Spring 2001: Does Capital Punishment Have a Future? Participants Las Vegas High School - Las Vegas, NV Class: Civil Liberties Las Vegas High School- Home of the Wildcats- oldest continually operated high school in Southern Nevada! We are Mr. Ortiz's Civil Liberties class at Las Vegas High School in beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada. Tourism/gambling along with gold and silver mining are the top industries in the state. 2,800 students attend LVHS with a make-up of 45% White, 25% Hispanic, 19% African-American, 10% Asian and 1% Native American. Contrary to popular belief, we do not live in hotels yet we are able to get delicious Steak and Lobster any time of day for about $7.95! The weather is usually mild except in the summer when temperatures reach 117 degrees- (we love friends with pools). Our class has studied the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, Supreme Court cases, types of crime, the criminal case process, causes of crime and we even put on a Mock Trial. We are fortunate to have many government agencies in Vegas so we wrote letters asking guest speakers to come and talk to us. We are very excited about this summit and we look forward to discussing the death penalty with people our age and with students from different backgrounds. Some wacky facts about Nevada include: Prostitution is legal in many counties (not ours- Clark County) Our mayor was once a Mafia lawyer (Oscar Goodman)- don't tell him we know or he'll break our legs) Nevada ranks first in tobacco use among minors, teen pregnancy and dropouts. Cool facts about LVHS: Tony Basil (sang Oh Mickey, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind) graduated from LVHS in the 80's. Senator Richard Brian graduated from LVHS and is leading the fight to keep nuclear waste out of Nevada. LVHS faculty includes: Mrs. Roberts- original member of the Mickey Mouse Club Mr. Plunkett- played in the Super Bowl with the New England Patriots Mrs. Levesque- Miss. North Dakota two years ago Mr. Ortiz- Wheel of Fortune winner in1998. Back to Participants Spring 2001 Summit Home | Learning Links & Readings Student Activities| Participants | Transcripts National Online Youth Summit Home