Politicians from Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman to Gov. Kenny Guinn also have chimed in on the issue, publicly opposing the plan to store 77,000 tons of radioactive waste in the state. The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce also joined the fight Wednesday against the Yucca Mountain project, which is seen as having a devastating effect on the Las Vegas Valley's economic future. A portion of the tobacco money is used to fund the Millennium Scholarship Program, which is currently providing an education to 4,000 Nevada college students. Reaction from regents about the potential conflict of interest was varied. That's a real concern.
Tobacco is one thing, but nuclear power is another.
I definitely think this is something that we need to address at the next committee meeting. The largest investments went to General Electric Co., DTE Energy, FirstEnergy Corp. and XCEL Energy. Md. Most if not all of the regents are unaware which stocks are in UCCN's portfolio, said Dan Miles, vice chancellor of finance. That's not such a hot idea. Within the last year, four comparable state universities have divested themselves from tobacco stocks, Cogan said.