SUMMARY
I am going to write a story on the 2002 Olympics which are taking place in Salt Lake City, Utah. I will interview for information on how they are using security and what lengths they are going to, in order to fully protect the athletes. This story will be published in the main news section. In my opinion, it is a very good idea to have a whole bunch of national security instead of a certain amount. You can never be too careful in a situation like this.
WHAT I ALREADY KNOW
All I actually know about my topic is that generally the olympic committee is having a huge amount of security during the two weeks. I am planning to have interviews with members of the olympic committee and a couple of the police officers that are part of the winter olympic security. I also know that they are all worried about these games because something could happen. If there were to be another terrorist attack, it would obviously be during the olympics and this is why the security is so unbelievably tight.
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Sorry I don't have any information for you.
-Ben
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How much does the security work and you think it is a good idea to have a whole bunch of national security instead of a certain amount?
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SOURCES:
1)Salt Lake City resident
2)Lori Shaffer(parent)
3)Tamara Palmer-member of UTah Olympic Public Safety Command
QUESTIONS
1)How does the security work?
2)Is there a certain amout of national security? If so, how much?
3)What lengths are you going to, in order to fully protect the athletes?
4)How will these Olympics be different from the others?
5)What do you think about the security being used in Salt Lake? Would you change anything? If so, what?
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Interview #1:
(With Grant Marchant, Salt Lake City resident)
Q: "Do you feel safe with the security the committee is providing?"
A: "To an extent. I'm of course nervous but I believe that this security is indeed going to keep
All of us fully protected."
Q: "Would you change/add anything to the security procedures?"
A: "No, I wouldn't because I'm sure the committee has thought of every possible procedure
that can realistically protect us.
Q: "Do you think it's appropriate to have the Olympics in light of everything that's happened?"
A: "Yes, I do, because we need to unite and show that we are a strong nation that won't fall apart."
Q: "Do you have confidence in the police officers that they can keep the area safe?"
A: "Sure I do."
Interview #2:
(Lori Shaffer, parent)
Q: "Do you think it's a good idea to have the Olympics in light of everything that's happened?"
A: "Yes, because we need to show the world that the American spirit is strong and resilient."
Q: "Word is that they have a lot more security than usual. What do you think about that?"
A: "I think that's a good idea given that we have learned that there are some dangerous people who
have strong, negative feelings about America's success."
Q: "Do you have any ideas as to how they can fully protect the athletes?"
A: "I think that they should have police officers disguised as athletes, mingling in crowds, to keep an
eye on things. I also think that they should have an abundance of bomb-sniffing dogs in the crowds."
Q: "How do you think they can protect the food they're feeding the athletes?"
A: "Make sure that the food being eaten has been made only by approved businesses in secure locations."
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The extent to the Security for the
2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City
In light of everything that's happened with September 11, the Olympics will still take place in Salt Lake City. The terrorist attacks have enlightened the minds of the security to place a lot more security procedures in order to protect the athletes and the state of Utah.
To get current information and factual opinions, I interviewed Grant Marchant, a Salt Lake resident. He confidently stated that he feels safe to an extent. He said, "I'm nervous, who wouldn't be, but I believe that this security is indeed going to keep all of us fully protected." I'm sure there are many people who would add or change the security procedures that are being enforced. But Marchant isn't one of them. He says, "I wouldn't change anything because I'm sure the committee has thought of every possible procedure."
I had a very interesting interview with Tamara Palmer, a member of the Utah Olympic Public Safety Command. One interesting information piece everyone likes to know is how many public safety workers are needed for these Olympics. She says that there are "more than 6,000 law enforcement, fire, emergency medical/management, health, and public works professionals involved."
The necessary training has stayed the same for the public safety to receive to prepare for the Olympics. Palmer says, "The staff will be trained in event security, facilities, legal issues, public relations, and cultural sensitivity." It was quite noticeable how she said the phrase "cultural sensitivity." This is going to be a strong problem in these games because of the terrorist attacks.
I also had the opportunity to interview my mother, Lori Shaffer, to get her point of view of everything that's happening. She thinks it's a good idea to have the Olympics in light of everything that's happened because "we need to show the world that the American spirit is strong and resilient." She also thinks that it has been a very wise to tighten the security at the Olympics even more because, "we have learned that there are some dangerous people who have strong, negative feelings about America's success."
Shaffer also had strong suggestions about the security. She said, "I think that they should have police officers disguised as athletes, mingling in crowds and they should also have an abundance of bomb sniffing dogs." Another idea she came up with was that "they can protect the food they're feeding the athletes by making sure that the food being eaten has been made only by approved businesses in secure locations."
The topic of the Olympics and its security is very debatable. It is thought to be not such a good idea to have this event because of what's happened to our country. Sure, we can dramatically increase the security, but that could just motivate the terrorists to work even harder to get past the security guards. It's just not a good time and it would be very wise to hold them off until this war on terrorism has ended.
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