Part one of term paper
Hell is expensive. This is my first thought as my plane lands in Las Vegas. The Luxor hotel's glass pyramid seems dangerously close to the runway's edge, as do its chocolate-and-gold sphinx and rows of shaved palms. I wonder if these rooms tremble when jets land. Behind the Luxor are mountains kissed by dust the hue of bone; to its left lies ...

Part two of term paper
... at night. The spoiled, chipped, or dangerous could be easily disguised. Yet here, in one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States, nighttime is the appropriate time "to enter." Exiting is another matter. According to a recent cover story in Time, Las Vegas has the highest per-capita suicide rate in the country. This coincides with its enormous expansion, yet the most talked-about suicides -- those of tourists leaping from hotel balconies after losing everything they had -- ar ...