MAY 7, 2003

CULTURE
Gambling now: vice, virtue or both?

State by State
• The National Conference of State Legislatures offers a web page with links to 2003 state legislation and information on the type of lottery, gaming and statutes in each state.
• Thirty-four states are considering or considered gambling measure this spring. To find the status in your state, consult stateline.org, which posts articles on legislative action. You can also narrow the search to find stories in your state by using the search engine at the bottom of the page.

IN THE NORTHEAST
• Robert Goodman is author of The Luck Business (Free Press Paperbacks, 1996) about gambling in the United States and a professor at Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass. Contact 413-559-5359, rogHA@hampshire.edu.
• The Granite State Coalition Against Expanded Gambling works in New Hampshire. Contact Jim Rubens, 603-643-6059, JimRubens@aol.com.
• The Connecticut Alliance is a statewide nonprofit that fights casino expansion.
• On April 1, 2003, the Rhode Island Special House Commission to Study Gaming issued its final report, which reommends that voters decide in a November 2003 referendum whether a destination casino should be developed.
• In Vermont, only non-profit organizations can operate games of chance and all proceeds must go to charity. See the state law.

IN THE EAST
• Read a March 10, 2003, Washington Post story about religious leaders lining up against Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s plan to legalize slot machines.
• Robert W. Tuttle, professor at Georgetown University Law School authored the 1998 guide "Gambling: A Study for Congregations" used by 11,000 congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He is on the board of the Division for Church in Society of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Contact 202-994-8163, rtuttle@main.nlc.gwu.edu.
• The Bishop of Paterson, N.J., Frank Rodimer, has lamented Bingo addictions and talked about discouraging parishes from organizing trips to Atlantic City. Contact through Marianna Thompson, 973-278-3202.
• Richard C. Leone of New York is president of The Century Fund, a public policy think tank with offices in Manhattan and Washington, and he was a member of the nine-member National Gambling Commission. Leone is a chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, former state treasurer of New Jersey, and was president of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Contact 212-535-4441.
• The Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey Inc. takes a keen interest in gambling issues because of Atlantic City. Contact executive director Edward Looney, 609-588-5515 ext. 17. Deputy director Kevin O'Neill is at ext. 16.
• Jeff Benedict, author of Without Reservation: How A Controversial Indian Tribe Rose To Power And Built The World's Largest Casino (Harper Perennial, 2001), is president of the Connecticut Alliance Against Casino Expansion, a coalition of business, legislative, religious and citizen groups that is trying to halt state-sponsored gambling. Contact 860-625-6579 (cell), 866-666-3423 (office), or info@connecticutalliance.org.
• Kenneth Himes is a professor at Washington Theological Union and author of Responses to 101 Questions on Catholic Social Teaching (2001). Contact 202-541-5257, himes@wtu.edu.

IN THE SOUTHEAST
• Contact Brad McClennan, executive director the North Carolina Council on Problem Gambling, at 888-699-176, bradleyt@charter.net.
• The Salvation Army in Naples, Fla., gave David Rush back a check for $100,000 because he got the money by winning the Florida Lotto. Contact the Salvation Army at 941-775-9447. Read a Dec. 28, 2002, Naples Daily News story about it.

IN THE SOUTH
• Read a March 12, 2002, Associated Press story posted on the Cincinnati Enquirer's web site about how the Catholic Conference of Kentucky changed positions on gambling legislation because of apparent contradictions in its stance.
• Contact Citizens Against Gambling Expansion (CAGE), which includes members of the Kentucky Council of Churches and the Catholic Conference of Kentucky.
• The Catholic Conference of Kentucky's web site includes many articles opposing the expansion of gambling.
• The Alabama Policy Institute has fought against the expansion of gambling. Contact Kristin Landers at 205-870-9900, kristinl@alabamapolicy.org.
• John Giles is president of the Christian Coalition of Alabama, which combats gambling legislation. Contact 334-832-4688, CCA@ccbama.org.
• Larry L. Page is the executive director of the Arkansas Faith and Ethics Council, which provides local communities with resources to fight gambling and "other moral problems" and fights state legislation it deems amoral. Contact 501-228-0432, llp@afec.org.
• The American Family Association of New Orleans is an association of religious conservatives that are anti-gambling. Contact 504-551-9006.
• Dr. Jimmy Porter is the executive director of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board's Christian Action Commission which sponsors anti-gambling activities and curricula. Contact 601-968-3800.

IN THE MIDWEST
• University of Illinois economist John Kindt argues that legalized gambling exacts an economic cost to society roughly equal to the cost of drug abuse. Contact 217-333-6018, j-kindt@uiuc.edu.
• William Schweiker is professor of theological ethics at the University of Chicago and author of Responsibility and Christian Ethics (1995) and Power, Value and Conviction: Theological Ethics in the Postmodern Age (1998). Contact 773-702-8246, w-schweiker@uchicago.edu.
• Glenn Thompson is first vice chairman of Stand Up For Kansas and a member of the board of National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling. Contact 316-634-2674, Glennot@cox.net.
• Anita Bedell is director of Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems and a board member of National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling. Contact 217-546-6871, abedell@Springnet1.com.
• Peggy Eshelman is formation and social justice coordinator for the Missouri Area of the United Methodist Church. She helped organize a 2002 statement by a diverse group of religious leaders opposing the expansion of gambling in Missouri. Contact 660-885-8705.
• The Rev. John D. Wolf is coordinator of the Indiana Coalition Against Legalized Gambling. Contact 219-462-4851, JWolf18046@aol.com.
• Vernon Bergstrom, a retired Hennepin County, Minnesota, prosecutor, is founder and chair of the board of Minnesotans Against Gambling. In 1997 he authored a resolution calling for a study of gambling by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and was a national consultant for the study. Contact 612-866-4241.
• The Rev. John Palmer of First Assembly of God Church in Des Moines, was vice chairman of Save Our State, a coalition of Iowa religious and other leaders organized to support a November 2002 referendum to close casino gambling in 10 counties. Contact 515-279-9766.
• Family First is a Nebraska nonprofit research and education organization associated with Dr. James Dobson's Focus on the Family. See summaries of anti-gambling articles and research posted by the organization. Contact communications director Jessica Moenning, 402-435-3210.
• Gambling With the Good Life opposes expanded gambling in Nebraska. Contact executive director Pat Loontjer, 402-551-2776, ploontjer@aol.com.
• Proponents of a constitutional amendment that would have promoted casino development in North Dakota said it could encourage tourism and provide more cultural and social opportunities, but critics doubted the predictions. See a Feb. 27, 2003, Associated Press article posted by the Gamble Tribune. The amendment was defeated in the state's House. Read North Dakota Public Radio's March 11, 2003, account of the vote.
• Ohio Roundtable is a nonprofit, nonpartisan education and research organization dedicated to restoring traditional principles to public policy. See a timeline on the state's treatment of gambling and read news releases and articles posted on its web site.
• The West Virginia Family Foundation expresses concern about the expansion of gambling in the state. Find a list of "pro-family contacts" throughout the state.
• The Wisconsin Council of Churches calls gambling a burden to society and opposes governmental sponsoring of organized gambling in any form. Contact executive director Scott Anderson, 608-837-3108, sanderson@wichurches.org.

IN THE SOUTHWEST
• Len Munsil is president and general counsel for the Center for Arizona Policy, a non-profit research and education organization in Scottsdale, Ariz.. CAP has supported anti-gambling bills in Arizona that increased the minimum age for gambling to 21, placed restrictions on Indian gambling compacts and reformed the state lottery. Contact 480-922-3101, len@azpolicy.org.
• Weston W. Ware is head of Texans Against Gambling, a statewide anti-gambling coalition based in Dallas. Ware also is a member of the board of directors for the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling. Contact 214-828-5190, ware@ncalg.org.
• Christopher Ellison is professor of sociology at the University of Texas in Austin and has written about Conservative Protestants' opposition to state-run lotteries. Contact 512-471-1122, cellison@jeeves.la.utexas.edu.
• Guy C. Clark is chairman of the New Mexico Coalition Against Gambling, which was formed in 1986 when people from several churches worried about lottery legislation organized to oppose gambling expansion. The coalition has lobbied the legislature, fought ballot initiatives and taken several gambling acts to state and federal court. Clark also is a member of the board of directors for the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling. Contact 505-898-8011, guy@clarkdds.com, guy@ncalg.org.
• William S. Evans is public affairs director of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Salt Lake City. The LDS has worked with many anti-gambling coalitions in various states. Evans also is a member of the board of directors for the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling. Contact 800-453-3860, ext. 3813, evansws@ldschurch.org.

IN THE WEST/NORTHWEST
• Read a report by the California State Research Commission of the California State Library on gambling in California. Although dated (1997), it gives a thorough history of gambling in the United States, describing the casino industry, Indian gaming, charitable games, the economic impacts of gambling, why people gamble and why they gamble too much.
• Contact the California Council on Problem Gambling, 760-320-0234.
• The Chinese Health Coalition in San Francisco works to help problem gamblers. It released a study in 1997 showing that 70 percent of local Chinese-Americans thought gambling was a problem in that community. Contact 415-788-6426.
• San Jose has one of the most sophisticated gaming control ordinances and municipal enforcement agencies in the country, with a separate police department gaming division, headed by Richard Teng. Contact Teng at 408-794-1474 or ask for San Jose Police Department Gaming Division commanding officer Sgt. Danny Acosta, 408-794-1478.
• San Jose Vice Mayor Pat Dando has been an outspoken critic of the city's two card rooms. Contact press aide Erik Schoennauer, 408-277-5251.
• Contact Michael Palmer, J.K. Sasaki or Arlo Smith - members of the California Gambling Control Commission at 916-263-0700.
• Nelson Rose is a professor at Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, Calif., and an expert on gambling laws. Contact rose@sprintmail.com.
• See a list of tribal casinos and contact information in California. Find any casino in California.
• Spectrum Gaming Group is an independent consultancy with offices in Nevada and New Jersey. It does research for casino owners, operators and developers, helps in license applications, and performs due diligence and suitability investigations for gaming vendors and suppliers. Contact managing director Fredric E. Gushin, who previously worked in gambling enforcement for the State of New Jersey, 609-818-0628.
• Nevada is known in the gambling enforcement world as having one of the best systems of regulation. Contact the Nevada Gaming Commission and State Gaming Control Board, 702-486-2000. The commission makes recommendations and the board, appointed by the governor, accepts or rejects them.
• Contact William Thompson, professor of public administration at the University of Nevada, a nationally recognized expert on gambling and public administration and Native American gaming. Contact 702-895-3319, wthompsn@ccmail.nevada.edu.
• Contact David G. Schwartz, coordinator of the Gaming Studies Research Center at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who can talk about gaming history, casino industry history and current issues, 702-895-2242, dgs@unlv.edu.
• Las Vegas attorney and former Nevada deputy attorney general Chuck Gardner is a critic of Nevada's vaunted regulation of gambling. Contact 702-382-9221.
• Contact Washington gambling commissioners George Orr (chair), Elizabeth McLaughlin (vice chair), Curtis Ludwig, Alan Parker, and Janice Niemi, 360-486-3447.
• Contact the Council on Problem Gambling for Washington, Alaska and Idaho, 800-547-6133.
• Contact psychologist Charles Maurer, a clinical specialist in private practice in the Seattle area who is active with the National Council on Problem Gambling, 206-517-8582.
• Contact Gary Knopp, director of the Montana Council on Problem Gambling, 406-256-1848.
• See a synopsis of Montana Gambling: Hold it or Fold it, a documentary film project of University of Montana's Broadcast Journalism and Radio-Television students, including history and economic effects of gambling in Montana.