IN BRIEF: Smoke levels remain high

January 12, 2009 by Haley Etchison 

More than two years after the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act passed, researchers from UNLV and the University of Kentucky have found that restaurants in many Las Vegas casinos contain dangerous levels of smoke.

UNLV assistant professor of nursing Nancy York served as lead investigator on a project aimed at gauging the effect of the proximity of smoking-allowed areas to non-smoking restaurants, measuring air samples from 16 casinos in Southern Nevada- eight on and eight off the Strip.

“Even though casino restaurants are supposed to be non-smoking by state law, the open-air floor plan of casinos creates a shared air space, resulting in secondhand smoke migrating from the gaming floor into the restaurants and creating health hazards of secondhand smoke exposure to those present, whether it is workers or patrons,” York said. “Secondhand smoke naturally drifts in the air currents and ventilation systems can distribute secondhand smoke throughout a building.” 

 

Titus sponsors act

Two bills passed the House Friday, Jan. 9 that promise to advance the fight for equal pay.

Congresswoman Dina Titus, UNLV political science professor for more than 30 years, newly elected representative and co-sponsor of both bills, applauded this progress.

“With families in my district struggling to make ends meet in the face of rising costs from health care to education, now more than ever we must ensure that women in the workplace earn the pay they deserve,” Titus said.

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act provides workers 180 days to pursue legal action following an incident of discriminatory pay.  It also clarifies that “every paycheck or other compensation that has resulted from an earlier discriminatory pay decision constitutes a violation of the Civil Rights Act”

The bill was passed in response to a recent Supreme Court decision that made pursuit of pay discrimination claims more difficult.

The Paycheck Fairness Act “closes loopholes that have allowed employers to avoid responsibility for discriminatory pay,” strengthening the Equal Pay Act.