{ t Re missgan Daile Eighty-Seven Years of Editorial Freedom 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, M1 48109 Women athletes are catching up By KENNETH F. DYER rate of improvement in times has been program go, and men's sports have tre- a great improvement in strength with and BARRY R. TOMS greater than the men's. mendous control over it," says women's negligible increase in muscle mass. In The average difference between the coach Kathy Scott. the same weight program, he argues, Tuesday, April 5, 1977 News Phone: 764-0552 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Proposl 1 vote to end homosexual discrimination pRESENTLY, the All-Campus Con- stitution reads: "The right to enjoy all these rights, all other rights, and all benefits ex- tended to students by the University without regard to race, color, sex, so- cial class, political views, national ori- gin, religious creed, or any other arbi- trary or unreasonable consideration." And although this seemingly cov- ers every possible area of discrimina- tion, there is one glaring omission-- gays and .lesbians. Currently, there is nothing to keep the University from discriminating against persons because of their sex- ual preference, and MSA is trying to do something about it. Today and tomorrow, you can vote in the MSA election to add the words "sexual preference" to the list above. The proposal is MSA Proposal 1, and The Daily urges a "yes" vote. GAYS AND LESBIANS have been un- justly treated at the University in the past. In fact, the administra- tion refused to put a clause in GEO's contract guaranteeing the rights of gays and lesbians. Homosexuals on this campus deserve the same treat- ment as any other student, and they need proof of that in writing. Let's not let them down. Vote "yes" on Proposal 1. IN 1976, THE AMERICAN woman Miki Gorman ran a marathon in two hours, 39 minutes and 11 seconds - fast enough to have won the men's Olympic gold medal in 1896, 1900, 1908 or 1924. Fifty years ago, a . woman became the first person ever to swim the Eng- lish Channel, and today the fastest times for the channel crossing - in both di- rections - are still held by women. And in shorter events female swim- mers from East Germany, the U.S. and Australia regularly turn in faster times than male swimmers from many other countries. All of which adds up to a convincing rebuttal to the old "self-evident" truth that biological reasons alone prevent women from equaling men in sports. WOMEN MAY NEVER hit a base- ball as far as Mickey Mantle or serve a tennis ball as hard as Jimmy Con- nors. But in other sporting events they. may be biologically superior to men. Long-distance running and swimming provide a case in point. Dr. Joan Ullyot, a doctor of sports medicine and herself a runner, says women have more body fat than men, so even after men have used up their source of energy (carbo- hydrates) women can keep going on their body fat., This lets them run or swim farther, if not necessarily faster, than men, she says - and it may explain the female dominance of English Channel swim- ming. In shorter races as well as the long- distance events women's times are pro- gressively catching up with men's. THE WOMEN'S 100-meter world rec- ord was first recognized in 1934 at 11.7 seconds. For the same year the men's record was 10.3 seconds, a superiority of 13.6 per cent. By 1954 the difference in the two records had declined to 11.8 per cent, and in 1974 to 9.1 per cent. Between 1934 and 1974 the difference between men's and women's 800-meter records also dropped steadily - from 24.6 per cent to 11.4 per cent. In swimming women's performances are. on the average closer to those of men than in running. And the women's For the seven of these events in which both male and female records were recognized in 1956 the average differ- ence stood at 12.2 per cent. PREDICTING THE FUTURE is al- ways a risky business, but all the fig- ures available indicate that average per- formance in speed and endurance events for women could eventually equal that of men. While women may be improving their performance compared with men, they've been sadly neglected in the U.S., ac- cording to Womensports magazine, which reports that American universities spend little more than two per cent of their total athletic budget on women's sports. "Money is a big part of making a ey. Another problem is the lack of fa- cilities and coaches, Many women's coaches don't put all their efforts into their jobs because they feel they aren't getting any help from school administra- tors and others, according to one coach. "AFTER A WHILE, they throw up their hands and say 'What's the use?' " she says. U.S. women athletes also face out- moded training methods. For example, the conventional wisdom is that women -.annot lift weights without developing bulging muscles. But Dr. Jack Wilmore, head of physi- cal education at the University of Ari- zona, says weight training will produce 15 recognized male and female world Enthusiasm is fine, she says, but you women will develop only one-tenth the records in 1976 stood at 9.2 per cent. can't really do a good job without mon- muscle mass of a man. Weho me, Jerry. THE DAILY extends a hearty wel- come to Gerald Ford, who makes his debut as adjunct professor of political science this morning with a 9:00 lecture to a class entitled Po- litical Civil Liberties. He will give a total of ten lectures during the week to various undergraduate and gradu- ate political science and public poli- cy classes. Sports Staff KATHY HENNEGHAN ........... Sports Editor TOM CAMERON ........ Executive Sports Editor SCOTT LEWIS...........Managing Sports Editor DON MacLACHLAN .....Associate Sports Editor Contributing Editors JOHN NIEMEYER and ENID GOLDMAN TIGHT EDITORS: Ernie Dunbar, Henry Engel- hardt, Rick Maddock,, Bob Miller, Patrick Rode, Cub Schwartz., iSST. NIGHT EDITORS: Jeff Frank, Cindy Gat- ziolis, Mike Halpin, Brian Martin, Brian Miller, Dave Renbarger, Errol Shifman and Jqmie Tur- Business Staff DEBORAH DREYFUSS.......Business Manager COLLEEN HOGAN...........Operations Manager ROD KOSANN ..............,..... Sales Manager ROBERT CARPENTER ......... Finance Manager NANCY GRAU ..... ..... Display Manager CASSIE ST. CLAIR........Circulation Manager BE'I H STRATFORD . . ... . ....Circulation Director Photrgraphy Staff ALAN BILINSKY ANDY FREEBERG Co-Photographers-in-Chief BRAD BENJAMIN.,......... Staff Photographer; TOHN KNOX ..........Staff Photographer ,HRISTINA SCHNEIDER ... Staff Photographer Elaborate security arrangements have been prepared. There will be the usual contingent of secret ser- vice agents to guard against harass- ment, and students registered in classes that Ford is scheduled to ad- dress have been issued tickets for ad- mittance. As is the natural way for enter- prising students, some are scalping their tickets for a good price. One rumor making the rounds has it that members of the Spartacus Youth League are buying up these tickets to cause disturbances in the classes. WE FERVENTLY HOPE that these rumors turn out to be nothing. t This lecture series provides a ,tre- mendous opportunity for many stu- dents to hear .about our political sys- tem and government from a man who has gained expertise in these areas. It would be a shame if a tactless demonstration puts a damper on Ford's appearance. This is not to say that students should simply sit back and listen to Ford. The basic format of most of the lectures provides for a long ques- tion and answer session, This is the correct forum for taking Ford to task for his actions as president, not through some cheap, grandstand out- burst. COME F Ro M ? / 1 i/ Another coach adds that it's the male hormone testosterone that produces big muscles, and that women have only very small amounts of it in their bodies. While U.S. women athletes operate under these handicaps, conditions are different in other countries. And the sta- tistics indicate sociocultural factors - like money and motivation-- may be far more important than biology. EASTERN EUROPEAN countries en- courage their female athletes more than Western countries do, and the smaller gap between men's and women's per- formance reflects this. For example, the average difference between men's and women's track rec- ords in nine events with 12 per cent in East Germany in 1974. In Russia it was 12.6 per cent and in Hungary 13.4 per cent. But the difference in France was 15.6 per cent, in South Africa 16.8 per cent and in Belgium 17.6 per cent. "Considering the handicaps U.S. wom- en athletes have - lack of money, lack of facilities, cultural biases against wom- en's sports - I'd say U.S. women are doing well,'? says LeRoy Walker, track coach at the University of North Caro- lina. BUT THE j|IGGEST barrier to U.S. women's sports performance may be psychological. "Success in sports is 90 per cent mo- tivation," says Walker. And here, he says, U.S. women are at a tremendous disadvantage because they aren't raised to be competitive. American women who are competitive and successful are taunted about their loss of "femininity," say Dr. Thomas Boslooper and Marcia Hayes in their book The Femininity Game. Worrying about their femininity, they lose the will to win and, adds one coach, "If you don't believe in yourself, you won't beat anybody." Ultimately, women's success in sports will depend on their own heads, says Dr. Boslooper. If they can break out of their tradi- tional role of passivity and non-competi- tiveness, he says, they can begin to ful- fill their potential in sports. i Letters to the Daily Hash Bash To The Daily: Come on students and critics, hit the recent Hash Bash with your logic, facts, figures and rationale and I'll say it doesn't mean a damn. The Bash was successful. The cops were frustrated. The university was disrupted. The University - business - city axis failed to quash the Bash. The Bash taught young people about oppression and cops. And some of the cops learned about the will of the people. All you elitist students who snubbed and sneered at the Bashers because they upset your daily routine take heed if you smoke weed. These people were out here to have a good time. Granted, some of their activities were illegal. The point is that they shouldn't be illegal, i.e. smoking weed. The Bashers put themselves on the line. They defied and confronted the oppression that afflicts all of us. Many were there to defend our right to smoke marihuana if we choose. The event publicly presses for legalization. But why can't a human rights event also be a good time? Many avoided the Bash be- cause it was "sophmoric." Does a good time have to in- clude football or intellectual stimulation? Many learned more April 1 than they would in a whole semester of poli- sci. Many students sounded iron- ically like administrators as they expressed grief and con- cern about the "U-M image." Get off your high wolverine! That is pure elitism. Why set yourself off as something so unique? Education should be a right, not a privilege for the privileged class. How en- trenched are you students? Think about it. How smug are you in your little packet of knowledge? Students used to lead movements. Now we scorn them. No time for that stuff. Society indoctrinates rugged competitive individual- ism into our skins. Got to get those grades etc. Granted there was some vio- lence and drinking and smok- ing. Its illegal in the Bsh con- text but is condoned and en- couraged at the football games. Football perpetuates macho violence, competition and vic- tory. Football violence breeds internal and/or external vio- lence, but its legal. Trashing after sporting events U-S., CCU Ai EGOMA 2cc MILE F I644I* L IMMfl1 1WMntM Sim i 4~ ~ ~ ~ ,e~o~E6pA /i is OK for respectable paying fans. Its disgraceful and illegal for Bashers. Complaints about trash and public intoxication is based on images. Trash is not just trash. There is legitimate University trash and illegal dirty Basher trash. Trash is a manifestation of a lifestyle. We all trash. Marijuana is not just something illegal, it is an image of public defiance or a sign of decadence. The Bash is feared because it is a mirror reflects an accusing image back to all of us including those that try to stop it. Violence that did occur hap- pened not despite the cops but because of them. They created the tension. They weren't there just to contain the crowd and violence. They were there to quash it. They were there to provoke antagonism to give them an excuse to use their stiff iron hand. It was rusty. The University is the ultimate source of the oppression. They called in the cops. They feared mass disruption. There were over 50 city cops, 50 undercover cops and 200 state cops on stand by. What a waste of manpower and tax money! But the Uni- versity is adamant about keep- ing people separate and alien. Individualism is encouraged, mass action discouraged. There is much evidence to back this statement. The recent AFSCME strike, the clerical situation, Perspective-mW. L. Scheller LIBERATION has probably be- come one of the most worn out words in every language. Liberation no longer conjures up the meaning of people rising up and making a better life for themselves, but rather one group of armed bandits seizing power, by one means or another, and then proceeding with the now customary bloodbath. Cambodia has probably been the most ex- treme example of this. The Soviet Union has set it- self up as the champions of the "freedom fighters" anld umteen "Liberation O r g a n i z ations" around the world. They supply arms and support the "rights of the people" in their papers and broadcasts. In Angola, and now in other areas, they even sup- plied the "liberators" with Cu- ban mercenaries to aid in the 'people's struggle.' Of course the fact that they could never have won without them doesn't count. Last week they had Castro jaunt- ing around Africa, coincidentally followed by Nickola Podgorney of the Soviet Union. TWO THORNS stick in the side of this charging Russian bear. First, the time has come when the Africans have to start pay- ing for the "aid" that the Rus- sians have given. Second, the Russians may have inadvertant- ly dropped the ball as the ''champions of the people.'" Soviet aid and arms, but they What do mind the strings attached. come,l Soviet imperialism is definite- greato ly being slowed. The Un with bo FINALLY THE RUSSIANS conflict have really put themselves in does n a shakey position by their some- human what clumsy replies to Carter'su human rights attacks. By call- ue on ing human rights and oppres- to capit sion their "internal affair," even win the after signing several internation- coming al agreements to the contrary, concern the Soviets have lost their claim fluence as champion of mankind. By United asking for understanding, even dous a admitting some of their actions, haps it their credibility is shot. bloodba cewled - v m {hmd woodo z ever the eventual out- President Carter has a opportunity before him. nited States has contact oth sides of the African , something the U.S.S.R. ot. If he is serious about rights and placing a val- < them, then he should try talize on the situation and friendship of the up and African leaders who are ned about rights. The in- of the President of the States can be a tremen- sset. If nothing else per- t can end some of the aths of "liberation." 1 the GEO situation, U of M lack of cooperation with the various Teach-ins, continuous rises in tuition and housing, mistreat- ment, threats and harassment of University employees, off campus housing, etc. '1e Uni- versity undermines mass movements to create feelings of futility. Don't athletes, frats cheer- leaders and other memders en- gage in smoking weed or other illegalities. Do you want para- noia or comfort when engaging in victimless "crimes." The Bash was the place to voice your dissatisfaction with appres- sive laws. I'll admit there was some vio- lence at the Bash. But to ac- knowledge this and then deny it in yourself and all around is to be dishonest with your- self. Voting for Nixon was vot- ing for oppression and death in Chile. To drink Gallo is to drink the blood of migrant workers. Unconscious and apolitical pur- chasing is sentencing Indians and other third world people to a hungry and suffering exist- ence. Scabbing during strikes undermines the strikers' bar- gaining position. They ended the strike by settling for less than a respectable poverty. And to think that we students might've been marked absent. Ten years from now you'll tell your kids about the Hash Bash you participated in when all you really did was hold your breathall the way thru the Diag while sipping your diet Pepsi on your way to History of Mass Movements class. Admin- istration and students get off your high wolverine! Bart Plantenga Editorials and cartoons that appear on the right side of the Editorial Poqe are the opinion of the a u t h o r or artist, and not necessarily the opinion of the paper. d65as ebumn Distributed by .os Angeles imes SYNDICATE Contact your reps t