Take survey results as a call to action

To the editor:

Anytime discouraging news like this is received, ("Last? Again? Doesn’t make sense," Dec. 1), there’s a natural instinct to get defensive. But the takeaway from these survey results shouldn’t be confrontational. It should be a call to action to every Nevadan.

The Opportunity Index isn’t about picking winners and losers. It’s about assessing whether or not people have the means to access the American Dream. The index provides concerned citizens, engaged communities, elected officials and others a new way to identify exactly what opportunities are currently being provided (or not provided) to residents in a certain area. Then, using these results, decision-makers can build a strategy to make improvements across the key indicators that collectively comprise opportunity: robust local economies, strong education systems and safe and healthy communities.

All of the information used to formulate the index was culled from well-accredited and publicly available information. And all of our methodology is available online at www. opportunityindex.org.

We commend the Review-Journal for making the issue of opportunity part of the discourse, and we encourage the newspaper to be part of the solution. One way would be by using their considerable influence to bring Nevada’s elected officials around the same table to discuss ways they can improve opportunity for Nevada residents.

Chris Cashman

Cambridge, Mass.

The writer is director of communications for Opportunity Nation, an advocacy group that seeks to "promote opportunity, social mobility and the American Dream."

Tip jar

To the editor:

Let me get this straight. In the 11 months of 2011, Macau’s casino industry has collected more than $30.5 billion in revenues, with Wynn Resorts being one of only three U.S. casino companies operating there (Friday Review-Journal, Business section). Yet rather than giving gaming floor supervisors the raise they deserve, Mr. Wynn wants the dealers to pay a portion of their tips to the supervisors?

Really? Wow. Sounds like a Wynn-win situation to me.

Yet we hold him up on a pedestal like some benevolent job creator in this town. Serfs were grateful for the work of their lords, as well, but it did not make for a healthy, sustainable economy back then, either.

Teresa Krolak-Owens

Las Vegas