COLUMN: Going for the gold?

From Andrew Exum's, "Perilous Orthodoxy, Fall '99 From Andrew Exum's, "Perilous Orthodoxy, Fall '99Ah, the Olympics. To many, they represent the best the world has to offer. Hundreds of nations, pushing politics aside, peacefully gathering in the common pursuit of athletic glory. Strippers? Yes, strippers. I forgot to mention the other Olympics -- the worldwide competition held every few years to land the Summer or Winter Olympiad in one's country or hometown. Over the past year, Olympic news hasn't centered around athletes or sporting events. Rather, all we've heard having to do with the Olympics has related to bribery scandals and shameful attempts to influence the International Olympic Committee's decisions over where the Olympics are to be held. In Atlanta's bid to win the 1996 Olympics, they treated IOC members to wild, bacchanalian nights on the town -- including strip clubs, shopping sprees and late-night boozing. The Atlanta Olympic Committee composed dossiers on every IOC member, noting personal quirks and interests. One dossier advised to provide "plenty of vodka and invite the wildest people you know, followed by a trip to the Gold Club after dinner." For those of you unfamiliar with Atlanta's seedy nightlife, the Gold Club is a downtown strip joint recently raided by the FBI on account of its connections to organized crime. The file on Prince Albert of Monaco read: "[Prince Albert] likes the good life: wine, women (some say men as well) and song.? [His] visit should be low-key with the press but an all-out orgy." Last I checked -- and please correct me if I'm wrong -- the orgy is definitely not an Olympic event, Winter or Summer. But Atlanta is hardly alone. Salt Lake City is also guilty of wooing IOC members with illicit gifts and favors. In the past, other cities and nations have also been suspected of similar misconduct. In the Salt Lake City affair, key leaders of the bid committee resigned their posts as more and more tales of sordid favoritism and gift-giving leaked out. The governor of Utah went so far as to label the scandal "a sinister and dark corner of corruption" in the Olympic movement. All of this is a shame, if you ask me. The Olympics should be an event we can take pride in, not some showcase handed out to the highest -- or most, um, creative -- bidder. In a world still rife with genocide, ethnic strife and worldwide poverty, the Olympics should be something in which the entire global community can take pride. So what is the IOC doing about all this vice and pandering? Well, for starters, it expelled 10 members for accepting illegal and/or inappropriate gifts. Second, pressured by an FBI investigation and worldwide outcries, it released a brand-new set of guidelines this weekend to ensure no further bribery and gift-giving occurs. The new regulations include: · Minimum standards established for cities wishing to host the Olympics. · National Olympic committees to be held responsible for the actions of bid committees. · Visits to potential host cities by members of the IOC declared to be "not necessary" and banned. In addition, the IOC added, "It is also not necessary for representatives of candidate cities, or third parties acting on their behalf, to visit IOC members." So will these new regulations work? Will they put a little more luster back on the tarnished Olympic rings? Only time will tell. Hopefully, these new initiatives represent a step in the right direction. Let's all pray they are. Let's hope the IOC has put an end to this mess. Because this world needs the Olympics. It needs an event in which all the people of the Earth come together -- if only for a moment -- to celebrate the human race and all our accomplishments. So do the right thing, IOC. The world is watching you.