Comic tackles issues of exploitation in cyberspace

Lisa Hrabluk
Province

Today’s children need to be Web smart and street smart because there are just as many dangers waiting for them online as there are outside their door.

Teaching children and teens to protect their personal information and to be careful about what they share online and with whom is key to keeping them safe.

However, blanket statements, such as “don’t talk to strangers,” won’t work for children and teens who are immersed in an interactive world, whether through social-networking sites, such as Club Penguin and Facebook, or involved in multiplayer online role-playing games, such as World of Warcraft and EVE Online.

“The social web is all about sharing information and making friends online,” said Cathy Wing, coexecutive director of the Media Awareness Network (www.media-awareness.ca), a pioneering Canadian non-profit organization that promotes media and Internet awareness.

“It’s important for adults to know what kind of socialization is happening. Kids don’t understand the power of a permanent record, something that can be seen by so many people in such a public way.”

About 94 per cent of young Canadians access the Internet from home and children as young as Grade 4 are exploring social roles, connecting to friends and developing social networks online, according to a 2005 Media Awareness Network study, Young Canadians in a Wired World.

Wing recommends parents talk

to their children about Web use, including establishing specific rules about Internet use and teaching children critical thinking about the information they view and exchange online.

“Rules make a big difference in kids’ behaviour even up to Grade 11,” said Wing, who said the network has paired up with Telus to offer Web-awareness seminars to its employees.

“We asked kids to articulate a positive online experience and the statement ‘my parents would approve of this site’ rated quite high.”

But advocates for safe surfing agree that the best way for parents and guardians to keep kids safe is to know what they’re doing online.

The Media Awareness Network offers parents guidelines on raising media and Internet savvy kids through its Web Aware program (www.bewebaware.ca).

It’s not alone. The Kids’ Internet Safety Alliance, a Canadian volunteer-run advocacy group, has partnered with Canadian children’s entertainment company Nelvana to launch Web of Deception, a cyber-safety comic book featuring the characters from the YTV show Grossology.

KINSA is particularly concerned with preventing the online exploitation of children and a significant portion of its efforts involves lobbying governments for stronger legislation and to raise awareness of safety issues with kids, parents, teachers, business people and legislators.

“The Internet is huge,” said KINSA vice-chairman Michael Ras.

“Police can’t do it alone, an educator can’t teach them everything and a parent can’t watch the content all the time, but if we all get together we can get something done.”

Go to the KINSA website at www.kinsa.net.

© The Vancouver Province 2008

 

Verse by British artist wraps around Fairmont

$23-million project controversial, but now popular with residents and tourists

Michele Gurney
Sun

BANFF, Alta. — Banff Avenue has a new look.

If you’re like me, you used to go to Banff on your summer holiday and, if you were lucky, on school ski trips.

Most of us have memories of never wandering too far from Tunnel Mountain Campground, wondering whether Minnewanka Loop really was a loop, and buying more candy than one child should consume in a year on an early Saturday morning trek to Welch’s.

Today, the walk down Banff Avenue is distinctly different. The Town of Banff has just wrapped up a $23-million project called Banff Refreshing.

The town’s underground infrastructure — water and sewer pipes — was more than 100 years old and needed to be replaced. So the town took the opportunity to refresh its streetscape to make it more pedestrian-friendly and reflective of a street in a National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site.

“The street was devoid of trees and places for people to sit and take in the views,” says Randall McKay, Banff’s planning and development manager.

Now, he says, “it’s two blocks of heaven.” And he’s not the only one who thinks Banff is better than ever. Visitors and residents are lauding Banff Refreshing.

Town officials are hearing positive comments from Banff Avenue business and residents who weren’t so supportive of the infrastructure plan when they realized how it might affect their daily lives for 15 months while construction was underway.

Now that it’s finished, everyone is happy. The sidewalks are twice as wide, so the locals are no longer forced to use the alleys to escape the crowds at the height of summer. There are twice as many crosswalks, so you can easily cut across to favourite restaurants and shops.

A mix of indigenous trees in landscaping beds is framed by large Rundlestone boulders from a local quarry. New street furniture has metal arm rests shaped to mimic the horns of the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. New lighting, with toppers, has been designed to reflect tree tops and the turrets of the famed Banff Springs Hotel.

Lights are also considerate of night-sky viewing (yes, you can actually see the Big Dipper from a downtown core in Canada). Solar-panelled trash compactor cans reduce garbage pickup.

The numbers of bike racks are up and street parking is out, leaving Banff Avenue with great sight lines. A local artist designed bronze sidewalk art featuring caribou, wolf and buffalo who guard their respective street corners.

Everything is custom and feels like it belongs here, says McKay, who believes Banff has created one of the most successful pedestrian environments in North America.

He’s also quick to point out that although Banff is redeveloping parts of the town, growth is being managed within a finite footprint that will never be expanded. Banff’s development is moving ahead with a greater consciousness of how much space people should take up within one of the most significant protected areas in the world. The philosophy takes into account how buses, buildings and even garbage bins fit within the landscape; how materials on a street reflect its national park surroundings.

While many residents believe businesses like the Gap or Tony Roma’s don’t belong in Banff, town officials are trying to manage commercial growth to maintain the right mix of mom-and-pop shops with more well-known chains.

The Refreshing plan was developed in the early ’90s by world-renowned landscape architects Design Workshop, based in Aspen, and Landplan and Associates in Calgary.

Because Banff didn’t have the funding then, to move the project forward, four test sites were installed over a 10-year period. This allowed the town to try different materials, watching how products and colours weathered and checking to see how certain plants thrived or failed.

The process served the town well when it refined the plan in 2001. Thanks to a special grant from the provincial government, Banff was able to bring its prototypes to life this summer. The result is breathtaking.

“We are fortunate in terms of what we had to work with,” says McKay. “The natural beauty of the park defines and shapes the town. The street was tired. We needed to refresh the main street to remain competitive with other mountain resorts throughout the world. The street now celebrates our authentic sense of place and will stand the test of time,” he says. “We have brought nature back into the built environment.”

Michelle Gurney is communications manager for the Town of Banff

IF YOU GO

– Check out www.banff.ca or www.banfflakelouise.com for the latest news and events. The Parks Canada website, at www.pc.gc.ca/banff, is a great resource to learn more about the history of the area.

– Travel on Roam, Banff’s new public-transit fleet featuring larger-than-life wildlife imagery. Banff is the first community in the country to launch an all-hybrid bus fleet. Trips cost just $2 one way, and buses go to all the town’s sites and attractions.

– To learn more about Banff Live, the all-day concert on Thursday to celebrate Banff Refreshing, visit www.banff.ca

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

Long trip to Coal Harbour only option after Esso gas dock shuts

Christina Montgomery
Province

FALSE CREEK – Thousands of boaters, yacht charterers and commuter ferries in Vancouver are five weeks away from losing their False Creek fuelling station — with no alternative in sight.

Imperial Oil, which operates the Esso gas dock that has been tucked under the Burrard Street Bridge since the 1930s, will close the station Sept. 30. The company is pulling out of all seven of its retail marine operations in B.C.

The move leaves hundreds of recreational boats at the city’s two highly lucrative marinas without a gas dock. The nearest centre is a Chevron station in Coal Harbour — a return ride worth about $20 in fuel for smaller power boats, and as much as $100 for larger vessels.

And it leaves the angry owners of two False Creek commuter ferry firms and several large boat charterers without any option but hauling in fuel or making a long and expensive trip to Coal Harbour.

Commercial fishing boats berthed at the federal dock in False Creek also use the gas dock.

Imperial notified the city in January of its intention to leave, but agreed to two extensions to keep gas flowing during the busy summer boating season.

Imperial spokesman Gordon Wong told The Province that Sept. 30 will be the final day of service. After that, for liability reasons, all tanks, pumps and lines will be removed.

Wong said that “talks” on the dock’s future continued, but could not say where they might lead.

Vancouver Parks Board chairman Ian Robertson confirmed yesterday that the city’s efforts to find an alternative operator have failed. But there is some hope, he insisted.

Imperial is continuing its own search for an operator. Its efforts were delayed while its right to reassign the provincial water lease below the barge to another party was clarified, Robertson said.

Allan Keefe, who has operated the station for two decades and remains interested in the business, has

lobbied without success for the city to assume the lease and act as a landlord to the operator.

City workers were at the marina early this week assessing where new tanks and equipment might be installed.

© The Vancouver Province 2008

 

Bruce Constantineau
Sun

Vancouver hotelier Ken Cretney has taken up a new challenge — to fill Vancouver‘s $883.6-million expanded convention centre after it opens next year.

The 53-year-old general manager of the Marriott Pinnacle Hotel will become the new general manager of the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre on Oct. 1, the B.C. Pavilion Corp. announced Thursday.

Cretney replaces former VCEC president Barbara Maple, who left the position five months ago as part of organizational changes aimed at boosting business at the expanded centre.

He has more than 30 years of experience in the hotel industry and was previously general manager at the Delta Whistler Resort in Whistler and the Rimrock Resort Hotel in Banff.

The expansion project that triples the Vancouver facility’s meeting and convention space is scheduled to finish by March 2009.

Cretney noted the global convention market has become extremely competitive, with major convention centre expansions in markets like Las Vegas, Orlando, San Diego and San Francisco.

“Everyone seems to be building a conference centre these days — even secondary markets like Des Moines,” he said in an interview. “But I think Vancouver is extremely well positioned, especially with the exposure the city will have with the Olympics.”

Cretney said U.S. meeting planners who have seen Vancouver‘s expansion project feel it will be “absolutely stunning.”

“This is a very iconic convention centre — probably one of the most beautiful centres being built in the world today,” he said.

Cretney said every global market opportunity will be explored to ensure the new convention centre succeeds in attracting lots of new business.

“We’re already big in the U.S. association market, but I certainly believe there are opportunities in Europe and maybe opportunities in other markets like South America,” he said. “It’s early to say now but we will certainly explore these opportunities extensively.”

Cretney said much of the convention centre’s future success depends on industry partners working closely together — especially the hotel community, VCEC and Tourism Vancouver.

Pan Pacific Hotel manager Stephen Peters feels Cretney is a good choice to head the convention centre, calling him one of the city’s top hoteliers.

“I think he’ll bring a dimension to the convention centre that will be highly oriented towards guest satisfaction,” he said.

PavCo president Warren Buckley, who assumed his position in January, said in an interview this spring that changes were needed at VCEC so the centre could become more aggressive and tactical in attracting overseas business. He said in a news release that Cretney is recognized as a “strategic business leader.”

“Ken also has an excellent understanding of what it takes to develop new markets, something we’re keen to do with the expansion for the convention centre coming online next spring,” Buckley said in the news release.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

It’s growing almost as fast as the list of scams

Lisa Hrabluk
Province

Ladies, there’s a bag of riches sitting in the bottom drawer of your office desk.

Your purses, filled with information about yourself and your family, are there, unlocked — and when you’re away from your desk, unguarded — waiting to be pilfered.

But today’s thief isn’t after your spare change; they’re out to change your life by stealing your identity and using it to rack up huge bills on ill-gotten credit cards and online accounts.

“Women have got their ID in there, maybe stuff about their kids, a few of the family bills because women look after that stuff, so they’re carrying it around,” said Det. Bob Gauthier, a veteran Internet fraud investigator with the Edmonton Police Service.

As for men, you’d better stop leaving your wallets behind gym lockers or under the driver’s side in your vehicle if you don’t want it getting into the wrong hands.

“People need to understand that your ID is worth cash, it’s valuable, and you have to protect it like cash,” said Gauthier.

Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in Canada and encompasses an ever-growing list of scams, including:

– Phishing, a common fraud that sees thieves e-mail their victims pretending to be their bank and asking them to e-mail their account and personal information back as a way to verify their identity;

– Skimming, in which fraudsters place a device over the card slot of Interac and automated teller machines to read the information encoded on the black magnetic strip of bank and credit cards; and,

– Mail theft, the simple act of stealing or redirecting a person’s mail to obtain personal information from monthly bills and bank correspondence.

While phishing and skimming are largely orchestrated by criminal organizations that oftentimes located far from their victims, local police forces are investigating a growing number of mail and credit-card thefts that inevitably lead to cases of identity theft.

“We know our meth [addicts] are in chat rooms buying and selling IDs,” said Gauthier, who said the problem is growing in cities such as Edmonton and Vancouver.”Meth is a very social drug. When they get together, they talk. They’re on the quest for the big scam.”

For example, the simple act of dumpster diving could unearth discarded credit card receipts and/or bills. With this in hand, thieves can charge things over the phone and begin to rack up charges on their victims’ cards.

Increasingly, thieves are using a person’s ID to apply for credit cards from other banks and retail stores, maxing out their credit, all without the victim’s knowledge — until it’s time to apply for a loan or legitimate credit. Then the victim receives the horrible news that they’ve been rejected because of a poor credit rating.

In B.C., Sgt. Tim Olmstead of the RCMP’s E Division commercial-crime section, said a recent case of identity theft bore the common hallmarks — and heartbreak — of this type of crime.

“This person didn’t have any forewarning that they had been a victim of identity theft until she needed to go buy a car in order to begin a new job and she couldn’t because her credit application was denied,” said Olmstead.

“There was a huge time delay in fixing the problem and she had to amend the priorities in her life. She couldn’t take the job. It was really unfortunate. She’s in her early 20s and dealing with something like this.”

While credit bureaus will reinstate a victim’s credit history, it takes a long time because the person must establish they were a victim of identity theft and that is sometimes difficult to prove.

Both Olmstead and Gauthier recommend everyone call their provincial credit bureaus regularly to request copies of their credit histories. That will reveal any unusual activity and will reveal which companies have requested credit checks on your accounts.

“Identity theft is only limited by the fraudster’s imagination,” said Olmstead. “We’re all susceptible to it.”

Avoid becoming a victim

To minimize your risk of becoming a victim of identity theft you should:

1. Guard Your Personal Information.

– Buy a shredder and shred anything with personal or financial information such as credit card receipts, copies of credit applications, insurance forms, cheques, financial statements and old income tax returns;

– Use complex passwords on your computer, credit card, financial and other accounts;

– Don’t leave personal information lying around;

– Don’t give personal information to anyone who phones or e-mails you unless you know who they are ;

2. Keep Your Computer and Its Contents Safe.

– Don’t use an automatic log-in feature that saves your user name and password, it’s a gold mine for a hacker;

– Use a firewall program, especially if you have a high-speed Internet connection that connects your computer to the Internet 24 hours a day, switched on or off;

– Add virus protection software and update it regularly;

– Use a credit card rather than a debit card to make purchases.

3. Be Vigilant.

– Order a credit report once a year;

– Pay attention to credit card expiry dates and if the replacement card hasn’t arrived, call the credit card company;

– Keep a list of the names, account numbers and expiration dates of your credit cards in a safe place;

– Memorize all passwords.

© The Vancouver Province 2008

Your computer should be scanning every hour for security updates, patches

Darcy Keith
Sun

E-mail viruses are so yesterday.

These days, it’s your browser that has online criminals salivating.

Network worms and viruses spread by mass e-mails are unlikely to ever become extinct, but they are no longer the primary weapon used by the bad guys of the virtual world to steal your identity or life’s savings.

As the world catches on to the dangers of opening unknown e-mail attachments and better spam filters are created, the focus of attacks is turning to the Web itself.

“Attackers now are taking advantage of security flaws in the browsers that may exist, and using those to attack the user,” explains Marc Fossi, manager of development security response for Symantec Security in Calgary. “They may compromise a website, maybe a legitimate site, so that when people normally go there, they are attacked by modifications that the attacker has made to that site.” That might mean releasing a Trojan Horse virus or some other malicious code onto your computer.

These dubious deeds often are orchestrated through phishing techniques that mimic an actual site, such as one for an online bank. “They’ve gotten so professional they can make it look almost identical to your actual bank’s website,” says Fossi. “So unless you’re checking for certificates and things like that, it’s tough to tell.”

According to Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for the security firm Sophos in Oxford, England, there are 15,000 new web pages every day that are hosting malicious code. That’s one every five seconds.

It’s not easy for Web users to navigate around the infected sites. In the past, avoiding pornographic or casino websites would likely steer a surfer away from the problem. But these days, perfectly legitimate sites — including those run by government and major retailers and electronics suppliers — could contain harmful embedded computer code.

“This is a real worry because we can’t give simple instructions to people to avoid these problems. There’s nothing normally for the user to see because infection is silent,” says Cluley. “The best advice we give is make sure your browser is hardened and patched, and really keep your antivirus up to date.”

And that means your antivirus software shouldn’t be searching for updates just once a week or even each day. Your computer should automatically be on the lookout for new downloads every hour, Cluley suggests. Attackers, he warns, are becoming highly sophisticated and are navigating around security software roadblocks at lightning speed.

There’s a vast global underground economy ready to snap up information stolen from computer users. These professional criminals will hire computer coders to hijack your credit, banking or identity information, and then they will sell it online in a manner akin to a Wall Street trading room floor.

“It’s gotten so involved now that you are seeing microeconomics coming into play. There’s supply and demand, and pricing is based on that,” says Fossi.

That means pricing for a certain type of stolen information is based on how much of it is already available. “You’re even seeing bulk pricing, just on credit card numbers. You can buy 100 cards for 40 cents each, but if you buy 200 cards, you can get them for 20 cents each. For bank accounts, those with a higher balance will sell for more than one with a lower balance,” he says.

Social networking sites, such as Facebook and Myspace, are particularly vulnerable to phishing, because users generally trust them, notes Fossi. An attacker often logs onto such a site and posts a link to a malicious website or supposed video, giving them the ability to quickly spread malicious code and spam through a victim’s social network.

“The essential problem is personal computers aren’t really personal anymore. You think because it’s on your desk it’s just between you and this lump of grey plastic in front of you. When in fact, you’re sharing it with potentially millions of people online,” says Cluley.

Cluley says another increasingly used tactic is what’s known as “scareware.” This is a deceptive message that pops up while one is browsing the Internet, stating that your computer is infected with a virus.

“These bogus warnings are trying to get you to buy a bogus security product, which you would purchase with your credit card,” says Cluley.

After running the software download, it would claim to have cleaned up your hard drive. “But of course, you didn’t have to spend any money in the first place, because you weren’t infected.

“My general advice is, don’t believe everything you’ve seen on the Internet. There are lots of bad guys out there that will try to con you.”

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

Man now distributes U.S. device to turn around car

Pedro Arrais
Sun

In a classic case of “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” a Vancouver Island entrepreneur has managed to turn a potential loss of $100,000 into a business opportunity.

As construction wound down on Matthew Clark’s luxury house in the Ravens Wood subdivision in Langford this spring, one not-so-small detail emerged — he couldn’t turn around a car in the property’s compact courtyard. While many people routinely back out of their driveways, his semi-rural house is at the end of a long driveway with a drop-off on one side and the side of a hill on the other.

Further excavation to widen the courtyard would have cost at least $50,000 with no guarantee the work would not destabilize the hillbank above.

A real estate agent evaluating the property told Clark that this obvious shortcoming could potentially shave $100,000 off the asking price of the $919,000 house.

Searching on the Internet he found a solution — a turntable for cars. You simply drive onto the unit and rotate the turntable until you face the way you came.

The car turner can be mounted on any level surface such as a driveway without any concrete work. Clark says it takes about an afternoon to set the unit up.

The 4.5-metre-diameter stainless-steel disc is powered by five low-voltage motors plugged into a single regular household outlet. The unit is about 76 millimetres high with a bevelled lip to get on and off. A simple remote, similar to a garage door opener, starts and stops the unit, which rides on 70 sets of wheels. The unit will support vehicles as large as a Hummer, says Clark, an entrepreneur who is in the import-export business.

He liked the solution so much he negotiated for the Canadian distribution rights from the California-based company.

His company, Trade Pacific, sells the non-skid stainless steel unit in Canada for $12,750, delivered and installed. A chrome indoor version meant for car showrooms can be ordered for $1,000 more.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

New high-tech bills have cut instances of counterfeiting, police say

Frank Luba
Province

Police say counterfeiting is in decline but that’s little consolation for three East Vancouver residents who were given bogus $20 bills at a weekend garage sale.

Sgt. Mary Kostashuk, the RCMP’s Pacific Region counterfeit co-ordinator, said yesterday that the number of counterfeit notes per million bills in Canada has dropped from 670 in 2005 to around 57 currently.

“It’s declining and it’s declined significantly over the last three to four years,” said Kostashuk.

But it’s not gone, even with the multiple holograms and watermarks introduced to Canadian currency in 2004.

The East Vancouver victims were taking part in a multi-family sale on Saturday and each received a bill from the old “Birds of Canada” series.

One neighbour was suspicious and checked to see if others had been passed one of the bills, which has a holographic square in the top left quarter on the front and a loon on the back.

A second woman found that she also had been given a fake bill. She saw the holographic square was worn. Even more importantly, the square didn’t turn from gold to green like a proper holograph.

The third bill turned up later.

The fake $20 bills are realistic, except for the gold security patch which is worn and easy to scratch.

Vancouver police. Const. Jana McGuinness, the department’s spokeswoman, said the commercial crimes section hasn’t detected a trend of bogus bills at garage sales.

In Vancouver, the number of fake bills in the past few years peaked in 2005 with 4,333 found. The number declined to 1,045 in 2006 and 172 last year.

Modern counterfeiters have access to computers, scanners and laser printers but they’re finding it tougher to make good copies of the new bills, said Kostashuk.

There’s another wrinkle to making funny money, she said. Penalties for counterfeiting are tough.

“It’s passed through the [criminal] community that there are other crimes you can commit with less of a penalty,” she said.

Kotashuk said she knows of one instance where one offender received 27 months in jail for just possessing bogus bills.

Identifying bad bills

There are simple ways to find out if Canadian currency is counterfeit or genuine.

New Canadian Journey series:

– The silver holographic strips should shift through various colours when the bill is tilted.

– Each maple leaf in the strip should split into two colours when tilted.

– A watermark portrait should appear in the centre of the note when it is held up to the light.

– A see-through number should appear to the right of the watermark portrait and it should be perfectly aligned when the note is held up to the light.

Older Birds of Canada series:

– Equipped with a holograph in top left-hand corner that turns from green to gold if tipped.

Source: RCMP

© The Vancouver Province 2008

 

Canadian athletes at 2010 Olympics are assured of the best spots in the village

Jeff Lee
Sun

At The Beijing Games – Tim Morrison’s job is to look after the comfort of the 5,500 athletes from around the world who will come to Vancouver and Whistler for the 2010 Winter Games.

But he can’t help to be just a little bit pro-Canadian, and this last week he was bursting with a secret he wanted to share.

When Canada‘s athletes arrive at the brand new village on False Creek, they’ll find themselves being housed in the best of the buildings, front-and-centre on the water with an unobstructed view of the new park and a man-made island.

It’s a little thing he and the others at the Vancouver Organizing Committee can do for Canada without appearing to be overtly favouring anyone. After all, all athletes in the village, whether they are from Canada or from the Bahamas, will have equal accommodations and equal access to services.

But putting the Canadians in Building 4 closest to Cambie Bridge will give them a psychological boost, said Morrison, Vanoc’s managing director of Athletes Villages and food and beverages.

“It’s a great spot, but then all throughout the village is a great spot,” he said. “We’re suggesting this spot [to the Canadian team] because it’s close to the amenities, close to the dining hall, it’s just a real signature spot.”

Vanoc has also given the Canadian hockey teams at the UBC Winter Sports Centre their own dressing room, decorated with Canadian flags and motifs.

Morrison was in Beijing last week, taking the last lessons he could from the Beijing Organizing Committee officials who are running the athletes villages and food services in the sporting venues.

He walked through the kitchens that prepare more than 40,000 meals a day for the athletes and workforce, looked in bedrooms and toured the international zone in the village.

He had no critical comments about the way his Chinese counterparts have done things.

But one of the biggest lessons he encountered was watching how the 205 countries set up their offices and how Bocog handled problems. Each National Olympic Committee is allocated space for offices, doctors, physiotherapists,counsellors, coaches and other officials, dependent upon the number of athletes and their needs. The biggest problem that emerged was a lack of office space and problems with the Internet.

But no sooner were problems discovered than Bocog fixed them, he said.

“When something was brought up and there was a concern, they were very efficient and it was taken care of,” he said.

Many of the teams have hung flags from their balconies, with Canada‘s so large no one could miss it. Some teams have also converted a spare bedroom to a communal area customized to make it seem more like home.

It’s an important aspect Morrison says is not lost on him. With each athlete facing enormous personal and team pressure to perform, having a quiet place is as good as gold.

Bocog has tried hard to give the villages a homey flavour. There are gardens and water features and quiet places to reflect. Each athlete and media bedroom also comes with a personalized picture drawn by a Chinese child, which the occupant can take home after the Games as a souvenir.

It’s an idea Morrison is also considering for Vancouver.

As was the case in Beijing, Morrison said Vanoc will try to keep teams together in several buildings. The Canadians in one, the Americans in another, the Germans in a third and so on.

“It’s because all the teams want to keep their athletes together, to make sure they have that communication for their teams,” he said.

Sometimes that’s not possible. Many of the smaller countries are scattered throughout the Beijing complex, as they also will be in Vancouver. But wherever possible, Morrison said he’s trying to keep countries together.

He also expects that, like here, few teams will opt to take rooms outside the village. In Beijing, the American basketball team is staying in private accommodation to keep autograph-seekers to a minimum, a problem that also forced tennis star Roger Federer to move out of the village.

“I don’t think it’s because they are used to staying in a certain luxury.

It’s because they walk in and they are swamped,” Morrison said.

Food quality and supply is an important issue at any Games. Morrison said Aramark, one of the largest food service companies in the world, has the contract for the athletes and media villages. Aramark has its own quality-control staff here to make sure only the freshest foods reach the table.

One chef recruited from New York who talked to a Sun reporter said the Chinese were insistent on raising all of the foods locally in approved farms that minimize the risk of food-borne illnesses.

Still, getting access to enough food has been a problem in Beijing, the chef said. Often supplies run out or are late to arrive because of bureaucracy or tight security.

But Morrison said it is remarkable how well the Olympic food service is run.

Vancouver has not yet signed a food service provider. Vanoc has issued three requests for proposals, one for the combined athletes’ villages in Vancouver and Whistler, one for Vancouver venues and one for Whistler venues. The villages proposal closes in September and the two venues contracts close in October.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008