TUESDAY,FEB.19,2002
OLYMPICS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3B
New judging scale for skating proposed
SALT LAKE CITY — The 6.0 judging system in figure skating would be replaced by a points system in a revolutionary proposal by the president of the International Skating Union.
The Associated Press
The plan also calls for 14 judges, rather than the current nine, with seven of the scores thrown out. Judges wouldn't know which scores count, reducing the possibility of judging improprieties that have rocked the Salt Lake City Games.
Cinquanta presented his reform proposals to the ISU's council yesterday morning, and he said there was a "consensus" to approve them.
"This project that is a total revolution in the history of the International Skating Union," president Ottavio Cinquanta said. "But more importantly, I promise this system will reduce to a minimum the prospect of bloc judging."
However, the reform package must still be approved by the entire ISU, which will meet in June in Kyoto, Japan, for its biennial congress.
Figure skating's subjective judging system has long been criticized because it leaves room for improprieties. Skaters start with a base mark of 6.0, and deductions are taken for mistakes and missed elements. Skaters also can be marked down simply for the aesthetics of their programs.
The plan is in its very early stages, and Cinquanta said it was unclear how quickly it could be voted on or implemented.
Under Cinquanta's proposal, every technical element — including jumps, spins, footwork, spirals — would have a certain point value. A double axel, for example, could be worth two points and a more difficult jump, such as a triple, could be worth three.
Skaters would get points for those required elements, as well as for execution. The winner would then be determined by total points, similar to the way other subjective sports are scored, such as diving.
"The system change is terrific because instead of going down, we go up," Cinquanta said.
The proposals are radical. Skating has used
the same judging system since its inception, and a 6.0 — just like a 10.0 in gymnastics — is accepted universally as the mark of perfection.
But the scandal over the judging of the pairs final Feb. 11 is proof there's need for change, Cinquanta said.
"It is time to find out something new," Cinquanta said.
Cinquanta and "We are very proud of this, very proud to have tried to deliver a system for all of the sport."
Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze won the gold medal by the slimmest of margins, defeating Jamie Sale and David Pelletier 5-4. But French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne said the next day that she'd been pressured to put the Russians first, implicating her federation.
After an outlay — and accusations of voteswapping among ice skating judges — the ISU and International Olympic Committee awarded the Canadians their own gold medals. Le Gougne was suspended indefinitely.
Evening concerts liven up Olympics
The Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY — Mosh pits packed with undulating bodies. Athletes bodsurfing atop throbbing masses. Frenzied fans screaming at top pitch for big stars.
No, it's not the crowd at the ice dancing competition or, for that matter, snowboarding. The hottest ticket at these Winter Olympics is smack-dab in the middle of downtown Salt Lake City.
In a parking lot owned by the Mormon Church, in the land of Osmonds and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, 20,000 people a night are jamming to the likes of Smash Mouth, the Barenaked Ladies and the Foo Fighters
The nightly concerts at the Olympics Medals Plaza have turned the usually staid Olympics in usually conservative Salt Lake
City into a rockin' nucleus of fun.
"This is more excitement than Salt Lake City's ever seen and probably will ever see again," said Christopher Smart, managing editor of the alternative newspaper The Salt Lake City Weekly. "Even critics and curmudgeons like myself are feeling the excitement."
"We rock! We rock!" a 30-something screeched on one recent night as she pushed her way into a mosh pit filled with fans waving flags and jingling cowbells.
Nearby, a guy in a ski jacket with "America" emblazoned on the back performed a freakish fusion of the chicken dance and moonwalk, his girlfriend adopting that, "He's not with me" expression.
A toddler twirled to the beat next to a posse of teen-age girls in ponytails and baggy jeans. "Woo hoo! Girls night out!" they shrieked, erupting into a chorus of giggles.
It's still not the coolest scene around, but it's not bad for an organizing committee whose chief was amused to discover the Bare-naked Ladies "includes no ladies" and "are clothed."
Creative director Scott Givens gets credit for the idea. After seeing the medals plaza at the 1998 Nagano Games, which held 3,000 people and showcased traditional Japanese entertainers, Givens wanted to create something more "electric" for the site, where most medals are handed out.
medias are manned to land. He set out to land a lineup of bands that would appeal to an ever-edgier group of Winter Olympians sporting body-piercings and tattoos along with their skis, boards and skates.
he ended up with an all-star roster of rock, pop and alternative artists, with a couple of country singers thrown into the mix.
My name is David Yarnevich, and I am a jerk. Recently I said some extremely hurtful things to a woman whom I care very much for. I had assumed things that were not true, and that she felt things she did not. I wish I could take back the things I said, but I cannot change the past. I do not think she will ever feel towards me the way I do her, so the only thing I can hope for is forgiveness. If she is out there reading this, I want her to know that I know I was wrong, and I am sorry.
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Men's U.S. hockey off to strong Olympic start
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — John LeClair scored two goals and Brett Hull added another in the opening eight minutes of the second period as the United States beat Belarus 8-1 yesterday for its best Olympic start since 1980.
Mike Modano, reunited on a line with Hull, his former Dallas Stars teammate, also had two assists as the Americans finished 2-0
The Associated Press
Hull scored on a slap shot in the first minute of the period after Belarus goalie Andrei Mezin shut out the United States in the first period, then set up LeClair for two goals in less than five minutes — giving LeClair five goals in three games.
1 in round-robin pool play under coach Herb Brooks. The victory all but assured the U.S. team of a Wednesday quarterfinal game against Germany.
The United States led 3-1 after two periods, then piled on five goals in the third period — two each by Scott Young and Bill Guerin — to create a big advantage in any tiebreaking situation. Young and Guerin now have three goals each in the Americans' three Olympic games.
Winning the pool is a substantial advantage because it almost guarantees that a team will
Russia also could finish 2-0-1 in pool play, but, because goal differential is the first tiebreaker, it had to beat Finland by 12 goals last night to become the top-seeded team in the four-team bracket.
reach the semifinals. The top-seeded team plays the lowest-seeded team from the other four-team bracket, which is almost always a team that played its way into the final field of eight through a week of qualifying play.
eight of them. Mezin, who has played for five U.S. minor league teams, was remarkable in turning aside 15 first-period shots, but couldn't withstand the relentless pressure by the Americans, who finished with 48 shots.
U. S.AIR FORCE
Tom Barrasso, the third U.S. goalie to play in three games, gave up a goal in the first 20 seconds to Dmitry Pankov, and finished with 13 saves.
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15 saves. Belarus was the only team the United States beat while losing three of four games in the 1998 Nagano Olympics.
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Fifteenth Annual
James E. Seaver Lecture ON CONTINUING ISSUES IN WESTERN CIVILIZATION
A Modern Homer Writes Home: Derek Walcott's Vision of Returns in Omeros
GISELLE ANATOL
Assistant Professor of English Conger-Gabel Teaching Professor 2001-2004 The University of Kansas
February 19,2002
8:00 p.m.
Alderson Auditorium, Kansas Union
Reception following.Malott Room
Sponsored by the KU Humanities and Western Civilization Program