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Norwegian officials, IOC to assess failed Oslo bid

By WTOP Staff

STEPHEN WILSON
AP Sports Writer

LONDON (AP) — Norwegian Olympic officials will meet with IOC leaders in Switzerland this month to analyze the demise of Oslo’s bid for the 2022 Winter Games and explore ways of improving the bidding process to win back future candidates.

Inge Andersen, secretary general of the Norwegian Olympic Committee, told The Associated Press that he will travel with a small group to IOC headquarters in Lausanne later this month to dissect the factors that led to Oslo’s withdrawal last week.

Andersen said the decision was a “missed opportunity” for Norway but both sides earn lessons from the rejection of the bid by the Norwegian government.

“We will sit together and go through the experience that we had in Norway,” he said in a telephone interview. “We have to make everything more transparent and much easier to understand. It’s important to focus on how to reduce the cost of the management of the games, how to reduce the cost of bidding for the games and how to better communicate this.”

Oslo, which hosted the 1952 Winter Games, became the fourth city to pull out of the 2022 race after the Norwegian government declined to provide the necessary financial guarantees. Bids from Stockholm; Krakow, Poland; and Lviv Ukraine, were dropped previously. Before that, Switzerland and Germany abandoned proposed bids after they were rejected in referendums.

Oslo’s exit left only two candidates in contention: Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan. IOC President Thomas Bach ruled out any reopening of the bidding process. The host city will be chosen by the IOC on July 31, 2015, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Concerns over the cost of hosting the Olympics — fueled by the record $51 billion associated with the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi — played a key part in Norway’s rejection of the Oslo bid. But so, too, did Norwegian attitudes toward the IOC, particularly after the domestic media published IOC protocol manuals for host cities.

On the morning of the vote, Norway’s largest national daily newspaper, VG, published what it described as various IOC “demands,” including a meeting and cocktail reception with the king.

The IOC said the documents were “widely and often deliberately misreported” by the Norwegian media. The documents were guidelines — not demands — gathered from previous organizers and were “advice on how to improve the games experience for all,” the IOC said.

“The IOC has to clarify that all their manuals are not laws or demands, but that they are suggestions,” Andersen said. “That is a main point. That was one of the biggest misunderstandings in the process we had here in Norway when we are talking about image.”

Andersen said the contents of the manuals should be among the issues addressed in Bach’s “Olympic Agenda 2020,” his blueprint for the future of the Olympic movement. The package of reforms will be put to a vote at a special IOC assembly in Monaco in December.

“They have to build the manuals in a transparent, modern way,” Andersen said. “It’s important that each country will show their friendliness in a natural way without having detailed suggestions of how to do that.”

The IOC must also give weight to the environment, human rights, workers’ rights and other social and ethical issues in selecting host cities, Andersen said.

As part of Bach’s agenda, the IOC is looking at ways of reducing the cost of the games to attract interest from Western countries, where politicians and taxpayers have been put off by the Sochi experience. Sochi built virtually all of its facilities from scratch and most of the budget was spent on capital projects, not the operational costs of the games.

“The Sochi Games scared quite a lot of people in Norway,” Andersen said. “I think it’s important for the IOC to communicate what is the cost exactly for the games, for the sports facilities. In Sochi, they built a new city. For the future, it’s not important to build a new city for hosting a games.”

Andersen and Borre Rognlien, president of the Norwegian Olympic Committee, sent a letter to Bach this week saying they would “continue to be a positive and progressive partner for the Olympic movement in Norway and abroad.”

Although Oslo is out, Norway will be hosting the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in Lillehammer, the site of the 1994 Winter Games.

“It’s important,” Andersen said, “that we can show we can work together and bring an Olympic event back to the roots and we can do it with the budget that we have.”

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Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Don’t Settle for Student Loans to Pay for Online Education

By WTOP Staff
Online college programs are becoming a more popular choice for prospective students, with one study finding that more than 6 million students enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2015. The popularity of these courses can be attributed in part to their flexibility with working adults' schedules, students' ability to progress more quickly through online programs and, oftentimes, cheaper tuition. [See 10 low-cost online bachelor's programs for out-of-state students.]Online degrees can be beneficial to many college students, but some studies have shown online learners complete their programs at lower rates than students at traditional brick-and-mortar campuses. Individuals with student loans but no degree comprise two-thirds of defaulted borrowers. Though these numbers are not encouraging, just like for traditional programs, there are ways to reduce how much you'll need to borrow for an online program to ensure you won't become one of these statistics. Don't just settle on borrowing student loans to cover the whole cost of your program and living expenses. Instead, start thinking about how to cut costs and cover your balance in different ways, such as the following. -- Grants and scholarships: Even though you are taking an online course, you can still apply and receive grants and scholarships. But your first step should be to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly referred to as the FAFSA, which will allow you to receive a Pell Grant if your expected family contribution is low enough. The EFC criteria and award amounts are adjusted annually, but the 2017-2018 academic year awards range from $606 to $5,920, which could significantly lower the amount you borrow annually. Your next step is to apply for scholarships. You can start by checking online scholarship search engines, such as the Salt Scholarship Search, College Board's BigFuture and Peterson's. But don't forget to take advantage of local organizations and your school's financial aid office. Both may offer scholarships that you can't find with a national scholarship search. [Review these 10 sites to kick off your scholarship search.]For instance, organizations like the Elks Club, Knights of Columbus or the Rotary Club typically offer scholarships annually to local students. Just because you're going to school online doesn't mean you're ineligible. Visit your local library for scholarship listings, and ask around town. You might be surprised how many local organizations offer scholarships. While these scholarships typically aren't large, every little bit counts. Each dollar you receive in a scholarship is a dollar you don't have to borrow and pay interest on. -- Work-study: Another option for online students may be work-study awards. Not all students enrolled in online programs are eligible, but students at some schools -- including, for example, SUNY Empire State College and Liberty University -- are. Work-study awards are not given upfront like scholarships and grants. In most cases, they are an offer to earn up to the awarded amount if you secure an eligible work-study job. While there is a misconception that all work-study jobs must be on campus, students can work for off-campus, nonprofit or public employers as long as the work is in the public's interest. You may be able to work for a for-profit employer if the job is relevant to your course of study. No matter who the outside employer is, it will need to have an established agreement with your college for you to receive work-study funds. Remember, to be eligible for federal financial aid, you must be enrolled and pursuing a degree or certificate. If you're not working toward a credential, Pell Grants and work-study won't be option, but you may still be able to take advantage of private scholarships -- just be sure to read the eligibility criteria carefully. [Explore what to know about financial aid in online programs.]-- Pay as you go: One of the great benefits to enrolling online is the flexible schedule, which can allow you to complete your college coursework around your responsibilities. But prospective students often overlook using their part- or full-time job earnings as an option for paying for college. Almost 80 percent of college students in 2015 worked at least part time while attending classes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. By budgeting and thinking strategically about your college costs, you can likely reduce your dependence on student loans by paying a portion out of pocket. Many -- but not all -- online programs are less expensive than traditional programs and often have shorter payment periods. Six, eight or 10 weeks are common course durations. Because of the frequency of payments in an online setting, you may be well-placed to pay as you go and possibly avoid borrowing altogether. Attending college online and avoiding student loans may be challenging, but if you are willing to put in the effort, you can limit the amount you need to borrow. More from U.S. News Q&A: Understanding Student Loan Discharge Eligibility Student Loan Refinancing Isn't Right for All Borrowers
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