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Show Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009 Page 2 World&Nation Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com ClarifyCorrect The policy of The Utah Statesman is to correct any error made as soon as possible. If you find something you would like clarified or find unfair, please contact the editor at statesmaneditor@aggiemail.usu.edu Chicago and Rio de Janeiro vie for 2016 olympics COPENHAGEN (AP) – Rio or Chicago? Risk vs. reliable. For the International Olympic Committee, the biggest decision in choosing the city to host the 2016 Games is what statement it wants to send the world. Does it make the bold, transformational choice of Rio de Janeiro, giving the Olympics to South America for NEW YORK (AP) – “Jon & Kate Plus 8” will soon be simply the first time? Or does it play it safe and head for the familiar shores of the “Kate Plus Eight.” United States and, perhaps, a more That’s the word from the TLC network, which announced lucrative games? “Policy wise, the IOC has to decide Tuesday that its if we’re ready to go to a new continent,” hit reality show longtime IOC member Dick Pound said is adapting to recently. “That’s the biggest paradigm changes in the shift. Is the time right?” Gosselin houseRio certainly thinks so. hold, which has The city didn’t even make the finals been disrupted Gosselin when it bid for the Olympics in 2004 by the split up and 2012. Now, however, Brazil has one of Kate and Jon. of the world’s largest economies and its The renamed “Kate Plus international stature is growing. South Eight,” continues to chronicle the lives of the Gosselin kids (5- America is also home to 400 million people, bid committee leader Carlos year-old sextuplets and 8-yearold twins) but will also focus on Arthur Nuzman said, a population that could ensure the Olympic movement’s Kate’s role as a single mother. legacy for generations to come. And, Rio leaders say, given any chance they get, it is time. When Rio traveled to Switzerland in June to present its bid to IOC members, New signs say anyone the highlight of its passionate appeal can be barred was a large map showing where all the SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Olympics have been held. Dots blan– New signs at the Mormon keted Europe, Asia and North America. church-owned downtown plaza The entire South American contiput users on notice: Anyone can nent was bare. be asked to leave for any reason. “The Olympic movement is a global The change follows a muchmovement, so it has to be global. It publicized incident this summer has to go to all the continents, all the where two men were cited for countries, all the areas of the world,” trespassing on the plaza after Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes said Tuesday. sharing a kiss. City prosecutors “We’re pretty emotional here at this did not pursue the charges, moment because we know it’s a very saying signs at the plaza didn’t important moment for a city that has a adequately warn the couple they lot to give. It’s going to change forever were entering private property. the Olympic movement.” Church spokesman Scott Trotter says the new signs include extra text at the suggestion of the Salt Lake City prosecutor’s office. The sign now says SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Opening the church reserves the right to Utah’s bars to the public this summer refuse access to anyone. didn’t result in an increase in alcohol sales. The Department of Alcoholic David Letterman, Sept. 28, Beverage Control said Tuesday that 2009 – Top 10 Tips For Being sales of full-strength beer, wine and Cool. liquor to bars declined 9.2 percent in July and August compared with the 10. Make sure you are born same period last year. handsome and rich. The decline in sales follows a 9. Drink Red Bull till your national trend of Americans spendliver vibrates. ing less on alcohol at bars and res8. Don’t juggle more than one taurants and more on alcohol that is bromance at the same time. consumed at home amid difficult eco7. Always stay up-to-date on nomic times. The DABC also reported your geopolitical affairs ... I’m Tuesday that alcohol consumption totally messing with you. in the state increased from 2.2 gal6. Lift with the legs, not the lons per person in the fiscal year that back – that’s good advice for ended June 30, up from 2.1 gallons the anyone. year before. 5. What does it matter? Swine The significant decline in alcohol flu is gonna kill us all. sales to bars largely came as a surprise 4. Eat a diet rich in riboflavin. following statewide celebrations and 3. Come up with a sick catchnational media blitzes marking the phrase like, “It’s Jenner time!” changes in Utah’s liquor laws. 2. Yo, just keep it straight cooOn July 1, a new state law went into lin’ on the smooth tip, son ... I effect eliminating the need for patrons actually have no idea with that to fill out an application and pay a fee means. for the right to enter bars, which were 1.If you are watching this at technically private clubs. home right now, you’re already The change was made in an effort screwed. to boost the state’s $7 billion a year Celebs&People NewsBriefs TOURISTS VISIT the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009. AP photo IOC members acknowledge there is large appeal in going somewhere new. That Rio’s plan is technically strong only strengthens its case, making it a slight favorite over Chicago ahead of Friday’s vote. Madrid and Tokyo both seem to have faded, done in largely by geography. Though the IOC doesn’t have an official continental rotation, European cities are hosting the 2012 and ‘14 games, while last year’s Beijing Olympics are still fresh in members’ minds. Of course, for all the handicapping, nothing is ever as certain as it seems. The vagaries of the IOC’s voting system make it that any of the four could go out in the first round, and ballrooms across the globe are littered with supposed favorites who didn’t win the ultimate prize. In fact, the key to victory often depends on picking up those second- and third-choice votes. The city receiving the fewest votes is eliminated after each round until one candidate has a majority. The vote is expected to go the maximum three rounds. And Rio is not without its drawbacks. Though the homicide rate in the city of 6 million dropped to 33 per 100,000 people last year from 39 per 100,000 the year before, that’s still well above Chicago, Madrid or Tokyo. Major highways, including one that links the international airport to the beaches, are periodically shut down by shootouts. Rio also has to convince the IOC that it can pay for $11 billion worth of infrastructure projects and complete them on time – on top of staging the World Cup just two years earlier. Hosting the world’s two largest sporting events back-to-back could prove to be a marketing challenge, with advertisers deciding they have the money for one or the other, not both. Then again, FIFA’s endorsement might be what’s needed to convince IOC members that now is the right time. “It’s a big, sophisticated international federation, so maybe that’s a signal,” Pound said. More like a loud alarm, Rio said. “It’s the absolute historical moment for our country, for our continent, for our state,” said Sergio Cabral, governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro. But what if it’s not? While Chicago doesn’t have the international flair of, say, Los Angeles, New York or even San Francisco, it is an American bid and those are the ultimate security blanket for the IOC. Utah bars bought less alcohol after going public LateNiteHumor tourism industry and make the state appear a little less odd to people and businesses considering moving here. Utah was the only state in the country that regulated its bars as private clubs. A separate membership, costing at least $4 for a temporary three week membership and $12 for an annual membership, was required for every private club. Some conservative lawmakers and morals groups in this heavily Mormon state had contended that the private club memberships were necessary to keep minors out of bars and reduce driving under the influence. They feared that allowing someone to walk into a bar without filling out a form once a year would lead to an explosion of alcohol consumption. “The Legislature was quite concerned in the beginning that if private clubs were to go away there would be an increase in consumption,” said DABC chairman Sam Granato. “The reverse happened.” While the DABC sold less alcohol to bars, it’s unclear how much alcohol was sold to bars overall. The state sells full-strength beer, wine and liquor to bars. Private distributors sell bars less alcoholic beers – those containing 3.2 percent alcohol by weight. That’s the only type of draft beer allowed in Utah and the only kind that can be sold to bars already chilled. It is also the only kind of beer available in grocery and convenience stores. In exchange for eliminating the private club system, bars must now scan the IDs of anyone who appears younger than 35 to make sure it is real. Bars are required to keep a record of information obtained from the scan – include name, age, sex and address – on file for seven days for use by law enforcement. Many bars have reported that they’re seeing more people come in to have one or two beers than they did in the past now that the private club system has been eliminated. In the past, it wasn’t uncommon to see tourists walk out of a bar once they learned it was for members only, although anyone could become a member. DABC officials also say bars have noticed an increase in food sales for the same reason. The Utah Hospitality Association, a trade group representing the state’s bar industry, said it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly why there’s been a decline in sales, but said that even if the economy was unscathed this summer the association wouldn’t have DAN STRAUB POURS beer from the eternal tap in St. Marys, Penn,, Wednesday, March 26, 2008. MC T campus photo. expected a significant increase in sales because of the law change. “The average person in Utah was underwhelmed by the change,” said association attorney Lisa Marcy. “You take away the incentive and all the sudden it’s not so fun anymore.” |