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4 The 21st Century-Making the Connection! MARCH 1999 MBC Wolverine OBSERVER
Hospitality Law: A Growing Industry Overlooked
By Korin Tanksley
LEGAL STUDIES MAJOR
If you have ever had a flight or car
reservation cancelled, then you are
probably familiar with some of the
inconveniences that can occur when
traveling. At times, you may have
wondered if any one was held ac
countable when you were affected by
flight cancellations, overbooking, or
delayed performances causing you to
miss important plans. In all of these
situations whom should you blame?
And, how would you gain compensa
tion? The legal profession has an
area of law specifically designed to
address these issues. It is referred to
as “hospitality law.”
Hospitality law, although an old
area of the law, is also in some ways
relatively new. It has been an impor
tant area in the legal profession since
the beginning of the 14 th and 15 th
centuries of England. The need for a
set of laws specific to the travel in
dustry became evident with the de
regulation of the travel industry that
occurred in the U.S. in the 70’s.
When the federally ordered deregula
tion process was complete, the travel
industry needed specialized legal
guidance to resolve travel issues.
Unknown to many of us, every day
there are lawsuits filed because of
mistreatment by someone repre
senting the travel industry. Most of
the time these situations are unfore
seeable, and require the use of legal
professionals.
Within the last decade, there has
been a drastic increase in the amount
of public traveling. People no longer
travel just for an occasional family
vacation or gathering. They travel on
a regular basis for business and
pleasure.
Whether you are travelling locally
or internationally, it is important
that you have a general understand
ing of your rights as a traveler, and
that is exactly why hospitality laws
were created. Hospitality laws in
volve the liability of airlines, cruise
lines, railroads, bus and rental car
companies, hotel and travel agents as
well as recreational establishments
for failure to deliver travel services
promised and paid for. It involves
elements of contract law, employment
issues, tourism, hospitality proce
dures, and regulatory rules to ensure
that customers have a safe and com
fortable experience.
A knowledge of hospitality law has
proven to be a useful resource for the
public. By setting guidelines for the
industry to follow, these laws pro
mote public confidence and ensure
that the public receives adequate
treatment. Whether commuting to
your place of employment, home or
retreating on a family vacation, the
ability to understand hospitality laws
are a necessity.
Korin Tanksley is a Junior from
Florida.
Are Athletes who use drugs above the law?
By Paxton Baety
LEGAL STUDIES MAJOR
Athletes are special individuals.
They compete in front of crowds
sometimes numbering in the millions,
doing so under enormous pressure to
win. They are under tremendous
pressure to be the best, the fastest or
the strongest. To win is to be the
king of the world; to lose is to be an
unmentioned competitor. Unrelent
ing pressure drives these people,
therefore, many of them may decide
to do whatever is necessary to win.
Sometimes this means gaining their
competitive advantage through the
use of drugs.
Why do athletes use drugs? There
are a number of factors, the most
common may be an athletes dissatis
faction with their athletic progress.
In the opinion of professional sports
agent and attorney Robert Byce, “If
the difference between an athlete
making a million dollars a year, or
$300,000 a year is the use of drugs,
90% of the time the athlete may feel
the tradeoff is worth the risk.” An
other reason for the use of drugs by
athletes may be unrealistic qualifying
standards of performance.
Contrary to popular belief, drug use
in sports is not new. The use of drugs
in sports dates back to 800 B.C. in
Greek societies. Writings from the
time of Plato reveal that the value of
a victory in the ancient Olympics was
the equivalent of nearly half a million
dollars. The first reported athlete
death due to drugs was in 1886 when
a cyclist, Linton, died from an over
dose of Trimethyl. In the 1960 Olym
pics, Danish cyclist Kurt Jensen col
lapsed and died from an ampheta
mine overdose. Drug use was report
edly rife at the 1952 Helsinki Games,
and to a lesser extent at the 1956
Melbourne Olympics.
The international sports commu
nity began to speak out against the
harm that drugs were causing. The
first significant international anti-
doping development occurred in 1960
when the Council of Europe, a group
of 21 western European nations ta
bled a resolution against the use of
doping substances in sports. Govern
ments, national, and international
sporting organizations continued to
implement anti-doping initiatives
throughout the late 1960’s and
1970’s. Drug testing became a more
common feature of high-level sport
ing competition. Drug testing pro
grams, however, did not guarantee
their effectiveness. Accurate drug
tests were limited because of inade
quate technology, and athletes quick
ly learned how to beat the system.
In 1983, drug testing strategies
took an important step forward when
analytical procedures were signifi
cantly refined. The introduction of
gas chromatography and mass spec
trometry allowed accurate results to
be consistently obtained. This new
technology resulted in the now fa
mous scandal of the Pan American
Games in Caracas where numerous
athletes tested positive for prohibited
drugs,, and many others left the
games without competing rather than
be caught.
What happens to athletes when
they get caught? In 1988 at the
Seoul Olympics, Ben Johnson tested
positive for a banned anabolic steroid
and was stripped of his gold medal
and suspended for two years. This
might sound like a suitable punish
ment for an athlete caught up in this
situation, but what would happen to
a regular citizen if they got caught
with drugs. My extensive research
on this subject has not turned up any
evidence of an athlete being prose
cuted, or having to answer charges
that were drug related after they
tested positive for a drug that is ille
gal. The irony of it all is that some
athletic professions don’t test for
some illegal drugs. The NBA, for ex
ample, does not test for marijuana.
Why aren’t athletes prosecuted for
drug use in the same way regular
citizens would be for violating the
law? In a recent NFL draft, Warren
Sapp, then a defensive lineman at the
University of Miami, tested positive
for marijuana. The result? He
dropped from a top five pick in the
first round draft to a mid-round draft
pick in the first round. No jail time,
no sanctions. Also, Michael Irvin was
slapped on the wrist for his ordeal
with cocaine. If these were ordinary
citizens who were caught using these
same drugs, they would be subjected
to very harsh federal and state crimi
nal penalties set up by the lawmak
ing bodies of this country.
Credit, however, must be given
where it is due. When athletes vio
late drug policies they are punished
by their respective leagues. Irvin
was suspended for four games, and
Sapp had to do drug rehab and coun
seling. The question is was this
enough? Are our athletes truly above
the law?
Paxton Baety is a MBC junior liv
ing in Atlanta.
Aviation Law:
What You Need to Know
By Bryant Hill and Julius Jigget
MBC LEGAL STUDIES MAJORS
As Morris Brown College students
from all across the nation, we travel
back and forth to school and home
several times a year. Some of us
travel by car, bus or train, but for the
most part we tend to travel by air.
When we travel by air we put our
property, our trust and even our fives
in the hands of those responsible for
piloting the plane. Generally, as con
sumers we don’t know much about
this industry and the law that gov
erns it. In fact, we are probably un
aware of our rights when it comes to
traveling by air. In this article, we
hope to tell you a little of what you
need to know about aviation law.
Before beginning our discussion, we
must first define “aviation law” and
look at its history. Aviation law is
the law that governs or regulates the
activities of aircraft and those associ
ated with it. The laws of aviation are
based on an ancient legal system; yet,
much that is new has been added.
From the early mail flights in 1911 to
the Department of Transportation
Act in 1966, the law of aviation was
developed. From then on, aviation
law in the U.S. has evolved over the
years from basic legal systems to ac
commodate the needs of the air trav
eler and aircraft operators.
Today, there are many agencies and
corporations (public and private) in
cluding the Department of Transpor
tation (DOT) and the Federal Avia
tion Administration (FAA) that are
involved in aviation activities. These
agencies use aviation law to regulate
airline employees and the rights and
obligations of consumers who utilize
airline services. Actually, when we
purchase an airline ticket, we are
signing a contract that affects the
value of our fives and our property.
Such a contract provides us with a
fixed amount for loss of baggage un
less that baggage was insured. Air
line liability for accidental death is
also limited, especially in interna
tional flights.
Several agreements regulate inter
national aviation activities. The
Warsaw Agreement set forth a uni
form code regarding liability to pas
sengers for loss of goods. This
agreement was amended by the
Montreal Agreement that addressed
liability for loss of fife. The United
States is a signatory to these agree
ment, and must adhere to them.
The next time you purchase an air
line ticket, please read the terms of
this contract carefully.
Morris Brown College is the only Historically Black College or University in the
nation where you can earn a Bachelor’s degree in law and legal assistance. For
more information call Kim Thomas, President, Morris Brown Student Bar Association at 404-
766-5314, or Professor Lemoine Pierce, Faculty Advisor at 404-220-0297.