Interview to Kevim Holland

Interviewed by: Doménica Ordóñez, Daniela Guerrero, Martína Jiménez

Kevin Holland was a citizen of Georgia, Atlanta. He was in Atlanta when the Olympic games where hosted there.


1. Do you think the country/city is benefited by hosting the Olympics? Why or why not?

I think any country is benefited by hosting the Olympics. Hosting the Olympics is only an economic boon to a country, and since globalization is now an inevitability, a country needs events like the Olympics to make it a true player on the international scene. During the Olympics, all eyes are on the host country, and its cultural and unique socio-economic atmosphere become known throughout the world.

2. Which do you think is bigger, the investment or the income during the Olympics? Why?

I'm sure the income is bigger. The benefits of hosting the Olympics last much longer than the Olympics themselves. The Olympics always have some sort of historical remnant: hosting sites become tourist attractions, as I'm sure the swimming pools where Michael Phelps earned his record-breaking victories, and new hotels and businesses can crop up and thrive.

3. Have you ever been in a city that is hosting the Olympics? If you were how was it?

I live only 45 minutes by car outside Atlanta, and I remember when the city hosted the Olympics in 1996. I remember that the entire state of Georgia was greatly excited. You couldn't drive into Atlanta because there were so many people crowding into the city—people from all over the world. It was chaos in Atlanta, but it was pretty amazing to be in the center to the world.

4. Do you think it’s good to have lots of people going to the Olympics? Why or why not?

I think it's great. It brings money into the city—and an international flavor. If a diverse, multicultural world is humanity's desired future, then having cities all over the world host the Olympics is one positive step toward that goal. All countries come together for peaceful competition; it is a healthy, peaceful way for the world to exercise (and exorcise) international aggression.


5. Do the Olympics affect the daily life of the citizens of the hosting city? Why do you say that?

Certainly they do. But then again, whether these effects are positive or negative depends on the culture of the host city. For example, Atlanta is a city of cars; almost every person above the age of 16 owns his own car, partly because Atlanta promotes a kind of economic individualism and party because the city offers little public transportation. Traffic in Atlanta, then, was chaos in '96 when we hosted the Olympics; but the citizens, I'm sure, were okay with that, because the economic benefits to the city, the way wealth poured in and was distributed among the populace, more than made up for daily quibbles with auto congestion.


6. Do you think that by hosting the Olympics there is more chance to have a terrorist attack? Why or why not?
I don't really think so. In fact, I'm of the political persuasion that the Western world, especially the United States, has greatly overestimated the threat of Islamic fundamentalism, and now we're neglected real problems like environmental and economic crises. The Olympics come in, security increases, and the Olympic attendees are likely safer because of the international attention. The Olympics promote peace, and sure, there's always a danger of terrorism when a large international community gathers together; but that's a threat we live with in an open society—but it's a threat that, given the sparse activity of terrorist cells in the past nine years, isn't any greater than a threat from, say, a hurricane or a new strain of flu. And who's going to stop the Olympic games just because a few people in Cambodia are complaining of a hacking cough? These are just the risks you take.
Picture website:http://news.about-knowledge.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/winter-olympics-2010.jpg

The Disadvantages of Hosting the Olympics Editoral

Hosting the Olympics is a very important issue to the city and country that hosts it. Hosting the games is a huge responsibility for the city because of many things. For example, it’s a huge risk because the country invests a lot of money in the games but they don’t know if many people are going to come, so they are risking funds without a back-up plan if people don’t come to the games. It will also affect the population of the city for about a month or two because if lots of people go, the city would be very crowded which creates lots of traffic and disrupts the daily life of the citizens. For that and more reasons hosting the Olympics has a great reason to think about if the risks are worth it.
Everything has to be almost perfect for the country to host the Olympics. The street has to be in good shape and clean. The stadiums have to be neat. The hotels have to have enough reservations for all the people that are coming… But this is not that easy to accomplish. The money from the tourists that is coming is not enough to support all the money wasted in this features. In the economic part of the problem, the country invests a lot of money in keeping the city clean and well presented during the games. Also if any problem occurs, the country has to waste more money trying to fix it. The people that live there are also affected since the prices at stores go up. Besides the money, the city gets polluted and traffic increases. This is terrible for the citizens since some of them lose their job by getting late all the days that the tourists come to see the Olympics. In the security part, the policeman and army has to be prepared since any there can be any hooligan or terrorist attack during the games. Is not easy at all to host the Olympics.
Hosting the Olympics is not always profitable for the cities. They often lose more money that what they gain. They lose a lot of money on building athletic facilities, compaining for the games, providing security and constructing new transportation networks. To get this amount of money they put more taxes, hurting the people and the city. Also the Olympics are more about nationalistic one-upsmanship between the largest and richest countries in the world than about global unity. That´s why sometimes it can produce fights between the powerful cities.
We can conclude that hosting the Olympics can produce major disasters and most often it doesn’t give anything positive for the city that is hosting it. So if you think that it would be really good that your country hosts the Olympics think it well.



For further information about the topic visit these websites:

http://oudaily.com/news/2010/feb/22/point-counterpoint-olympic-games-are-misguided-was/

http://www.teachpe.com/gcse%20society/olympics.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic%20Games


By: Martina Jiménez; Doménica Ordoñez; Daniela Guerrero

picture website:http://dvice.com/pics/olympic_bldngs_front.jpg

Advantages of Hosting the Olympics Editorial

The Olympic Games are one of the biggest international events of all. There are two Olympics: the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics, both of them give a great income to the country that host them this includes: increase of industries and business, encourages investments of infrastructures, influx of foreign visitors, job creation, and higher economic growth. This things are great benefits for the country.

Thew summer Olympics are more popular than the winter Olympics, making them a better income to the country of the summer one to the winter one. This is because more tourists come to the country making a boost of incomes. This tourists can stay on the country making new jobs. Plus the country stays popular with a permanent increase on tourism.

Another thing is the increase on industry and business making it better and making new places for new jobs. This places may cost money but they make more of an income on the years to come. It too encourages the making of the new buildings getting sponsors and more of the government.

By: Jose Daniel Duque and Sebastian Flores

picture webpage:http://www.yourwindycityguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/olympic-flag.jpg

Cons. Hosting the Olympics Summary

Hosting the Olympics is not always good. You have to spend a lot of money. Get profit out of it is hard. If a problem occurred, government have to spend money to fix it. Security has to be really good to control any hooligan or terrorist attack. Roads and communication systems must be excellent for the visitors. The entire country has to be in excellent conditions to attend the visitors and he athletes, and is not always easy to do that. Some countries don't have enough Monet to host.

To see more info. about the topic go to:
http://www.teachpe.com/gcse_society/olympics.php

By: Martina Jiménez

Hosting the Olympics is not profitable for the cities. They always lose more money that what they get. They lose a lot of money on building athletic facilities, compaining for the games, providing security and constructing new transportation networks. To get this amount of money they put more taxes, pouring the people and the city. Also the Olympics are more about nationalistic one-upsmanship between the largest and richest countries in the world than about global unity. That´s why sometimes it can produce fights between the powerful cities.


If you want to know more about this topic click in this link.
http://oudaily.com/news/2010/feb/22/point-counterpoint-olypic-games –are- misguided-was/


By: Doménica Ordoñez

picture website:http://www.ptgustan.com/mar08/olympics1.jpg

The Olympic Games Summary

The Olympic Games are held every two years alternating summer winter seasons. The Olympic Games started in the city of Greece called Olympia which then extended worldwide. The IOC which stands for the International Olympic Committee has had to make many adjustments to the games because of all the social situations. There are over 13,000 athletes that come from the entire world that compete in 33 different sports. The evolution of the games has made almost every country in the world have a representative competing every Olympics. The Olympic Games are a wonderful opportunity for athletes to be known internationally and also it helps promote the hosting city and country.




If you like to now more about the topic click on the following link.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic%20Games


By: Daniela Guerrero

picture webpage:http://blogs.nyu.edu/blogs/gc69/stdin/olympics.gif

Pros. of Hosting the Olympics Summary

The Olympic games is a big international event in which thousands of athletes go to win the gold medal in various games, like athleticism, swimming, diving or even water polo. Each 4 years the hosting of the Olympics is selected in one country in the world. Hosting the Olympics has some pros, like that the country can increment its popularity, and it's economy can increment with all the tourism and and the winnings of the stadiums.
Hosting the Olympics can bring the country a lot of tourism and a lot famous people. And help the country develop more and more in national or international events.

If you want to see and learn more about the Hosting of the Olympics click in the link below
http://allaboutcities.ca/hosting-the-olympics-and-economic-development-reality-check/


By: Sebastian Flores

picture website:http://carolynthomas.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/olympics-money1.jpg

The Olympic games are one of the biggest international events which hundreds of thousands of people attend to every 4 years. The games include: running, swimming, athletes, diving, etc. It is a big privilege to host them, and can bring big benefits to the country. The benefits may include: increase on industries and business, encourages investments on infrastructure, influx of foreign visitors, job creation, and higher economic growth. In this blog we will tell you better the pros of hosting the Olympic games.

If you want some information about the benefits go to: http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/sport/costs-and-benefits-of-the-olympics/

picture website:http://www.sportsbizasia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Olympic-game-F.jpg

By: José Daniel Duque