Oral history interview with Jerome J. Vallen conducted by James Shaw on February 27, 1979 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Vallen discusses his career as the dean of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' Hotel Administration College, a position he occupied at the time of this interview. Vallen discusses program funding, how UNLV's program compares with Cornell University's hotel administration program, and the difficulty the university faced establishing a program with newer educational concepts compared to some other majors which had been around for much longer, such as the math or sciences departments. Vallen then explains how they assisted students in finding jobs in the hotel industry, as well as his plans to grow the program and construct a dedicated building for the program on campus.
Interview with Chic Hecht Julie Sefman on April 2, 1976. In this brief interview, Hecht talks about his time in the state senate working to bolster the budget with sales tax and gaming tax, starting a community college and health programs. He also talks about Pop Squires, a newspaper man and advocate for building Hoover Dam, who had a home on the site of Chic Hecht's clothing store on Fremont Street. Hecht also describes his time in the military and his involvement with the Military Intelligence Association.
Dr. Fiona Kelley was born and raised in Connecticut. Her parents were both teachers (though her mother quit teaching to raise their two daughters), and Fiona recalls the European vacations the family took every summer, exploring castles and enjoying picnic lunches. Fiona was educated at Greenwich Academy in Connecticut and Bard College (dance major with art history minor) in New York. She mentions dancing in Acapulco and California and then auditioning and being hired as a cover dancer for Hallelujah Hollywood! at the MGM in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, she had also become licensed in massage and states that as she was making the transition from dancing to production of dance, she and her husband were invited to China. While in China, Dr. Kelley recalls visiting a hospital which specialized in the treatment of AIDS through acupuncture. This led to a decision to learn Oriental medicine, which she pursued once she returned to the United States. She shares many details of her studies