As International Counsel to UNITE HERE, Culinary Workers Union Local 226, Richard McCracken is a true union man whose law firm represents labor. He is an independent thinker who prefers direct action rather than the strategies and negotiations of the National Labor Relations Board. This interview covers union activity in several locations throughout the country but concentrates on Nevada with stories about Las Vegas and Reno labor connections that are profound. Once which organizing in Reno after the murder of two organizers, Richard was given a spiked drink. An older, more seasoned organizer instructed him to eat a cigarette forcing him to cough up everything in his system. Very early in his career, Richard learned that direct action was better and the strategies and techniques of the National Labor Relations Board. The Culinary Workers Union’s fight with the Showboat was one of unusual direct action. The union interfered directly in a matter of with the casino’s shareholders. Union work takes courage. McCracken admires that courage in D. Taylor, Hattie Canty, Jim Arnold, and many other local union leaders. His life is also an example of that same courage, determination, and legal savvy.

Linda Falba McSweeney’s memories read like a Las Vegas history book. Arriving in town as a five-year-old in 1950, Linda’s family lived in the Huntridge area of town. Her father was a casino manager in various properties Downtown and on the Strip and even worked in Cuba during the Batista era. She and her two siblings attended St. Joseph’s Catholic School, St. Anne’s School, and Bishop Gorman High School. They marched in the city’s Helldorado Parades, and she was a BGHS cheerleader. Through it all their parents (even Dad, who worked graveyard shifts and seldom took a day off) enthusiastically supported all their endeavors and attended all their events. Linda tells of playing at Maryland Parkway’s circle park and earning a black eye from the cutest boy in the neighborhood; she recalls making forts in the bamboo forest near Fifteenth Street and Oakey Boulevard (until two schoolmates, who didn’t know how to stub out their illicit cigarettes, burned the bamboo forest down). Linda knows most of Nevada’s movers and shakers because she played with them or with their children.

Professor Douglas Reynolds joined the engineering faculty in 1983. His credentials include a B.S. from Michigan State, M.S in mechanical engineering from Purdue, and a PhD in the same field, also from Purdue. Dr. Reynolds' work experience includes an assistant professorship at University of Texas a Austin (architectural engineering), associate professor in mechanical engineering at University of Pittsburgh, and a stint of industrial experience working for Caterpillar Tractor Company. He also worked as an acoustical consultant in Dallas, Texas. When interviewed at UNLV, Doug sensed that this was an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a new engineering program and really have an impact on its development. He worked on the Engineering Advisory Committee and was given the task to justify the existence and growth of the engineering program at UNLV. He presented a report which documented the size and cost of the engineering building, and that report led to the existence of the building that can be found on campus today. With the building under construction, the engineering program itself needed accreditation with the American Board of Engineering and Technology. Dr Reynolds was responsible for documenting past, present, and future plans for the department courses and degrees. He also had to document a legitimate student graduation in order to apply tor accreditation. All this was accomplished in a short time, and the school received a very high evaluation. Dr. Reynolds' primary specialty is mechanical vibration and acoustics. He teaches machine design, kinematics and dynamics, and courses in mechanical vibration and acoustics. He wrote a textbook in the early 80's, "Engineering Principles of Acoustics." The updated revision will be completed soon, and he is also writing a new text entitled "Engineering Principles of Vibration". Douglas is chief U.S. delegate and chairman of the U.S. technical advisory group for ISO (International Standards Organization). He logs thousands of air miles every year on trips that are basically directed to research, bringing in research dollars, or are related to the standards work he does. His efforts on such a broad scale bring the UNLV engineering school national and worldwide exposure.