The IOC's 109th session, which starts tomorrow in Seoul,
South Korea, will be broadcast over closed-circuit TV into a
news-media working room making the "proceedings [available]
to public scrutiny for the first time," according to Mike
Gorrell of the SALT LAKE TRIBUNE. Meanwhile, SLOC CEO Mitt
Romney "outlined savings" of about $1M "that could be
realized" if some receptions and ceremonies for IOC members
in Salt Lake City are eliminated. Romney also wants IOC
members to pay their entire hotel bill during the 2002 Games
and use car pools instead of private cars. IOC Dir General
Francois Carrard: "We are very pleased to reduce. We don't
need parties, we don't need cocktails, we don't need dinners"
(SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 6/16). USA TODAY's Mike Dodd reports
that Romney said that $1M has been cut from the $3.5M
budgeted "for the care and feeding of the IOC, but more
reductions can be made." Australian Olympic Committee
President John Coates, on the food served in Sydney's VIP
lounges: "Certainly no lobster" (USA TODAY, 6/16). Romney,
on the cutbacks: "I wouldn't call these luxuries. We're
looking at plans for receptions and ceremonies we could
eliminate" (Lisa Riley Roche, DESERET NEWS, 6/16).
