The NCAA News Digest

March 24, 1997

• CERTIFICATION -- Committee proposes changes for second cycle
• INTERNET -- Basketball fans rush the NCAA Final Four Web site
• DIVISION III -- More nominations sought for certain sports committees
• REGIONAL SEMINARS -- Dates and Sites established for 1997 regional seminars
• TITLE IX -- Registration deadline is April 7 for Kansas City Title IX seminar

CERTIFICATION

Committee proposes changes for second cycle

Proposed modifications to the Division I athletics certification program have been mailed to the membership.

The proposed changes, developed by the Committee on Athletics Certification, relate to the program's operating principles and to the interim report that will be required when the athletics certification process goes to the 10-year cycle that was approved at the 1997 Convention.

The committee hopes to submit a proposal on athletics certification revisions to the Divi-sion I Management Council for it to consider at its first meeting in August.

Staff contact: Robert W. Thomas.

INTERNET

Basketball fans rush to NCAA Final Four Web site

The NCAA's new Web site for the men's and women's Division I basketball championships attracted more than 20 million hits during the opening rounds of the the events March 13-17.

Activity on www.finalfour.net was especially heavy during the work days of March 13 and 14 when the first games of the men's tournament were played. During first-round men's games, the number of hits exceeded one million per hour at times.

Over the first week of the tournament, the Final Four Web site dispatched 3.7 terabytes of information.

Staff contact: Wallace I. Renfro

DIVISION III

More nominations sought for certain sports committees

Additional nominations are being sought for positions on several Division III sports committees.

More than 330 nominations were received in response to an earlier solicitation for Division III general and sports committees, but those nominations lacked ethnic minorities and individuals from independent institutions. The Division III Nominating Committee, which met March 13-14 in Atlanta, is attempting to build an effective nominations database for future use, so it is encouraging Division III members to submit nominations of individuals from all Division III institutions.

Staff contact: Julie Quickel.

REGIONAL SEMINARS

Dates and sites established for 1997 regional seminars

Dates and sites have been set for the three 1997 NCAA regional rules-compliance seminars.

They are: April 23-25 -- New Orleans Hilton Riverside; April 30-May 2 -- Baltimore Omni Inner Harbor; and May 28-30 -- San Francisco Crowne Plaza Parc Fifty-Five.

Staff contact: John H. Leavens.

TITLE IX

Registration deadline is April 7 for Kansas City Title IX seminar

The registration deadline for a Title IX seminar scheduled May 12-13 in Kansas City, Missouri, has been moved to April 7.

Speakers will include Mary Ann Connell, university attorney, University of Mississippi; NCAA Executive Director Cedric W. Dempsey; Robert E. Frederick, director of athletics, University of Kansas; Christine Grant, women's director of athletics, University of Iowa; and Cheryl Levick, senior associate director of athletics, Stanford University.

Staff contacts: Janet M. Justus (overall) and Kaily C. Sola (registration information).