Includes meeting agenda and minutes. CSUN Session 15 Meeting Minutes and Agendas.

Helen J. Stewart birthday scrapbook

John G. Tryon was one of the early leading figures in the Engineering Department at UNLV. He grew up in Washington, D.C., the oldest of three sons. His father worked with the National Bituminous Coal Commission during the Depression and his mother was editor of the American Association of University Women's Publications. John went directly to University of Minnesota after high school graduation and earned a bachelor's in physics. During WWII he served in the Army Signal Corps and then went back to Cornell University to get his doctorate. His post doctoral work experience includes six years at Bell Telephone Laboratories, eleven years at University of Alaska, and six years at Tuskegee Institute. In 1974, Dr. Tryon interviewed at UNLV and was hired. The faculty carefully built up the curriculum, adding classes one at a time. John introduced a senior engineering design course modeled after one that pioneered at Dartmouth. He had also introduced this particular course at University of Alaska and Tuskegee. John was a member of the Academic Standards Committee at UNLV which helped set standards for academic probation and semester length. He has strong opinions on keeping engineering students who show promise and interest, and letting go of students whose academic strengths don't match the program. He believes students need to be matched to opportunity, be given the chance to find a niche that fits, and that they should not be given inflated grades or false hope. Dr. Tryon met his wife-to-be in Ithaca, New York, while attending Cornell University. His wife's mother, who was married to a botany professor, had invited him to Sunday dinner, something she had done for a number of students. John and his wife, who eventually became an English teacher, have two sons who grew to college age while they were in Alaska. Today they enjoy their church community, their family, and their circle of friends.

Will Provance was born in Mississippi and grew up mostly in St. Louis, where he earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Missouri before earning a Master’s in Business Administration from Shiller University. Provance would eventually attend the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where he earned a Master of Science in Hotel Administration. He started in the gaming industry as a pool manager at Sunset Station, where he would eventually become slot analyst before entering Station Casinos’ management development program. Provance then trained in various positions at Red Rock Resort prior to moving to Green Valley Ranch as a shift manager. He then went back to Sunset Station to become slot operations manager and was promoted to director of slots at that property. Provance is currently the director of VLT operations at Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park in Northfield, Ohio. Provance’s interview begins with his discussion of the various roles he has held in the gaming industry, including the types of duties he was assigned at the different properties. He then describes the difference between managing slot machines in his earlier positions and video lottery terminals (VLTs) in his current position in Ohio. Provance then mentions some of the mentors he has had in his career, and he describes what he believes are the qualities of both good and bad slot managers. He also discusses what he believes makes a good slot floor, including the process of working with slot vendors in getting new slot machines for the slot floor as well as working with other departments in the casino. Provance then talks about how slot operations has changed since he started in the industry and what he thinks the future of slot machines will be, specifically regarding skill-based gaming. The interview concludes with Provance’s discussion of his personal gambling and his advice to young people who want to go into the slot industry.

Narrator affiliation: Meteorologist-in-Charge, Weather Bureau Research Station, Nevada Test Site

Part of an interview with D. D. Cotton by Claytee White on February 14, 1997. Cotton discusses challenges faced by women dealers and her work as a dancer and dealer in a number of casinos.