Winter Olympics
Story ideas for the Salt Lake City Games
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Note: The Winter Olympics will be Feb. 8-24.
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A successful terrorist attack is unlikely at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, according to Robert W. White, professor of sociology at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis and an expert on terrorism. "It is very unlikely that there would be a successful terrorist attack like the events of Sept. 11 for a couple of reasons," explained White, who has nearly 20 years of research experience in political violence, terrorism and social movements. "First, it would be very difficult to pull it off organizationally, and second, there will be such a heightened security awareness at the Olympics. The security staff will be huge, and they will do their job effectively," he said. White believes it is unlikely that supporters of Osama bin Laden or Al Qaeda will attempt any attacks to retaliate for U.S. actions in Afghanistan. "Salt Lake City is a long way from New York, and Utah is not a location where Middle East terrorists would feel comfortable," he said.
Media contact: Robert White, 317-274-8305, spike@iupui.edu
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Sophisticated surveillance equipment at the Winter Olympics means many athletes and spectators at Salt Lake City will not even be aware that they are under intense scrutiny, according to William Head, IU assistant professor of criminal justice and a consultant on anti-terrorist security. "The use of new technology methods, such as the face-scanning software used at the last Super Bowl and bomb-sniffing dogs and machines, certainly helps increase security at events like the Olympics," Head explained. Law enforcement typically uses different layers of security in an effort to create a safe environment, he said. Some measures will be used for crowd control and others to monitor a crowd or search for potential trouble-makers. Head said the relative isolation of Utah will help with security. "Access to the site is always a major consideration in security circles, and clearly the limited number of roads into the area is a big advantage. It will be much easier to control entrance and exit from the site in Utah than in Atlanta or Los Angeles," he said. With fewer Middle East participants in the winter games, the likelihood of an incident involving Middle East terrorists is reduced. "Because of a more homogeneous crowd, in terms of demographics, the likelihood of a terrorist act by a German, Italian or Irish group actually increases," he said. He added that the people attending the games probably will expect increased security measures because of Sept. 11. "The public is more accepting of heightened security, and in fact may actually expect a greater law enforcement presence as a way of ensuring greater peace of mind," he noted.
Media contact: William Head, 812-855-6434, bhead@indiana.edu
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Fan expectations at the Winter Olympics will increase for Americans because the games are scheduled in the United States, and the events of Sept. 11 will probably result in more signs of American patriotism and flag displays, said IU social psychologist Edward Hirt. Hirt's research interests include how a fan's self-esteem rises or falls with his or her team's winning or losing, as well as the issues facing sports fans. He said that because the United States is the host country, most American fans will be eager for a strong performance by the home team, but this situation is balanced against the reality that U.S. teams lack a history of strong performances in winter sports. "For many smaller nations, Olympic success becomes much more of a national issue than in this country. With many of the medals in skiing events going to these smaller countries, for example, it shows that athletes from countries such as Austria, Norway and Switzerland can compete with the big boys," he said. Issues such as national pride and longstanding rivalries also affect fans. "The United States used to have that when competing with the Soviet Union. Look what happened when we won the gold medal in ice hockey at Lake Placid. More recently, the United States has not had this same kind of rivalry with other countries, which may affect the level of enthusiasm for the Olympics," he said.
Media contact: Edward Hirt, 812-855-4815, ehirt@indiana.edu
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Ambush marketing at the Olympics is a significant problem for the organizers of the games, according to Thomas Bowers, co-director of the Sports and Entertainment Academy in IU's Kelley School of Business. "Ambush marketing is when non-sponsors try to profit from the Olympics by indirectly suggesting a connection with the Olympics or conducting sports- related activities close to Olympic venues," Bowers explained. Though the practice may not be illegal, he said it causes headaches at every Olympics for the organizing committee. "The sponsors at the Olympics pay huge sums of money for the privilege of marketing their products and services in connection with the Olympics. These sponsors want their contract rights protected," said Bowers, who teaches and researches the law and business of sports and entertainment.
Media contact: Thomas Bowers, 812-855-9308, bowers@indiana.edu
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In terms of gender fairness, Olympic television coverage leaves a lot to be desired, according to an IU professor who has published several books on television programming and marketing. "In the last two Olympics, the hosts made every effort to balance their comments by referring equally to women's and men's events. But when the microphones and cameras switched to venue reporters, embedded biases in favor of male athletes and men's sports became quite evident," said Susan Tyler Eastman, IU professor of telecommunications. Eastman has studied gender and racial issues in television coverage of the Olympics for 14 years as part of her research and teaching interests in television programming. She regularly offers a course about the impact of sports on television (and television on sports) that includes discussions about the behavior of Olympic announcers at the summer and winter games. She also has published several studies about the impact of on-air promotion for other programs that is inserted into Olympic coverage.
Media contact: Susan Tyler Eastman, 812-332-2996, eastman@indiana.edu
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Olympic history has been a significant research area for IU professor John Findling for several years. Findling, professor of history at the IU Southeast campus in New Albany, is co-editor of Historical Dictionary of the Modern Olympic Movement, first published in 1996, and he is currently working on a second edition of the book. He has written several articles over the years on individual Olympians and wrote a national newspaper column in conjunction with the 1998 Winter Olympics in Japan. He teaches a course on sports history that involves the history of the Olympics. He is a member of the North American Society for Sport History, the International Society of Olympic Historians and the International Society for the History of Physical Education and Sport.
Media contact: John Findling, 812-941-2371, jfindlin@ius.edu
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The economic impact of the Olympic Games can transcend the event itself, according to Lawrence Davidson, professor of business economics and public policy in IU's Kelley School of Business. While they have not yet studied an Olympics, Davidson and Bruce Jaffee, associate dean of the Kelley School, have done several economic impact studies of other major sporting events, including the Pan American Games, the Brickyard 400, the Indianapolis 500 and the Final Four of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Davidson said most people are aware of the huge economic impact of the Olympics because of the global audience, but there also are significant long-term impacts that frequently are overlooked until the Games conclude. "The Olympics make people aware of your country and what's there. It's a way to make a statement to the world that your community is a destination," he said.
Media contacts: Lawrence Davidson, 812-855-2773, davidso@indiana.edu and Bruce Jaffee, 812-855-8796, jaffee@indiana.edu
