VANOC Gets Schooled

"Academic community joins the Vancouver 2010 team"

That's the headline of a Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) press release from yesterday. The "Academic community" to which they refer is; "The British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), Capilano University, Douglas College, Kwantlen Polytechnic University and Langara College".

These are not the institutions that come to mind when I think of academia. They are the "universities" that I reference when I talk about glorified high schools.

And my instinct is correct because VANOC is not interested in the brains at those schools. This misleading headline actually refers to the Community Contributor Program where "universities and colleges will provide services, including parking spaces that are essential to VANOC’s overall transportation plan and Park and Ride program for spectators using the Olympic Bus Network to travel to venues in Whistler from Vancouver."

Yep. It's about parking spaces. The press release might as well have been titled "Parking lot rental agreement acquired by Vancouver 2010 team". But then I guess I wouldn't have opened the damn thing.