Protect Title IX

[LCY]

Hi mods, if this is inappropriate or should be moved, please feel free to delete or move it.

If you've ever played sports, or have a friend who played sports in high school or college, this might be of interest to you.

"Don't Drop the Ball: Protect Title IX
The Bush Administration has created the "Commission on Opportunity in Athletics" to evaluate whether the current standards Title IX of the Education Act applies to athletic participation should be revised and how. The purpose of the Commission clearly is to undermine Title IX and all the gains women have made in athletics.

Let the Commission know that you support Title IX. The deadline for comments is November 29. "

Sign up here:

http://capwiz.com/fmf1/issues/alert/?alertid=1017781

[loserbutt]

umm, its a fact that males are more likely to be involved in sports than females and so by placing an inflexible standard on colleges obscure male sports such as fencing and such are sacrificed since football and basketball eat up so much of the funding.

[LCY]

Perhaps I should add the rest of the message.

"Because of Title IX, women and girls have made great achievements in sports in the past 30 years. However, women and girls in high school and college still do not have opportunities equal to those of men and boys.

* Women make up 54% of college students and only 43% of college athletes.
* Men's college athletics receive more money than women's in scholarships, recruiting, head coach salaries, and operating expenses.
* In many school districts, women and girl athletes receive inferior equipment, fields, and scheduling compared to the men's and boys' teams.

What happens as a result of the Commission on Athletics could reverse women's gains in all areas of education. If the Commission scales back Title IX for athletics, it will do so based on the stereotype that women are not as interested or as talented in playing sports as men. Of course, prior to Title IX, the same lack of interest and talent arguments were used to keep women out of higher education, math classes, and science classes. If the Commission accepts that women and men are inherently "different" and that "difference" entitles men to more resources, why will it stop at the playing field? The Commission's government sanctioned discrimination could spread throughout education.

Tell the Commission that women and girls need more opportunities to play"

If you're not interested or don't support it, that's fine. But those of you who are interested in women's sports might want to consider this.

[loserbutt]

I'm all for women playing sports, but an ironclad rule of 50% funding unfairly penalizes male athletes

[angel nympho]

I'm kinda confused. If there's less women playing college sports, shouldn't they recieve slightly less money?

[LCY]

Title IX does not require that equal dollars be spent on men and women's sports. However, regarding athletic scholarships, dollars must be spent on male and female athletes proportional to their participation in the athletic program. Still, male athletes annually receive $133 million more athletic scholarship dollars than female athletes according to the NCAA Gender-Equity Report.

If you want to learn more, here are a few sites:

http://bailiwick.lib.uiowa.edu/ge/
http://www.tolerance.org/teach/current/event.jsp?cid=327

[angel nympho]

Originally posted by LCY@Nov 28 2002, 10:40 PM
Title IX does not require that equal dollars be spent on men and women's sports. However, regarding athletic scholarships, dollars must be spent on male and female athletes proportional to their participation in the athletic program. Still, male athletes annually receive $133 million more athletic scholarship dollars than female athletes according to the NCAA Gender-Equity Report.

If you want to learn more, here are a few sites:

http://bailiwick.lib.uiowa.edu/ge/
http://www.tolerance.org/teach/current/eve...ent.jsp?cid=327

Oh, okay. That makes sense. I think the amounts should be proportional, yeah.

[rakovlam]

Originally posted by LCY@Nov 28 2002, 02:40 PM
Still, male athletes annually receive $133 million more athletic scholarship dollars than female athletes according to the NCAA Gender-Equity Report.

No kidding, most people in the football team are on scholarship of some sort (except for Patriot league and Ivy league schools). And almost every college has a football team. Last time I checked football is a male-dominent sport.

[VV o n g B a]

auburn had no male soccer team strictly because of title 9. i can understand the female wish for equality, but i also understand many male atheletes' frustrations. its too bad there's not enuf money for everybody. that's life tho...

[Faithless]

Sort of disappointing:

A "Clarification" issued by the Department of Education earlier this year would dramatically change the rules and is clearly designed to give schools a way to deny equal athletic opportunities to women, the National Women's Law Center said today.

...

"The Clarification creates a giant loophole through which schools can evade their obligation to provide equal opportunity in sports. This new policy flies in the face of the Bush Administration's rejection of similar proposals two years ago. It ought to be withdrawn," Greenberger added.

Under the so-called Clarification, the Department would allow schools to claim compliance with Title IX based solely on the results of an online survey of female students' interest in sports. What's more, in these days of excessive e-mail spam, schools would be allowed to declare that lack of survey response means lack of interest.

On 33rd Anniversary of Title IX, Law Again Under Attack. Department of Education "Clarification" Significantly Weakens Law

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE * June 22, 2005 * Ranit Schmelzer * 202-588-5180

(Washington, DC) - As we prepare to mark the 33rd anniversary of Title IX, the landmark 1972 law that bars sex discrimination in education and requires schools to provide equal athletic opportunities, the law is once again under attack. A "Clarification" issued by the Department of Education earlier this year would dramatically change the rules and is clearly designed to give schools a way to deny equal athletic opportunities to women, the National Women's Law Center said today.

"We've been fighting to preserve and strengthen Title IX for over 30 years and we're not about to stop now," said Marcia D. Greenberger, NWLC Co-President and a leading national expert on Title IX. "The law has been hugely successful in increasing opportunities for women in sports at every level, but since its inception determined advocates for some male sports have tried to erase these gains. And now the Department of Education has given schools a way to do so."

"The Clarification creates a giant loophole through which schools can evade their obligation to provide equal opportunity in sports. This new policy flies in the face of the Bush Administration's rejection of similar proposals two years ago. It ought to be withdrawn," Greenberger added.

Under the so-called Clarification, the Department would allow schools to claim compliance with Title IX based solely on the results of an online survey of female students' interest in sports. What's more, in these days of excessive e-mail spam, schools would be allowed to declare that lack of survey response means lack of interest.

Longstanding Title IX policies and law require schools to make a serious effort to gauge interest, including by talking to coaches and students and surveying women's sports offered by high schools or other colleges in the region. Schools must also examine whether their lack of recruitment effort dampened real interest in sports opportunities by potential female athletes. Under the new policy, schools would be able to say they've met their obligation by sending students a mass email.

This policy is especially harmful because the nation is still far from providing true equality of opportunity. Even with the marvelous accomplishments of female athletes -
and even though women make up half or more of students in college - women still receive only about 41 percent of the sports participation opportunities. Furthermore, women receive only 36 percent of the total athletic operating budgets. Recruiting budgets for women's teams are even worse, with women getting just 32 percent of total recruiting expenditures.

Yet, study after study shows that girls who participate in sports are less likely to smoke, use drugs or engage in other risky activities, and that they get better grades. Sports participation decreases women's chances of developing heart disease, osteoporosis and other health-related problems later in life - and provides them with increased access to scholarships and career opportunities.

"We are fortunate to have so many Members of Congress - both Democrats and Republicans - standing with us on this issue. We know from past experience that the public is clearly on our side. We call on the Administration to see the error of its ways and quickly reverse this ill-advised clarification," said Greenberger.