Federal Title IX panel sets schedule with town hall approach

The U.S. Department of Education has announced the dates and sites for town hall meetings planned by the Commission on Opportunity in Athletics, the panel appointed by Secretary of Education Rod Paige to examine Title IX.

Ted Leland, athletics director at Stanford University, and Cynthia Cooper, former WNBA star, co-chair the commission.

"These meetings will give us a chance to listen, observe and absorb the views of those who care deeply about this issue," Leland said. "We look forward to these very important conversations in communities across the country."

Each meeting will include panels of four invited speakers and comments from the general public on the various topics addressed in the commission's charter.

The meeting schedule is:

Atlanta, Wyndham Downtown -- August 27-28.

August 27: 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. -- Three panel discussions, each with four invited speakers.

2 to 5 p.m. -- Presentations by the general public.

August 28: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. -- Presentations by the general public.

Chicago, location TBA -- September 17-18. (This meeting will primarily focus on Title IX as it relates to high schools and junior colleges.)

September 17: 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. -- Three panel discussions, each with four invited speakers.

2-5 p.m. -- Presentations by the general public.

September 18: 9 a.m. -- There will be no opportunity for public comment, though the public may observe. Commissioners will spend this time regrouping and processing the information heard the previous day.

Colorado Springs, location TBA -- October 22-23. Same schedule as previous meeting.

San Diego, location TBA -- November 20-21. Same schedule as previous meeting.

The group also will meet in Philadelphia December 4 and Washington, D.C., January 8, 2003. Those meetings will not include any public comment sessions. Instead, the focus of those meetings will be the details of the report the commission plans to submit to Paige. The report is due January 31, 2003.

To be considered as a possible speaker, contact the commission via e-mail at OpportunityinAthletics
@ed.gov. The request should include the name of the proposed speaker, any organization represented and a short paragraph stating what aspect of Title IX and the commission's charter the speaker would like to address.

The commission will review speaking requests with an eye toward providing a broad representation of views and a wide range of issues within Title IX as it relates to athletics.

Those who cannot attend may submit comments to the commission by e-mail at that same address.

College blazes new trail with logo shift

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts has selected a logo design to represent its new nickname, Trailblazers, which replaced Mohawks.

The name itself was announced in May after nearly two years of debate regarding Mohawks, which had been adopted by the college in the 1960s.

The logo was a collaboration of David Russell, a 2002 graduate of the school; Leon Peters, a graphics designer at the school; and Scott Nichols, the school's athletics director.

The new logo is purely graphic, depicting mountains in the shape of an "M" with a trail blazing to the top making the shape of a "C."

"I was somewhat concerned with how we would portray the new nickname as it would have been much easier if we had chosen an animal or character for the new mascot," Nichols said. "However, I feel we have come up with a design that is modern and expresses the spirit and rationale behind the selection of the Trailblazers as the new nickname."

-- Compiled by Kay Hawes

Number crunching

Looking back

25 years ago

Budget boon -- The NCAA Executive Committee approves a $5.5 million operating budget for the 1977-78 fiscal year, an increase of 7.1 percent over the previous year. The budget includes a reserve fund for the first time.

A summary of 1976-77 championships receipts shows an all-time high of more than $5 million in net receipts. A record $2.6 million was distributed to the 32 teams that participated in the basketball championship, including $212,322 to the Final Four teams.

Football boon -- The NCAA Television Committee meets and prepares to administer the newly negotiated $18 million rights agreement with ABC, up from the annual $12 million negotiated in 1971. The new rights fee will increase to $29 million in 1978 and 1979 and to $30 million in 1980 and 1981.

U.S. Naval Academy Athletics Director John O. Coppedge is named as chair of the committee, replacing Dartmouth College AD Seaver Peters.

NYSP boon -- The National Youth Sports Program begins its ninth year with a $6 million federal grant, up from $3 million annually. The program plans to visit 107 cities in 43 states. The number of colleges and universities conducting NYSP programs also rises from 98 in 1975 to 139 for 1977. Programs are expected to benefit more than 50,000 economically disadvantaged young people.

Double swoon -- In defining his most embarrassing moment for the 1977 Marietta College football media guide, a prospective cornerback admitted he had written letters to two girls he was dating during his sophomore year and by mistake placed them in the wrong envelopes.

Changing tune -- In another media guide questionnaire, a Kentucky linebacker answered the hypothetical "If I were head coach I would ..." with "Stop spring football practice at my school and replace it with tennis."

(Excerpted from the August 15, 1977, issue of The NCAA News.)