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WSU professors weigh in on 10-year anniversary of Olympics

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The Olympic rings adorn the Ice Sheet in Ogden, which hosted curling events during the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Ten years ago, when the 2002 Winter Olympic Games came to Salt Lake City, many news stories were published discussing winners of events, current happenings, sportsmanship stories, celebrity sightings and more.

Some of Weber State University’s very own professors were behind the media frenzy that took place that winter. Giving the public access to the events was their full-time job. Regardless of the position these professors held, this 10-year anniversary serves as a reminder of the hard work, dedication, commitment and success of those involved.

Alison Hess, now a communications professor at WSU, worked for the International Sports Broadcasting. Because the media was not allowed to film certain events, Hess assisted them in gaining access to event footage.

“It would be too much to have cameras from every international news station there to catch the event,” Hess said, “so the ISB would provide camera feed for every TV station in the world. It was basically responsible for all feeds to the Olympics.”

Former WSU professor Terri Reddout also worked for ISB that year as a senior liaison.

“I worked between the student workers and interns and the professionals,” Reddout said. “I worked sort of as their mediator.”

Reddout, who is now a professor at Central Washington University, said her job entailed not only those duties, but also controlling the media.

“I was basically a glorified bouncer,” Reddout said. “The media had certain areas they could be in, and if they wandered outside of those areas, I had to move them . . . in a very nice but firm way.”

While Reddout was busy clearing out media personnel who were in restricted areas, Hess was in charge of providing qualified journalists access to those areas. However, Hess said that because the Olympics were so huge, it was a somewhat difficult task.

“This was right after September 11,” she said. “Security was so tight. It was such a huge issue, and we had to be so careful. I helped provide passes that verified who every person who entered the Games was.”

Sheree Josephson, also a communications professor on campus, volunteered at Ogden’s Ice Sheet, which hosted curling events during the Games.

“It was a lot of fun,” Josephson said. “Just being able to see how a lot of things came to happen was a cool experience.”

The preparation of the Olympic Games had an important effect on these professors.

“There were many long hours working,” Hess said. “We would start around seven in the morning and wouldn’t stop until nine or 10 at night when the Olympic Village was closed.”

Because of the venue in which she worked, Josephson also worked several late nights.

“It was different for those who worked events like downhill skiing up at Snowbasin,” Josephson said. “Working at the ice sheet meant it’s as light as they wanted it to be, so we ended up staying very late most nights.”

Although working for the 2002 Olympics required time and effort, these women and many others worked together to create a successful event. The professors said there were many great moments and memories along the way.

“I did get to meet Katie Couric once,” Hess said. “That was pretty neat, but I think my favorite was the figure pair skating event . . . The Russians won by only a fraction of a point. The Canadians were so close, and there was just enough controversy that a double pair of gold medals were given. That’s something that had never happened before, and it’s an event I’ll never forget.”

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