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World Cup soccer, bridge tolls
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June 10, 2010
Will “Madiba magic” bless World Cup?
While South Africans wait to see whether Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president, attends the opening match for the World Cup, an SFU sociologist questions the depth of his “Madiba magic.” Heribert Adam, an expert on South African politics, says Mandela, dubbed with the title because of his reputation for inspiring teams to victory, “remains the global icon for the negotiated liberation of South Africa. However, his idealistic vision of a non-racial rainbow nation has only been minimally achieved. Despite legal equality, economic inequality has deepened. Crime among an unemployed underclass plagues the country. The new ruling group is as corrupt and greedy as the hated deposed Apartheid regime.” Adam will be monitoring the political and economic impact of Africa hosting the World Cup for the first time.
Heribert Adam, 250.629.6229 (June 10), 604.228.8369 (June 11/12), 604.785.4746 (cell, June 13), adam@sfu.ca
Winning the World Cup
Will it be Brazil? Or is Spain a rising contender? From worldwide soccer fans to industry analysts (financial house JP Morgan’s ‘model’ has pegged England while Goldman Sachs and USB Securities favor Brazil), predicting the winner of the 2010 World Cup soccer event is as subjective as the factors used in determining the outcome, says SFU Surrey statistics professor Tom Loughin. “There are too many variables, from rain and referees to who wins the opening kick off,” says Loughin, who can talk about what goes into predictions and their accuracy. He’s in a soccer pool (based on guesses made after looking at some publicly available numbers) and will be cheering loudest for the U.S., Germany and Switzerland.
Tom Loughin, 778.782.8037; tloughin@sfu.ca
Oops forgot surcharge
SFU Business professor Lindsay Meredith believes the B.C. government wasn’t outright lying when it said in 2007 that the cost to vehicle owners travelling the new Port Mann Bridge would be $3 a trip. “They just never got around to finishing a paragraph before the last election, which they’ve now added and basically says, ‘Oh by the way, drivers who don’t automatically pay on-line within 48 hours will be handed a nice surcharge.’ However, in this kind of economy, price points are important.”
Geographer and transportation expert Warren Gill says it’s the more casual user who could get penalized. “I think the two-day window before the penalty kicks in is too short, especially for tourists.”
Lindsay Meredith, 778.782.5554, 604.939.0460, Meredith@sfu.ca
Warren Gill, 778.782.3557, 778.782.5005, gill@sfu.ca
While South Africans wait to see whether Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president, attends the opening match for the World Cup, an SFU sociologist questions the depth of his “Madiba magic.” Heribert Adam, an expert on South African politics, says Mandela, dubbed with the title because of his reputation for inspiring teams to victory, “remains the global icon for the negotiated liberation of South Africa. However, his idealistic vision of a non-racial rainbow nation has only been minimally achieved. Despite legal equality, economic inequality has deepened. Crime among an unemployed underclass plagues the country. The new ruling group is as corrupt and greedy as the hated deposed Apartheid regime.” Adam will be monitoring the political and economic impact of Africa hosting the World Cup for the first time.
Heribert Adam, 250.629.6229 (June 10), 604.228.8369 (June 11/12), 604.785.4746 (cell, June 13), adam@sfu.ca
Winning the World Cup
Will it be Brazil? Or is Spain a rising contender? From worldwide soccer fans to industry analysts (financial house JP Morgan’s ‘model’ has pegged England while Goldman Sachs and USB Securities favor Brazil), predicting the winner of the 2010 World Cup soccer event is as subjective as the factors used in determining the outcome, says SFU Surrey statistics professor Tom Loughin. “There are too many variables, from rain and referees to who wins the opening kick off,” says Loughin, who can talk about what goes into predictions and their accuracy. He’s in a soccer pool (based on guesses made after looking at some publicly available numbers) and will be cheering loudest for the U.S., Germany and Switzerland.
Tom Loughin, 778.782.8037; tloughin@sfu.ca
Oops forgot surcharge
SFU Business professor Lindsay Meredith believes the B.C. government wasn’t outright lying when it said in 2007 that the cost to vehicle owners travelling the new Port Mann Bridge would be $3 a trip. “They just never got around to finishing a paragraph before the last election, which they’ve now added and basically says, ‘Oh by the way, drivers who don’t automatically pay on-line within 48 hours will be handed a nice surcharge.’ However, in this kind of economy, price points are important.”
Geographer and transportation expert Warren Gill says it’s the more casual user who could get penalized. “I think the two-day window before the penalty kicks in is too short, especially for tourists.”
Lindsay Meredith, 778.782.5554, 604.939.0460, Meredith@sfu.ca
Warren Gill, 778.782.3557, 778.782.5005, gill@sfu.ca