| Show r f Political Bull BullY by Y r f s rl jr S Christian v Cf s r Everybody wants a piece of the action With the Winter r Olympics les less than 70 75 days from Utah away spectators and around the globe are x seizing any number of opportunities to profit from the Games And rightfully so after all it is the I. I American way isn't it This sp special cial time in our history proves to be profitable for forus forus us and I for one am pretty k l stoked about what the Games have given us f We have already begun to reap the rewards of hosting the Olympics in fact its been going on for some time now We have havea a brand new free freeway ay built primarily with federal funds whose granting surely were r G influenced influenced to some d degree gree greeby by the fact we secured the i G Games mes The same is true of partially funded by federal transportation money The construction of these two projects alone I provided well paying jobs jabs for Utah citizens and revenue revenue revenue rev rev- for Construction tion com- com f panics The benefits of our improved transportation I- I system certainly outweigh the frustrations endured during construction Construction has y not been limited to transportation transportation trans- trans f we have haye several I new venues along the Wasatch Front as well I doubt the E Center would V have been built if it were f not for the Olympics The 4 new speed skating arena may be the fastest in operation and will certainly lure future speed skating competitions long after the Games are merely a memory memory mem- mem it ory The Utah Winter I a. Sports Park ark is a proven M example of a venue that I I t w i will continue to benefit winter winter winter win- win ter athletics with an exceptional exceptional r place to train and compete j International Sports f f Broadcasting is giving giving giving ing and other Utah I college students the opportunity opportunity opportunity to gain valuable r I experience and a handI handa handsome handsome hand- hand a some paycheck while covering covering coyt cov- cov I t t t ering the Olympics h provides all the video feeds to networks throughout the world Its It's a avery avery avery very real possibility the gold medal bobsled run you watch on NBC may be filmed by someone you know Certainly the coming coming coming com com- ing games have created a fair amount of controversy and not everyone is going to profit from them We will remember for a long time timeto to come the bribery scandal scandal scandal scan scan- dal tarnishing the image of not only the Olympic Organizations but the image of our great state as well Mayor Rocky Anderson and the gang at City Hall may have taken the money grabbing too far when they passed an ordinance ordinance ordinance nance changing the business business business busi busi- ness license fee from 70 to for people who wish to do db business during the Games Our precious ski industry will take a hit as well The thoughts of dealing dealing deal deal- ing with huge crowds will keep many tourists away from Utah this winter Park City Mountain R Resort sort is projecting up to a 40 percent percent per percent per per- cent decline in business for 2001 But even in this situation still reap b benefits this this' season students students students stu stu- stu- stu dents can get season passes pass pass- es for as low as 99 and Park City continues to promote promote promote pro pro- mote the Legacy program an opportunity for school- school age kids to learn how to ski or snowboard Yes everybody wants a piece of the action and to some degree we have all benefited from the coming Olympics While the fears of horrendous traffic and price gouging during the Games may have a degree of validity its it's only a week two-week period Two weeks is worth the positive effect the games have had on our state and the benefits we will continue contin contin- ue to enjoy lo long g after the crowds have left leftA |
