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Editor in Chief:
Jessica Blanchard
Managing Editor:
Jeremy Lang
Editorial Editor:
Julie Lauderbaugh
Assistant Editorial Editor:
Jacquelyn Lewis
Monday, February 25,2002
Editorial
Curling, aerials,
skeleton — best
of the Olympics
Every four years, the Winter Olympic
Games delight and wow sports fans across
the world. The Games are only able to put
on a fixed number of events, and after
watching the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympics for
two straight weeks, the Emerald editorial board
voted* for the top five events we think should be
included in future Games.
* Disclaimer: Vote trading, bribery, intimidation
and hanging chads were not part of the editorial
board’s voting process.
Our top choice was a tie: figure skating and
curling. Figure skating is a popular favorite,
mainly because it combines artistry and athleti
cism in an entertaining way. Plus, audiences can
always count on figure skating for a good scan
| dal. From Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan,
to this year’s placement conspiracy — more
| popularly known as “Skategate,” or the “axel of
evil” — the sport keeps viewers engrossed as the
soap operas unfold.
Curling is simply fun to watch, and it presents
a peculiar intensity. The athletes slide their
“stones” down the ice as teammates rush in
front of it with push brooms, the stone handler
usually barking instructions the whole way.
Curling is an acquired taste, but this year’s com
petition has drawn more interest, if only from
those wondering what’s so exciting about stones
! and brooms on ice.
Skeleton was another notable sport, especial
ly since it debuted into the Salt Lake City
Olympics after a 54-year hiatus. We hope the
skeleton competition will continue in the future
— what other sport has humans sliding head
first, 2 inches away from a slick track of ice and
going upwards of 80 mph?
Half-pipe snowboarding was celebrated this
year, not only because four Americans took
medals, but because of the joy in watching the
talking heads on NBC try to incorporate snow
boarder lingo into the winner interviews.
Aerials was another sport where the athletes
faced certain death after launching themselves
more than 50 feet in the air, twisting and turning
and then landing on a steep hill. Although all of
the Olympic sports are infinitely dangerous, aeri
als are particularly exciting to watch because of
the apparent insanity of the athletes.
We hope the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino,
Italy, will be as exciting event-wise as the Salt
Lake City Games.
;i!£I
mm
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Editorial Board Members
Jessica Blanchard
editor in chief
Jeremy Lang
managing editor
Qaida Portillo
community representative
Juiie Lauderbaugh
editorial editor
Jacquelyn lewis
assistant editorial editor
LeonTovey
newsroom representative
De-commerdalizing the Olympic$
. -v w V\nV \ wA W
The Olympic Games came to a
close Sunday. The years of
planning, building, gath
ering money, training,
sacrificing and dreaming are
over after being displayed
for the world in a brief,
two-week showcase. I
used to wonder why
anyone would want to
devote his or her entire
life to becoming an
Olympian. It never
seemed worth it to me. I
certainly wouldn’t want to
spend every ounce of my
free time training and have
my coach and parents be the
center of my social life.
At least, that’s what I thought be
fore I traveled home to Utah a few
weekends ago. I had the opportunity
to attend the Feb. 15
Medals Ceremony
in Salt Lake City,
where I observed
the amazing looks
on the faces of the
medallists as they
watched their flags
being raised. With
the torch burning,
the crowd scream
ing and the national
anthems being
played, it was quite
a moment to be re
_ membered. I then
realized that to have
that moment, representing my country
with the world watching, would proba
bly make it all worth it.
But would it be worth the effort
when most of the attention is taken off
your achievement and concentrated on
some sort of Olympic scandal? Unfor
tunately, the word “scandal” seems to
be as popular in Olympic reporting as
the words “gold medallist.” And it’s '
not just a problem with athletes. Even
judges are in on the conspiracy. Is na
tional honor important enough that
Tara
Debenham
Columnist
judges would
work together
to make their re
spective countries
win? I think there’s
something else projecting
its influence here.
The Olympics have become a giant
means for making money. If you become
the gold medallist, you don’t just receive
the honor of being the best, you are also
offered thousands, or millions, of dol
lars from companies for advertising
campaigns and contracts with various
production shows. An Olympic winner
has the chance to become as well known
as the stars in Hollywood, and that’s un
fortunate. For some judges and athletes,
the love of the sport is just not enough —
it has to be about money.
Now the Olympic committee claims it
is going to change the judging process, at
least for the ice-skating competition. But
will this really prevent scandals in fu
ture Olympic Games? It is unfortunate
that of all the things the 2002 Winter
Olympics could be remembered for,
“Skategate” will be going down as one
of the top stories.
And such is the fate of capitalism,
right? Perhaps, but I
don’t think we should just
sit hack and accept it; things
can and ought to be reformed.
Governments could be more in
volved so that the Olympics would be
funded less by companies so athletes
could sign a contract promising not to
accept any offerings from advertising
agencies until a year or so after the
Olympics — giving the commotion sur
rounding winning enough time to sub
side. These are ideas that might be diffi
cult to implement, but that doesn’t
mean the ultimate goal can’t be reached.
Sadly enough, people don’t always
place a high value on their personal in
tegrity, but perhaps by reforming the
commercialization of the Olympics a
little, we could at least limit the bene
fits of sacrificing that integrity. With all
the time and energy put into making
the Olympics a memorable and world
wide “coming together,” they ought to
be remembered for the athletes’
achievements and not the risque be
havior behind the scenes.
E-mail columnist Tara Debenham
at taradebenham@dailyemerald.com. Her views
do not necessarily reflect those of the Emerald.
Pol! Results:
Every week, the Emerald prints the results of our online poll and the poll
Question tor next week. The poll can be accessed from the main page of
Redback about the pott questions and results.
Winter Olympics sc
What is your
Results: 84 total votes
■ French pairs figure skating judge/doubfe gold-medal controversy
in 2002—9.3 percent, or 8 votes
■ Apolo Anton Ohno's gold-medal loss to Australia’s Steven Bradbury
because oi a fail in 2002—? percent, or 6 votes
■ Canadian snowboarder Ross Rebagliati being stripped of thegold
medal in 1998—10.5 percent, or 9 votes
■ Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan debacle in 1994 —67.4 percent,
or 58 votes
» Don’t know—5.8 percent, or 5 votes
This week’s poll question: What is your favorite vice?
The choices*
W Drinking '
* , '' '
1
■ Online porn
■Comfort foods
■ Caffeine
■Don t know
%* \
IB Don’t care
_
_:
Letter to the editor
Police Commission seeks feedback
Thanks to the Emerald editorial board for printing a follow
up to the Community Policing Workshop held at the law
school Feb. 14. A few clarifications are needed though.
In both articles on Feb. 14 advancing the workshop and the
Feb. 18 commentary, the Police Commission and Eugene Po
lice Department were used interchangeably, when these are
two separate entities. The Police Commission is a group of 12
citizen volunteers to make recommendations to better align
police policies and resource priorities with community val
ues. The commission reports to the chief of police, city council
and city manager.
The Police Commission isn’t a public outreach service of
the police department, but is charged by city ordinance to help
increase communication between police and the communi
ty. That’s what the group was trying to do Feb. 14. Whether
Valentine’s Day or lack of student interest in police issues was
to blame for low attendance, I’m not sure. We were assured by
the few students who attended the workshop that given more
opportunities, the campus community would share its opin
ions and concerns about policing issues with the commission.
I invite those who had Valentine’s Day plans, or the many oth
er priorities that we all juggle, to take the time to fill out a com
munity policing feedback form electronically. Your input will
help the commission represent your interests when recommen
dations for the future direction of police services are developed.
The forms, and other information on the commission’s work, are
located at www.ci.eugene.or.us/policecomm/index.htm.
John H. Brown
Eugene Police Commission