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Show The Salt Lake Tribune UTAH Sunday, July 6, 1997 Too Much Freedom?Bite on This Beaming Utah S Olympic Games to World Team Starting fight is a lesson about anything. Actually, the fight and all the money involved is a symbol of what this country standsfor: the freedom to engagein this type of sport, the freedom to participate by watchingit. 1 am amazed at the hypocrisy that is spewed forth regarding Mike Tyson’slittle indiscretion this week comes as a timely and, perhaps, necessary gory lesson for Americans. As we wave the flag and pat ourselves on the back for having had the good sense to be born or naturalized U.S, citizens, Tyson's hate-bite in the ring remindsus of at least two hard truths. Thefirst is that the higher the ideals (as individuals or as a nation), the greater the danger of hypocrisy. In print, on talk radio, online and on pub stools across the country, Americans have been telling each other how shocked they are by Tyson’s “barbaric” munching on Holyfield’s earlobe, Give me a break! Wecreate and sanction and reward a “sport” in which two men try, literally, to knock each other senseless, and wehavethe nerve to throw up our hands and be offended when one moves from punching, pummeling, and battering to biting? Duringtheyears,prize fighters routinely have been deafened, blinded and robbedof their mental powers by their “sport.” For each “champ” there are hundreds of poor chumps who dreamed of boxingas a ticket to fame andforr d it t- a aS Se ew ee 1 tune, but instead stumbled to crippling injury and poverty. And whohasfinancedall this? Whohas fattened the coffers so that Tyson (convicted rapist, lest weforget) will net $27 million for his nine minutes of battery? Who were those peoplesitting in the arena, watching on TV? They couldn't all be space aliens. Forthat matter, who demanded coverage of the Simpson trial-byboob-tube for month after month? Whoput the Newt and his fellow toads in power? Whoare building and buying ugly, ostentatious houses up one Utah mountainside and downthe other, come drought or high wateror environmental holocaust? A bit of folk wisdom cautions: “Be careful whatyou ask for. You may getit.” Despite its failings, our beautiful, scarred America still offers more people the chanceof getting what they want than any othernation. Perhapsit’s time to thinka lit- tle deeper about what we want. Elouise Bell is a Brigham Young University professor emeritus, this spectacle. Boxingis one of the last pure forms of sport that technology has not had a hand in improvingits outcome. Unlike goif that has the Saturday afternoon hackers stalking the aisles of golf shopsfor the latest Titanium, beryllium, helium, uranium, graphite, nephite, la. minite whatever in the hopes of hitting a little white ball straighterandfarther, boxing remains two men trying to punch each other's lights out. Within this sport there are rules of engagement and Tyson broke those rules, Thecries for a ban on boxing ring as hollow as those for a ban on war, Even war has rules of engagement. These rules make us feel morecivilized and the event moreacceptable,althoughit still is as brutal aslife itself. All the posturing about how boxing has caused irreparable ways challenged and accepted challenges to prove their might. Boxing is a pure metaphorfor life, Kill or be killed. Eat or be are programmed to conquer, from the board roomsto the battlefield, Few will acknowledge the rea- son that a heavyweight championship fight attracts so many viewers is because, secretly, most of us wish that we could be the baddest manon Earth, the most fearedindividual walking the streets Noneof us ever will experience whatit is to be the toughest guy on the block and we wantto watch as those whostrive to becomethat person goforit. Civilization will survive heavyweight championship fights. In fact, there will be another TysonHolyfield fight and it will attract twice as many viewers as the latest one. Nobody put a gunto anyone's head to cough up the pay- per-view fee. This is why America is great. Wearefree to choose. You want hypocrisy? Look at the state of Utah and thelatest Legislature that took the bold step of banningultimate fighting, even thoughit doesn’t here. If there is anything to fear, it's the mentality of legislators who presumeto know what's good for us and put the gun of law to our heads to conform to their view of what's acceptable and what's not. I fear theloss of our individual freedomsfar more than what can and will happen inside any boxing ring or ultimate fighting cage. The Fourth of July is a celebration of what's left of our eroding RESPONSE I fail to see how the Tyson-E Van Goghlefield championship BY TOM ZOELLNER ‘THE SALT LAKETRIBUNE He has drivenat least a million miles, burning tank after tank of gas, cruising the same roads again and again in daylight and darkness. Now, veteran Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Bob Flowers has traded his car for the chief's desk. Flowers,the new police chief of St. George,will be responsible for keeping the peace in Utah's fastest-growing city, where rambunetious spring-breakers, a few drug dealers and a small contingent of right-wing extremists are finding a home amid the palm trees and sandstone ridges. will enable people around the world to see and hear the 2002 Winter Olympics. Manolo Romero, the Olympic veteran who received an $82.6 million contract from the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) to set up the host-broadcast operation, has openedanof- fice ina building on 300S. Statein Salt Lake City. He has brought in Mary Rusz- nak, a television-industry lifer first exposed to the Olympicsin 1972 at Sapporo, Japan, to run theoffice and dothe abundantlogistical work necessaryto ease the operation's evolution into a com- pany with 1,500 full-time employ- ees by Games’ time. “We are starting to see what professional manpower is here from a broadcasting point-ofview. We need to know that right away,” Romero said recently, with the broadcast of next February’s Winter Olympics from Nagano, Japan, and preparing to run the whole show at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney. Romerohas pledgedto tap the local broadcast talent pool before bringing in outsiders to operate his company, International Sports Broadcasting. “You'd be amazed how many [job-seekers] will find us,” noted Rusznak, who will set up a database of resumes, separated into categories according to the spe- cialized skills possessed (or claimed) by applicants Romeroalready hashired two locals with known talent: Brian Douglas, a producer who will workwiththe creative aspects of handling the sports coverage; and Both worked with Romero in Atlanta and will be part of his Na- ganoteam. Both are excited about beaming the Gamesto the world from their hometurf. him jobs broadcasting sports of all kinds fromall over the world “This will be a tremendous project and‘a tremendous boon to the whole state,” he added. “People here really don't know yet how large the Olympicsare.” Douglas, director of broadcasting for the Utah Jazz at KJZZ-TV, will join Romero's team full-tim after the 1997-98 Jazz season. “I will be responsible for the various venues and working in conjunction with the Organizing Committee [SLOC]to portray the ber investigations division and re- start a disbanded interagency aged from patrolling Interstate 15, however, leaving the St. as technical assistants to the com- to suggest how best to cover snowboarding, which debuts there as who will describe the action to Romerowill returnto Salt Lake This job will require individuals whocanspeak any numberoffor. an Olympicsport City in August. Hewill introduce to SLOC the teamheis taking to Naganoandwill present master plan covering his organiz growthover the next two years Part of his goal is to establish by 1999, a specialized Olympics. mentators fromvarious countries viewers back in their homelands. eign languages. I started programlikethis 1982 for the Los Angeles Games,’ Romero noted. “I for broadcast types. The one she organized in Atlanta had a guest Her job is all a matter of de- tails, details, details “If it all goes well, no one knowsI exist,"’ said Rusznak, who will be a part-timer herself until after Nagano, whereshewill be production managerof freestylejumping coverage for CBS. Last week's tour for future employees included meetings with the SLOCstaff and stops at Olympie sporting venues. Special attention was paid this trip to Snowbasin Ski Area, which is in the pre-construction stage of an upgrade to host two premier Olympic events — the downhill and Super-G ski races. “Sometimes you can avoid problemsif you comeearly,” said Romero, citing the need to coordinate thinking with SLOC venue planner Jerry Andersonon things like the location of the broadcast compound and accessroutes. Seeing the terrain in the sum- meris valuable. This is the season, in 2000 and 2001, when miles of expensive cable will be installed to serve the two dozen Romerousesvisits like this to work with the International Ski Federation (which conducts the skiing competition itself) on the ground rules that will shape cov- erage of the event For instance, sincehis jobis to provide completecoverage of the finish line so every second can be leaves enough time between indi- Whatever happened to Lavon Chipman Cowley Miller? “I'm just an average, average girl who came from American Fork, Utah,” chuckled the 95-year-old Lavon Miller as she began this interview. In 1929, Lavon Chipman married a youngFBI agent named Sam Cowley, Lavon had gone to Los Ange 5 to assist her brother in his newly opened medical practice when she met Sam. It was loveat first sight and they were married in the St. George Temple. Five yearslater, Lavonsuddenly became a widow when her husband was killed in an FBI shoot-out with the notorious BabyFace Nelson. Sam Cowley, rising star in the FBI, had been sent to Chicago by J. Edgar Hoover to follow-up on theDillinger Case. Outside the little town of Elgin, Illinois, Mr. Cowley and his companion met Baby FaceNelson and his two partners in deadly gun fight Sam's partner waskilled first and then Sam went down with nortal wound, Baby Face Nelson died the next day from 17 bullet wounds. vidual racer's starts to allow his cameras to capture each one’s re The photograph above was taken shortly after Sam Cowley Jied_ Lavon raised her two boys and remained single for “Tf you want to do a good job — to see the face, eyes and emotions the next 29 years. Then she married Carlyle Miller from actions before and after the run. before the racer comes down — andthereactionatthe finish line youhaveto,” hesaid Romero also visited the top three candidates for the crosscountry skiing and biathlon venue — Wasatch Mountain State Park, Sherwood Hills and North Fork Park — andhas sharedhis obser- Richfield, Utah. Looking back over her life, Lavon recalls the enjoyment of singing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for 111 years and servingas President of the Alpha Chi Omega Sorority at the University Today she has seven grand children and 16 great-grand childrer Ir 1 to Highland Cove in 1987 I've enjoyed it to the itmost. It has everything here that I need vations with SLOC. “I always give myadvice. Of course, this advice helicopters flying over dilapidated neighborhoods with spotlights George stretch of Utah's busy north-south artery under the watchof state troopers. Flowers knows that highway dealers. He also encouraged his troopers to pay closer attention to the speeders they pulled over, to notice suspicious details about the vehicle and the driver. ‘The goal wasto spot drug mules and arrest more drivers wanted on outstanding warrants. meet list of 8,500. aglow. The UHP hired him back in Bob Flowers St. George police chief still people [in broadcasting] whosay they started with methen Flowers, 42, got his start in law gram, which helped the highway patrol take possession of cars and money used by convicted drug He now heads a department of They wouldfill positions such vations, He also expects Nagano field offices where mobile units police in 1978 andswitched to the Utah Highway Patrol shortly thereafter, He also spent two years patrolling the Los Angeles freeways on the graveyard shift and will never forget the sight of ter,’ " he said. “There are people 58 officers — a force that has more than doubled in the past decade as St. George's population has swelled. The police depart ployees for his company during the 2002 Games. enforcement with the Tooele city across the street is completed, out there whoif you give them an inch, they'll take a mile, We take a real hard stand onthelittle things because we don't want the big things happening.” City officers would be discour- hance coverage of events there. but he will wait until after Na ganotoconcentrateon thoseinno- getting moreintoinvestigations,” hesaid, still speaking in the pr sent tense about his old job, “We are looking at each stop as the be. ginning of aninvestigation.” job as commander of the south- west section of the Utah Highway Patrol to take the chief's job in late May, nology will be required to en- relatedtraining program with the state's universities. He hopes to train about 300 students,in fields related to broadcast communications, who can work as paid em- wrotetraffic tickets. Now, we’ there are laws that are going to be It's a town in transi. et ride — also was a focus of some attention. Romerosaid new tech Five years ago, the Highway Patrol was seenas an agency that went out for eight hours and enforced, You can't say, ‘King's X, laws don't count during Eas- the expanding population andthe is confidential.” Thenew bobsled/luge track — where his employees took a rock- will be based, set up a food-service system for the media broadcast center and, mostlikely, throw a partly of Olympic proportions filmed. If it is 1 minute and 45 seconds, Romero must make sure the International Ski Federation tion,” said Flowers, wholeft his diversity, arrange ting it out of here” has earned have,” said Olson, whose knowledgeof “creatinga signal andget- Flowers also is hoping to add two detectives to the eight-mem- “If you come here, understand and to for equipment, Games, Romero needs to know longit will take for skiers to descend from thestarting gate to the Hall in November when the new $2.3 million Police Building cers to ease up on misdemeanor enforcement tion systems to move people material, secure warehou store “I like the prospect of being home with my family more than I well. He served as lieutenant of the southwest section of the state — which includes Washington, Iron, Beaver and Millard counties — for more than six years, During thattime, he sharpened the UHP’s asset forfeiture pro- “Our No. 1 priority is meeting In addition, Rusznak will organize air- and ground-transporta- gather the information neededto ment will abandon its cramped norcitations to the kids, but Flowers said he will notallow his offi- add several hundred more) nical operationsat all competition venues, a job that entails determining how cameras, mobile units and personnel are deployed. quarters in the basement of City St. George police have been criticized for issuing too many mi- real-estate agents,” said Rusznak, whose job includes helping incoming employeesfind housing. Shealsowill look for biggeroffices to serve the company as it grows from 25 next year and 200 in 2001 and 1,500 a month before the Games (subcontractors will Chris Olson, an Orem resident whowill serveasdirector of tech- spirit of the Olympiesin an appropriate manner,” he said. “I live main drag and party. whowill move to Salt Lake City after Nagano. Many were here withtheir boss last week on agetacquaintedtrip They were out Sunday with cameras Romero expects to have along the race course. Tom Barberi is a talk show host on KALL-AM. week every spring to cruise the dozen other Romero associates ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE graphic look, hiring producers for warm southern Utahcity for one Olson and Douglas will be joined next year by more than a Slowly but purposefully, the organizationis being assembledthat freedoms. Ciao! drug task force in Washington County to combat the growing number of methamphetamine labs and cocaine shipments. But one thing that won't change under Flowers is the police handling of the annual influx of young revelers who come to the this magnitude is humbling.” BY MIKE GORRELL Ex-UHP Trooper Is Now St. George Police Chief New Boss Says He Won't Ease Up on Spring Break Revelers here and have a great amount of pride in the fact | ama Utahn. To be able to work on a project of To Form for Mammoth Task near the end of a weeklong stayin Salt Lake City. He is off again now, dealing with his other responsibilities, such as helping harmto individuals is a denial of what we are as humans. You have to go back further thanthe gladiators of Rometo see that men al- eaten (sorry Evander), Humans B3 1983 and he wassentto the southwest section in 1990. He has logged manysolitary hours on Utah's roads, gazing at the scenery and passing traffic. “It's very easy to become unfocused when you're out there by yourself,” he said. “You spend a lot of timethinking about life in general, You fight the boredom. 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