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18A - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSWednesday - September 3, 1997
INJUSTICE OR INSECURITY?
0
Title IX leaves mixed feelings
By Chris Farah
Daily Sports Writer
Faces, names, hopes. People.
After sifting through all the laws, all the docu-
ments, all the arguments and all the technicalities,
thats what gender equity in athletics really comes
dowin to - people.
Brian Lishawa and Ashley Andersen are two
peop for whom gender equity policy has meant
verydifferent things.
Lishawa is the vice president of the Michigan
men's club soccer team and will begin his senior
year today. His graduation next May guarantees he
will nbver benefit from a varsity men's soccer pro-
gramat Michigan - primarily because the addi-
tion of men's soccer to the varsity program would
increase the disparity between men and women
athl s.
"Its definitely frustrating" Lishawa said. "It's a
popular sport, and there's no ideological reason
not to (make it varsity). I know I won't be here if
it ever is made varsity, but I just want to see it var-
A brief history of Title IX
N 1972: Title IX passes.
1979: 'Three-pronged test" for college
athletics added.
8 1997: In April, the Supreme Court refus-
es to hear further arguments on Cohen v.
Brown University, upholding the three
pronged test,
sity for my love of the sport."
Andersen, however, comes from a much differ-
ent perspective. The recent graduate was a mem-
ber of the Michigan women's varsity crew team -
a program that just concluded its first year of var-
sity status at Michigan, thanks primarily to the
influence of Title IX of the Federal Educational
Amendments, passed in 1972.
"Before, if you said you were on the crew team,
people said, 'The what?"' Andersen said. "That's
happening less. Crew, in general, is getting more
recognition because more crew teams across the
country are going varsity - men's and women's.'
But men's crew is not becoming a varsity sport
at Michigan, or at many schools across the nation.
Partly because of Title IX, men's varsity soccer
and crew may not become a reality at Michigan.
Title IX states that no "person in the United
States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from
participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be
subjected to discrimination under any education
program or activity receiving Federal financial
assistance."
The original Title IX, in 1972, didn't regulate
college athletics as part of its mandate, but the
Policy Interpretation added in 1979 by the
Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights
instituted a three-pronged test to determine
whether federally funded educational institutions
live up to government standards of gender equity.
Schools can meet Title IX requirements by meet-
ing only the first of the three conditions. This does-
n't always apply for the last two areas, however,
which are arguably more subjective than the first.
The first and most important part of the test
requires an institution to demonstrate that the ratio
of male to female athletes is approximately equwl
to the ratio of male to female students.
The second requirement states that the school
must "show a history and continuing practice" of
trying to respond to "the developing interests and
abilities" of the underrepresented sex.
The final stipulation asks the school to demon-
strate "that the interests and abilities of the mem-
bers of that sex have been fully and effectively
accommodated."
In order to meet the proportionality require-
ment, Michigan has moved two women's teams
from club to varsity status in the last three
years: women's crew, as well as women's soc-
cer, which got its start as a varsity program in
the fall of 1994.
Aside from these additions, however, there are
some who have been left behind; teams like men's
club soccer and men's club crew have not been
granted varsity status. According to Senior
Associate Athletic Director Keith Molin, they will
not be given varsity status any time soon.
"If (men's) soccer and men's crew were to be
elevated now to varsity status, then you would
have to add additional women's sports to keep
equity numbers even'" Molin said. "The making
of women's soccer and crew varsity sports created
opportunities for women student-athletes which
did not previously exist and moved our numbers
into balance without taking away opportunities
that were already there."
Michigan has outdone other programs in the
race for gender equity simply by not removing
men's varsity sports already in place. Many pro-
grams, including Michigan State and Syracuse,
have balanced the numbers of their men and
women athletes by cutting men's sports like
lacrosse and wrestling.
In fact, Michigan has outdone many schools in
the achievement of gender equity itself.
USA Today reported that, in the 1995-96
school year, 40 percent of Michigan's student-
athletes were women, compared to 49 percent of
the student body. In comparison, the national
average of women athletes in Division I schools
is a much lower 34 percent, according to The
New York Times.
Michigan men's soccer coach Steve Burns said
his argument for varsity status centers around soc-
cer's popularity, not the gender-equity issue.
According to the Soccer Industry Council of
America, the state of Michigan ranks eighth
nationally in soccer participation, and soccer is
Michigan's fastest growing men's high school
sport.
"I'm fully in favor of women getting their due,"
Burns said. "If you're only going to have 1I1 sports,
if you're a state-funded institution, you should
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MARGARET MYERS/ ady,
Mari Hoff, a member of the Michigan women's soccer team, competes against Indiana In a Sept. 29,
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ivomaim .women s soccer oecame a varsi y spo
look at what your constituency plays at the high
school level - you have to read those trends in
sports in our society."
On the other hand, Michigan men's club crew
coach Gregg Hartsuff feels government rules that
may hamper men's athletics - while helping pro-
mote the rights of women athletics - are unfair to
teams like men's club crew.
"For me, with women's crew, there's been a
good side and a bad side," Hartsuff said. "The
good side is that rowing has gotten more support.
(The bad side is) I believe there are more men out
there interested in competing in intervarsity athlet-
ics than there are women."
Another argument by those who disagree with
Title IX's determination of gender equality
revolves around the effect football has on the men-
women athlete ratio. The Michigan football team
enlists upwards of 100 players - enough for four
men's or women's soccer teams.
Cecil Pryor, a former Michigan football player
and alumnus who also sits on the committee of the
Board in Control of Intercollegiate Athletics in
charge of reviewing the case of men's soccer, said
he doesn't think football should count in meeting
the standards of prong one of Title IX.
"I don't think football should be included in the
rI In .
numbers," Pryor said. "Not because I'm a forme,
football player, but because football is the bread
and butter that pays for everything."
Proponents of Title IX emphasize gender equi-
ty on a larger scale - that equality is less about
the interest of individual sports than about provid-
ing female athletes with as much opportunity on
the varsity scale as men have always possessed.
Michigan women's crew coach Mark Rothstein
said that, although he wants crew to advance as a
sport, women should be considered first.
"I don't think it's unfair," Rothstein said.
"Obviously, I would love to see men's crew
become a varsity sport. But across America,
there's still a lot more opportunity for high school
boys than high school girls to participate at the col-
lege level."
Opinions on Title IX and gender equity are as
far-ranging as the personalities of those involved
in the debate. Arguments on the topic are often
heated, which isn't surprising, considering its sen-
sitivity.
With an issue as loaded as gender equity, only
one thing seems perfectly clear: When passion,-
are on the line, when a Brian Lishawa or an Ashley_
Andersen loves soccer or crew for the sole sake of-
playing the sport, there really can be no clear
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Metes soccer at the University remains a club
sport, not a varsity sport. This upsets many sup-
porters of the men's soccer program.
FOOTBALL
Continued from Page 13A
compete for the starting fullback posio
tion after a successful freshman season.
In a statement, Carr stressed that it
was Anes' decision to leave school and
was not a disciplinary action of any,
kind. The loss of Anes means true
freshman Demetrius Smith will proba-
bly back up starter Chris Floyd.
There is also some uncertainty on
the offensive line, where the.
Wolverines must do without three
starters from a year ago. Car
announced last week that redshirt
freshman Jeff Backus will move to left
tackle, fifth-year senior Zach Adami to
center and sophomore Chris Ziemann
to right guard.
Redshirt freshman Steve Hutchinson
gets the nod at left guard and junior Jop
Jansen stays put at right tackle':
Inserting Ziemann: into the starting
lineup leaves sophomore Steve Frazier
on the bench.
And while three spots in the defend
sive backfield are locked up - All-
America selection Charles Woodson at
one corner position and Marcus Ray-
and Daydrion Taylor as the safeties -
there is intense competition at strong-
side cornerback, a hot spot for oppos-
ing quarterbacks throwing away from
Woodson.
Redshirt freshman Le'Aundre
Brown left school after falling two
spots on the depth chart, leavinj
junior Andre Weathers and true fresh-
man James Whitley in a heated battle
for the job. Woodson, who started all
but one of Michigan's games as a
freshman, said Whitley "has bett"
skills than I did when I was a fres
man. -
Kunos: It's official: CharleIau
Woodson is a two-way star. T
Heisman Trophy hopeful is sure to
the front-runner to win the Jim Tho
Award, given annually to the natio
top defensive back.
But last week Woodson, who caud
13 passes last year for the Wolverin4%
was announced as a finalist for the Fra
Biletnikoff Award, which goes to t,
nation's best receiver. Junior receivn
Tai Streets joins Woodson as a final
for the Biletnikoff Award.
CLASS OF 1998: Defensive E
Dave Armstrong -of Doylestown, P.
generally considered one of the bes
players at his position, announced last
week that he will attend Michigan. ' -
Armstrong, a 6-4, 255-pounder who
can run a 4.7-second 40-yard daswh;
went to the same high school #3
Michigan senior Rob Swett.
Armactrnna i the sventh nlaver tr'