[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 96 (Thursday, June 19, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1021-E1022]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    NEVADA LEADERS REMEMBER MEDIA TITAN, EDUCATION LEADER JIM ROGERS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DINA TITUS

                               of nevada

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 19, 2014

  Ms. TITUS. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following Las Vegas Review-
Journal news article:

Nevada Leaders Remember Media Titan, Education Leader Jim Rogers, Dead 
                                 at 75

           [From The Las Vegas Review-Journal, June 15, 2014]

       Philanthropist, education advocate and media pioneer Jim 
     Rogers, 75, died Saturday night following a lengthy battle 
     with cancer.
       Friends will always remember him as a man with passion.
       In addition to owning KSNV-TV, Channel 3, in Las Vegas, 
     Rogers served as the ninth chancellor of the Nevada System of 
     Higher Education from 2005-09, after serving one year as 
     interim chancellor.
       ``He was very strong-minded on certain things,'' said 
     former UNLV President Carol Harter, who worked with Rogers 
     when he was chancellor of the Board of Regents. ``It was 
     never dull.''
       Rogers famously harried Harter out of her position at the 
     university in 2006, but later became her friend and ally. In 
     2013, he donated $10 million to the Black Mountain Institute, 
     UNLV's graduate-level creative writing program. And Rogers 
     backed Harter to serve as interim president of the university 
     when Neal Smatresk suddenly stepped down.
       Harter attributed Rogers' generosity to his wife, Beverly 
     Rogers.
       ``He wanted to honor her through that gift,'' she said. ``I 
     can't tell you how grateful we are. That started many 
     opportunities.''
       Harter added that as part of the donation, Rogers requested 
     the name of the program

[[Page E1022]]

     and the building be named for his wife. Toward the end of his 
     life, he saw how important it was to his wife that she assume 
     some of his legacy of fighting for higher education, she 
     said.
       ``He was the most interesting man,'' Harter said. ``Right 
     to the end, he was energetic.''
       Not only was Rogers vocal about who should step in as 
     interim president at UNLV, but he was not shy about sharing 
     his opinions on elections to the Board of Regents.
       ``He made it his personal mission to fight for higher 
     education funding when he was chancellor and continued that 
     work after he returned to the private sector,'' said Kevin 
     Page, chairman of the Board of Regents, whom Rogers' 
     adamantly endorsed on Twitter the night before he died. 
     ``Improving Nevada's education system was Jim's way of giving 
     back to the community.''
       And Rogers' work in education was not confined to Nevada.
       Rogers made the largest gift to a law school in history at 
     the time to the University of Arizona. Rogers graduated from 
     the law school in 1962. His son also went there and now the 
     school is named after him.
       ``This wasn't just a man who put his support and name on 
     the school. He actually cared,'' said Marc Miller, dean of 
     the James E. Rogers College of Law. ``He wanted to change the 
     world.''
       Miller said students loved Rogers, who frequently came to 
     give speeches and engage the community. He was always taking 
     students to lunch and coming up with ways to improve their 
     law school experience.
       ``Jim had no shortage of ideas. I wish I could have had 
     many more years of his friendship and council,'' Miller said. 
     ``We're all feeling it. Everyone here is in shock.''
       In addition to his philanthropic record, Rogers will also 
     be remembered as a media pioneer.
       ``Jim was a mercurial, fiery and passionate man who changed 
     the face of local television,'' politics reporter and TV 
     personality Jon Ralston wrote in an email. ``He didn't care 
     about ratings. He wanted his legacy to be providing as much 
     real news to viewers, no matter the cost. It was a bold and 
     visionary step.''
       ``I remember when he took me back to New York to meet with 
     NBC executives to inform them of his plan to turn KSNV into a 
     local version of CNN. They looked at him like he was crazy. 
     And you know what? He didn't care.''
       Ralston, whose show ``Ralston Reports'' airs on Channel 3, 
     said Rogers changed his life.
       ``(Rogers) quietly tried to woo me to come to KSNV for many 
     years before it happened. He gave me a statewide audience and 
     had confidence in me from the start,'' Ralston wrote. ``I 
     will never forget that. I will miss him.''
       A Las Vegas native, Rogers founded Valley Broadcasting Co. 
     in 1971 and won FCC approval to operate an NBC affiliate, 
     Channel 3, in 1979.
       He parlayed that into Sunbelt Communications, which grew 
     into 14 TV stations in five Mountain states, including three 
     in Nevada. Others were in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and 
     Arizona. Sunbelt's title was changed to Intermountain West 
     Communications Co. about five years ago.
       KSNV president and chief operating officer Lisa Poe-
     Howfield described Rogers as tough, unfiltered, kind and 
     charismatic.
       ``You always knew exactly where you stood with him, and I 
     appreciated that,'' she said.
       In January, the Review-Journal learned of a Channel 3 
     meeting in which Rogers revealed he was having another bout 
     with cancer.
       Rogers fought off bladder cancer about seven years ago, but 
     he said station employees would still have a job no matter 
     what happened.
       A Channel 3 insider who attended the meeting said Rogers 
     made it clear that when he ``goes, everything goes to (his 
     wife) Beverly, and when she goes, everything goes to the 
     colleges.''
       Poe-Howfield said she plans to keep working to fulfill 
     Rogers' wishes for the station.
       ``He has always wanted the station to be the station of 
     record for the people,'' she said. ``That was his vision, and 
     I plan to continue that.''
       Channel 3 will be airing special segments highlighting 
     Rogers' life each day this week, she said.
       ``As much as we thought we would be prepared, somewhere in 
     the back of my mind I thought if anyone could beat cancer, it 
     would be Jim,'' she said.
       Several prominent Nevadans issued statements Sunday that 
     highlight Rogers' philanthropy and charisma.
       U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he has 
     known Rogers for a long time.
       ``Jim and I were contemporaries while practicing law, and 
     what a terrific lawyer he was,'' Reid said. ``And his talents 
     were not limited to law. What he has done in the 
     communications world is record-setting, and not just in 
     Nevada but in the Western United States. What he has done in 
     education is superb.
       ``His philanthropic endeavors are unsurpassed in the state 
     of Nevada. He was my friend and his friendship to me I will 
     always remember.''
       Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, and Reps. Dina Titus and 
     Steven Horsford, both D-Nev., also expressed their 
     condolences in statements.
       ``With the passing of Jim Rogers, Nevada has lost one of 
     its most outspoken and fearless advocates,'' Sandoval said. 
     ``Jim was nationally recognized as a successful 
     philanthropist and business leader. In the state of Nevada, 
     he was so much more. Jim dedicated his time and resources to 
     advancing our education system and as chancellor of higher 
     education, was fierce in his commitment to make sure our 
     students had the resources they needed to succeed.''
       Horsford said Rogers had a huge impact on Nevada, and he 
     will be missed.
       Titus touched on Rogers' big personality.
       ``Jim Rogers had no fear,'' she said. ``His business 
     acumen, philanthropic generosity, and ferocious passion for 
     learning made him a true game changer. He started the 
     conversation, directed the dialogue, and produced results 
     that propelled Nevada, sometimes kicking and screaming, 
     toward a brighter future.''
       Former Nevada Gov. Bob Miller, a Democrat, praised Rogers 
     for his commitment to education.
       ``Jim Rogers was the exemplary role model for giving back 
     to the community,'' he said in a statement. ``His particular 
     passion and devotion to education, specifically his unmatched 
     generosity and resolute attention for higher education, is a 
     legacy that will be a challenge for us all to live up to.''
       ``We in Nevada have lost one of our most vocal leaders for 
     increasing education opportunities.''
       Funeral arrangements for Rogers have not been finalized as 
     of Sunday.

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