AWARDS

Georgia swimmer Kowal wins Woman of the Year honor

Kristy Kowal, a senior swimmer from the University of Georgia and a medalist in the Sydney Olympic Games, was named the 2000 NCAA Woman of the Year at the 10th annual NCAA Woman of the Year awards dinner October 15.

Kowal, chosen from among 10 finalists selected from more than 300 nominations, was recognized for her commitment to academics, athletics and community service.

GENDER EQUITY

October 30 deadline nearing for submission of EADA material

NCAA member institutions are approaching the deadline to submit athletics gender-equity data to the federal government.

Amendments adopted in 1998 to the federal Higher Education Act require all coeducational postsecondary institutions that receive federal funds and have athletics programs to report gender-specific data on their athletics programs to the federal government annually by October 30.

A Web-based system has been implemented by the U.S. Department of Education to collect the data.

Staff contact: Doris Dixon.

DRUG EDUCATION

Chat sessions to highlight risk of dietary supplements

A series of chat sessions about drug and supplement use in sports is being conducted on the Internet in the coming weeks.

The program may shed light on the risks involved in using nutritional or dietary supplements to enhance athletics practice or training regimens. The chat sessions on CBS SportsLine will take place throughout October and early November.

SPORTSMANSHIP

Sportsmanship nomination forms now availble on NCAA Online

Forms for submitting nominations for the 2000 NCAA Sportsperson of the Year have been added to NCAA Online in an effort to generate more nominees.

Nomination forms were mailed to athletics directors, senior woman administrators and sports information directors last spring encouraging each Division I, II, and III member institution to nominate a male and female if administrators believed they had exhibited an outstanding act of sportsmanship or ethical behavior.

The Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct received few nominations, however, and became concerned that the mailing was not heeded on campus. As a result, the committee has chosen to discontinue the annual mailing process and place a copy of the current nomination form on the NCAA Web site (www.ncaa.org) in the "Awards" section. This will allow member institutions to access the form 24 hours a day and any time during the year. The 1999-00 form, as well as the new form for 2000-01, are available online.

The committee, while recognizing that not all schools will have a nominee each year, was concerned that few schools took the time to single out athletes for such an honor. It is encouraging athletics personnel to look for random acts of sportsmanship that make NCAA athletics special.

Nomination forms should be sent to Ron Stratten or Terrie Hall at the NCAA national office.

Staff contact: Ron Stratten.

PUBLICATIONS

Records and rules books among publications now available online

Most NCAA publications -- including the three NCAA Manuals, playing rules and records books -- now are available through NCAA Online.

The formats vary according to the publication, but individuals now may view and download free of charge the content of every significant publication offered by the NCAA. The books are in the publications section of NCAA Online (http://www.ncaa.org/library/).

Books are being posted as they become available for the 2000-01 academic year. In most cases, copies of books from previous years will not be made available digitally.

Staff contact: David Pickle.