Calendar

DIVISION I

Issues committee recommends revisions to conditioning model

The Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet has agreed to sponsor legislation to increase the total number of required core-course units for initial eligibility from 14 to 16.

Recently approved legislation that becomes effective this August increased core-course totals from 13 to 14, but the Division I Board of Directors has indicated it would favor an additional increase, particularly in light of NCAA research that shows most qualifiers already meet the higher standard.

Staff contact: Kevin Lennon -- klennon@ncaa.org

TITLE IX

Title IX Paige 'consensus' both sides concerned

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige will move forward only on recommendations from the Secretary's Commission on Opportunity in Athletics that were approved by consensus.

Paige convened the commission in June to examine Title IX and appointed Ted Leland, athletics director at Stanford University, and Cynthia Cooper, a former WNBA player, as co-chairs. The commission conducted four town hall meetings and concluded its work in January.

The report, released February 26, included 23 recommendations, 15 of which were characterized as being approved unanimously. However, commissioners Julie Foudy and Donna de Varona say they dissented from two of the "consensus" recommendations and that they expressed concerns about others after reviewing them in the commission's written report.

Among the most controversial recommendations that no longer seem under consideration were those that, if adopted, would have:

* Permitted institutions to count available roster slots instead of actual participants;

* Permitted the exclusion of nontraditional students in calculating the undergraduate student body male-to-female ratio for purposes of compliance with the proportionality prong; and

* Encouraged the Office for Civil Rights to revisit regulations that would permit outside funds to support teams that might be dropped or to allow other teams to be added.

Staff contact: Rosie Stallman -- rstallman@ncaa.org

CHAMPIONSHIPS

NCAA considers contingencies if war affects winter events

NCAA event managers are creating contingency plans for winter championships that could be affected by a war with Iraq and related terrorism concerns.

"We're taking some very good plans already in place and expanding them to reflect ongoing thought and circumstance," said Greg Shaheen, managing director of the Division I Men's Basketball Championship. "We have been thinking through numerous reasonable and unreasonable scenarios and how we would respond to them -- who needs to be involved in communications, decision-making and thinking about options."

Staff contacts: Greg Shaheen (membership) -- gshaheen@ncaa.org and Bill Hancock (media) -- bhancock@ncaa.org

SOCCER

Cabinet approves sites for future men's soccer championships

The Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet has approved two future sites for the Men's College Cup.

The University of California, Los Angeles, will host the 2004 Men's College Cup in Los Angeles, and North Carolina State University will host the 2005 Men's College Cup in Cary, North Carolina.

Staff contact: Tom Jacobs -- tjacobs@ncaa.org