Contact: Kay Fike Jones
National and local impacts of casino gambling are examined in a recently published book co-edited by a Mississippi State University researcher.
Klaus Meyer-Arendt said "Casino Gambling in America: Origins, Trends and Impacts" is designed to provide a balanced analysis that can aid government policymakers and others.
Meyer-Arendt penned the introduction and wrote a chapter examining the industry's impact on the state. Its title: "Casino Gaming in Mississippi: Location, Location, Location."
Published by Cognizant Communication Corp. of New York, the book is part of a new series on tourism dynamics. Rudi Hartmann, a tourism geography professor at the University of Colorado at Denver, shared editing duties with Meyer-Arendt.
"Rudi's interest is in mountain tourism and I have been studying the effects of tourism on the coast, so we began looking at gambling issues," the MSU geosciences professor said. "We wanted to put a book together that presented a balanced view between those opposed to casino gambling and its advocates."
The 270-page report features contributors ranging from geographers to economists to sociologists.
He considers the work a "source book for community and tourism development, for public policy and educating the public" on the issues of gambling and casino development. It also will be used in college-level courses that address tourism development and public policy, as well as community and economic development.
A member of the MSU faculty since 1987, Meyer-Arendt holds master's and doctoral degrees from Louisiana State University.