longtime official added."The university culture pulls you in," the official said. "New regents
are indoctrinated upfront in kind of a 'don't ask-don't tell' policy.Mary Ellen McMullen should
respond to these important, and until now unaddressed, issues. So should
her opponent, motion picture critic and longtime UNR art teacher Howard
Rosenberg. They're both in the phone book.I have notified Prof. Rosenberg. I was unable to reach Mrs. McMullen
before deadline. I'll be glad to accept statements from both candidates
for next Sunday's column.RAISING HELL WITH MA BELL: Last week, you may have seen a Nevada Bell
notice warning consumers about long distance slamming. The aggrieved
consumer who brought that to the phone company's attention was me. A young
woman called during the World Series, asking to speak to whomever's in
charge of paying AT&T long distance bills. Usually, I respond with "I
don't give information to strangers" and get back to the game.Alas, I made the mistake of saying "that's me." At that point, I had
given the slammer critically useful information, confirming her guess about
AT&T. That's all she really needed to engineer a "slam," a fraudulent
switch of long distance carriers. When I challenged her credentials, she
got very nasty and hung up on me. I had merely asked for a phone number
where I could call her back. She said "you can't, call Nevada Bell at the
number on your phone bill."Mayday.Nevada Bell told me they employ no one calling customers offering to "give
them just one bill and saving them 25% in the process." Nevada Bell also
offers no safeguards for the public.Figuring I might soon have those con artists try to switch my long
distance carrier, I called Ma Bell for help. How I might put a warning in
the system that I want to be notified before any switching? Can't be done,
said Nevada Bell."I've never heard of a place that doesn't offer a 'pick-freeze,'" said an
amazed AT&T representative, who further informed me that your local phone
company gets five bucks for processing every switch order. For seven
years, Nevada Bell's parent PacBell has offered the slam-protection system
in California. Nevada Bell will offer it starting next year, a result of a
Reno consumer's complaint at a public hearing last summer. Nevada is
behind the times protecting ratepayers, as usual.Meanwhile, you can call 1-700-555-4141 to check your long distance carrier
of record. I remain at risk of a tape being sent to Nevada Bell telling
their computers to switch me from AT&T to Rocco Smashnose's Long Distance
and Sausage Shipping Company headquartered in the Cayman Islands with
branches in Italy. All Ma Bell will do is check to see that Rocco has my
correct name and address. He already has my long distance carrier. And Ma
Bell will have Rocco's five bucks, courtesy of you and me.PARTING SHOT: A few weeks ago, my post office box rent came due. I paid
it eight days before the due date, mailing it at my home branch in the post
office's own return envelope. My check had to travel a net total of about
20 feet. It took nine days to make the journey, resulting in my being
locked out of my own fully prepaid mailbox. Makes the mailboxes below seem
a whole lot more attractive.Be well. Raise hell.
Andrew
Barbano is a Reno-based syndicated columnist and 28-year Nevadan.Barbwire by Barbano has appeared in the Daily Sparks Tribune since 1988. This column originally published 11/3/96. Copyright © 1996, 2010 Andrew Barbano |
Copyright © 1982-2010
Andrew Barbano
Andrew Barbano is a 42-year Nevadan, editor of NevadaLabor.com and JoeNeal.org; and former chair of the City of Reno's Citizens Cable Compliance Committee, He is producer of Nevada's annual César Chávez Day celebration and serves as second vice-president, political action chair and webmaster of the Reno-Sparks NAACP. As always, his opinions are strictly his own. E-mail barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us.
Barbwire by Barbano premiered in the Daily Sparks (Nev.) Tribune on Aug. 12, 1988, and has originated in those parts ever since. Tempus fugit.
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