A steel beam supporting the temporary roof over part of the
Georgia Tech Aquatic Center collapsed Monday shortly after it was
installed. Olympic officials are investigating the incident and
say the collapse shouldn't be a problem for the Games (ATLANTA
CONSTITUTION, 3/19)....UT Gov. Mike Leavitt and Salt Lake Mayor
Deedee Corradini have announced four new members of the SLOOC
Board of Trustees: Maria Garciaz, Alan Layton, Lillian Taylor and
Gerald Sherratt (DESERET NEWS, 3/18)....The Olympic Torch relay
and the role of sponsors in the event were examined in a front-
page story in Sunday's WASHINGTON POST. Thomas Heath notes Coca-
Cola paid $12M to be primary sponsor of the event. BMW is next
in line, spending more than $1M to supply cars and motorcycles.
Holiday Inn is providing 15,000 room nights for $1M. Others with
major spending or in-kind donations include: Sara Lee for
Champion sports wear; Motorola for radios, cell phones and
pagers; Delta for transportation; United Way through volunteers;
and IBM, BellSouth and Texaco (WASHINGTON POST, 3/17)....ACOG
organizers hope to borrow 1,450 buses from around the country
this summer, but a fleet of 55 buses from Houston has been
rejected because the buses contain advertising. ACOG noted it
must uphold a "clean venue" for Games sponsors (HOUSTON
CHRONICLE, 3/15)....As part of their Olympic sponsorship, "Wheel
of Fortune" will tape shows at Atlanta's Fox Theatre for three
days starting March 29. The shows will air April 22-26, April
29-May 3 and July 15-18. The set will be decorated with Olympic
images and prizes will come from Olympic sponsors (AP/WASHINGTON
POST, 3/16). ....Advertisers are paying a record $675M to buy air
time on NBC during the Games, according to the ATLANTA
CONSTITUTION. This number is up from the $500M the network
received from the '92 Games (Jeffrey Scott, ATLANTA CONSTITUTION,
3/15).
