2004 Archive
2005 Archive

2006 Articles of Interest

Athletes Going to College Get "Special" Treatment
By Brent Schrotenboer, Union-Tribune

They are called "special admits" – students accepted at universities even though their grades or test scores don’t meet the school’s regular academic admission standards. They exist for a variety of reasons: to help accommodate the disadvantaged, to attract students with "special talents" and to help schools stay competitive in recruiting top athletes. While the NCAA rulebook makes it clear that they are allowed, it’s left up to member schools to decide how many times they bend their normal admission standards to reel in top athletes. And just as admission standards vary by school, a survey of admissions data by The San Diego Union-Tribune found a wide range of approaches in determining how many athletes to enroll as special admits – if any.


It's A Text Mess: NCAA Slow To Keep Pace with New Communications
By Paul Doyle, Hartford Courant

It could appear on his cellphone screen any time of any day. The words may have been different, but the message was always the same. "How do you respond to someone just sending you a random message telling you how good you are?" Bristol Central senior Aaron Hernandez said.

No Girls Allowed: As Number of Female Athletes Increases, Number of Women Coaches Does Not
By Stefan Bondy, The New Jersey Herald

It is one of the few remaining bastions of male dominance, a world that lives by and preaches physical Darwinism. Although the athletic fields of America have been leveled by Title IX and other equity pressures over the past 30 years, their sidelines are a different story. At all levels of sports, no matter the gender of the athletes, female coaches are rare. Of the 7,499 teams listed under member high schools in the most recent edition of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association directory, approximately 21 percent were coached by females. They were outnumbered 170-55 in the Sussex County Interscholastic League. In colleges nationwide, they represent 17.7 percent.

Negative Recruiting & Homophobia in Women's Sport
By Pat Griffin, Women's Sports Foundation

All college coaches engage in efforts to attract promising high school athletes to their school. Coaches using ethical recruiting practices try to "sell" their own program and school by describing its outstanding qualities, excellent opportunities and convincing the athlete that she will have the best chance to achieve her athletic and academic goals at their school.

Athletes Warned About Facebook
By: Elizabeth Pacheco, The Miscellany News, Vassar College

For students across the nation, The Facebook has become a common feature of both college and high school culture. What was first a simple means of communication between college students is now a widespread online community. Earlier this year, students' eyes were opened to the site's potential dangers when a news feed that tracked the movement of every single Facebook member was added. Student outrage rose with the site's new "stalker-like" characteristics, but members continued using the site as more privacy controls were made available. Dangers still remain, however, especially for college athletes. Across the country, college and university athletic departments are taking action to prevent student athletes from publicizing quotes, interests, or pictures that are harmful both to themselves and the reputation of the institution.

Creating an Environment for Innovation in the Office
By David Gass, www.leadershiparticles.net

The environment of the office coupled with other crucial factors acts as a determining factor in the overall thinking process and eventual reactions of your workforce at any specified time. The overall environment plays a fundamental role in shaping the outcomes of events and can result in desirable circumstances or deviations from the goals if not paid appropriate attention.

Transcripts of Athletes Now Receive Closer Review
By Pete Thamel, The New York Times

The NCAA has hired four full-time employees to help address the problem and has empowered its clearinghouse, which reviews the credentials of all incoming athletes, to flag suspicious transcripts. Transcripts will be automatically reviewed for athletes who attended several high schools; who took a high number of courses in one semester and showed a significant jump in average; or who dropped out late in their senior year to transfer to another school.

The Sport of Business: Applying the Lessons of the Playing Field to the Boardroom
By Robin Green Harris, Senior Counsel, Ice Miller LLP

Sports columnists regularly focus on the reasons why a team or individual won or lost a game, match or championship. They delve into athletic performances, coaching strategies, mental miscues and various other aspects of the competition. Rarely do these sports columnists examine what these athletes have learned through the games, through the victories and, perhaps more importantly, through the defeats.


Patriot League to Host Sportsmanship Summit
NCAA News

Continued efforts to foster a collegial environment throughout intercollegiate athletics will get a boost next month when the Patriot League hosts a sportsmanship summit. Participants from each of the league's eight schools will gather December 4-5 to discuss strategies and best practices related to promoting good sportsmanship. The two-day summit will be facilitated by Alan Patterson, commissioner of the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference and chair of the NCAA Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct.

Basketball Coach Reaches Settlement with Birmingham Board of Education
By Ranit Schmelzer, National Women's Law Center

In the 2005 Supreme Court Case, justices ruled that Roderick Jackson could sue for retaliation under Title IX. The Birmingham Board of Education and Roderick Jackson, a high school teacher and girls' basketball coach, reached a settlement in a long-running case that began in 2001 when Jackson was fired as a coach after he complained about the inequitable treatment of the girls' basketball team compared with the boys' team. The case drew national attention when in 2005 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Education that Title IX protections extend to people who complain of sex discrimination on behalf of themselves or others.


Match Maker
By Brad Wolverton, Chronicle of Higher Education

Any knowledgeable college-sports fan would recognize the names Steve Alford, Mark Spitz, and Isiah Thomas, all members of the Indiana University Athletics Hall of Fame. Fewer people have heard of Dave Power, who was inducted this month — but he has had a big impact on my life.

The Passionate Leader
By Lee Colan, leadershiparticles.net

A common characteristic of high-achieving leaders is a deep sense of passion. Passion is the glue that helps teams stick to their plans through adversity and over the long haul. There are three success factors for leaders capitalize on the power of passion.


Marshall U. Hopes a Movie Will Make Its Name
By Sam Kean, The Chronicle of Higher Education

People at Marshall University would rather not think about the first round of headlines after November 14, 1970. On that stormy Saturday night, 37 Thundering Herd football players, eight coaches, 25 university officials and fans, and five crew members boarded an airplane to fly home after a tough loss at East Carolina University. A mile short of the Tri-State Airport, in Huntington, W.Va., all 75 died in what remains one of the worst accidents in college-sports history.

STAC Told Cheerleaders Must Attend Girls' Events
By William Kates, The Associated Press

Cheerleaders in the Southern Tier Athletic Conference will have to cheer at an equal number of girls' and boys' basketball games following a federal government investigation of a parent's complaint that girls' sports were being slighted.

Transsexuals Push Sports to Think Anew: Who Is Male, Female?
By Curtis Eichelberger, Bloomberg.com

John Harper was his high school valedictorian and Male Athlete of the Year. In college, he became an All-Canadian cross-country runner and earned advanced degrees in physics. Yet he carried a gnawing secret. While he had male physical characteristics and sex organs, his brain had developed female, leaving him feeling from a very young age that he was a girl locked in a boy's body. He would eventually lose two marriages -- the second after he told his wife he wanted to correct his sex organs and live as a woman.


NCAA Defends Tax-Exempt Status as Congressional Scrutiny of Colleges Increases
By Brad Wolverton, The Chronicle of Higher Education

The National Collegiate Athletic Association, in a bid to justify its federal tax exemption, said this week that although big-time college-sports expenses continued to rise rapidly, athletics programs still had a largely educational mission.

Radio Slip Reveals an Uphill Battle
Christine Brennan, USA Today

The words came tumbling out in a radio nanosecond. Searching for the proper comparison, the quick sound bite, the smooth answer to the sports world’s latest problem, a veteran sports talk show host uttered a phrase that came and went so swiftly he didn’t even remember saying it. Mike Greenberg, co-host of ESPN's popular Mike & Mike in the Morning show, was trying to make a point about how New York Mets pitcher Guillermo Mota, baseball’s latest cheater, had owned up to his steroid use in the wake of his 50-game suspension.

The Innovation Leader: Creating an Environment for Innovation
By Robert B. Rosenfeld, Making the Invisible Visible: The Human Principles
for Sustaining Innovation

Innovation doesn't crop up overnight in organizations; it needs to be nurtured. Even so, avoid the temptation to separate your "innovation"
efforts from your everyday work. Instead, recognize that innovation thrives in the real world (with all its complications, problems and setbacks) and strive to create an environment that fosters and sustains innovation.


Member Profile - Debra Gore-Mann
Gore-Mann becomes First Female AD at San Francisco
By: Janie McCauley Associated Press

The main door to Debi Gore-Mann's office is usually open, and there's a comfy couch and a jar of candy on the desk. The University of San Francisco's energetic new athletic director has made this an inviting place, a rare bright spot in the basement of Memorial Gym.

College Presidents Call for Increased Disclosure of Athletics Spending
By Brad Wolverton, The Chronicle of Higher Education

By most accounts, the business of college sports appears to be as healthy as ever.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association earns more than $500-million a year from its contract with CBS to televise the men's basketball tournament, money that helps support hundreds of athletics programs. A record 64 football teams in the NCAA's top division will receive a financial lift by appearing in a bowl game this season. And corporate sponsors and generous alumni are infusing millions more into athletics programs across the country.



James Madison University and Title IX: Myths vs. Facts
By National Women's Law Center

James Madison University announced plans in late September to cut 10 athletic teams, explaining these cuts as being necessary for Title IX compliance. This is the Save Title IX Coalition's response.
Myth: Title IX forced JMU to cut its athletics teams.
Fact: Title IX does not require JMU to cut any teams, and JMU itself acknowledges that other factors were at work.

NCAA to Schools: Trim Sports Spending
By Howard Fendrich, Associated Press

When the NCAA set out to improve graduation rates among student-athletes, it established national standards and penalties for teams that didn't comply. Shifting the focus from academics to finances required a much more hands-off approach.

Balance It Out
Greta Bennett, The Chronicle of Higher Education

I really dislike the phrase "work/life balance." Just look at it: Work and Life (which aren't mutually exclusive, by the way) are in a stubborn deadlock, pushing up against one another in a heated battle. Work appears to be tipping the barrier that separates them in its favor, pushing Life (and Balance) out of the way and vying for more than its fair share of your precious time. And Balance is way off by itself, completely unconnected to (and mostly ignored by) Work and Life, who just keep fighting with each other but never really achieve anything resembling Balance…

Women Getting Own Hall of Fame in NYC
By Melissa Murphy, Associated Press

Brandi Chastain's Olympic soccer jersey will be there. So will Sasha Cohen's figure skates from the Turin Games. Sports fans will have a place to view Wimbledon trophies and learn about past and present female athletes and coaches at the Billie Jean King International Women's Sports Center. It's being billed as the first hall of fame dedicated to women's sports, and plans for the center were unveiled Tuesday at the future site of the National Sports Museum in lower Manhattan.

NCAA to Back Off Schools
By Emily Badger, Orlando Sentinel

As the NCAA celebrates 100 years of college athletics, President Myles Brand and a task force of 50 university presidents and chancellors have been preparing for the problems of the next century�\many of which stem from the financial instability of a college game in an arms race with itself.



Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics Reacts to NCAA Task Force Report Published Today

The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics commends the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the 50 current and former presidents and higher education leaders who served on the NCAA Presidential Task Force on the Future of Division I Intercollegiate Athletics. The report published today by the task force builds on the principles emphasized by the Knight Commission in its 1991 and 2001 reports—presidential control and reconnecting athletics with the university mission.

Orlando Media Put More Women on Sports Field
By Juliette Terzieff, WeNews

In few places have female sports journalists been able to burst into the locker room as they have here. At the Orlando Sentinel newspaper, the city's largest circulation daily, women are 25 percent of the sports staff. Three women work as sports anchors on local television stations, amounting to 25 percent of that niche

Membership Profile - Dr. Christine Grant (NACWAA Lifetime Achiever)
The NCAA has named Christine Grant, former director of women's athletics at the University of Iowa, as the recipient of this year's NCAA President's Gerald R. Ford Award.

The award, named in recognition of former President Gerald Ford, honors individuals who have provided significant leadership as an advocate for higher education and intercollegiate athletics on a continuous basis over the course of his or her career.


Betts Champion of Women’s Cause (NACWAA Lifetime Achiever)
By Bob Duffy, Globe Staff, October 3, 2006

"In the 1940s and '50s, Greenwood, Ind., wasn’t exactly rural, definitely not urban. It stood in the shadow of Indianapolis, but you didn’t have to go far outside the city limits," says Jane Betts, "to be in the cornfields." Situated at the crossroads, Greenwood was a microcosm of US women’s athletics at the time. There were none. Oh, the gals could sell corn along the roadside. They could bake apple pies. And if they wanted exercise, there was always quilting. Basketball? Lacrosse? Swimming? Track? Men’s stuff. If women wanted to join a team, that’s what the PTA was for.

NCAA Weighing Membership Expansion to Canadian Schools
By Steve Wieberg, USA Today, October 25, 2006

The NCAA, which already has given its blessing to a football bowl in Toronto, is weighing another step across the border — membership for Canadian schools. A committee of university presidents is expected to recommend in January whether the NCAA should expand beyond the U.S. for the first time and accept Canadian schools on a limited basis. Two have expressed interest: the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario.



AAUP Report Blames College for Gender Inequity Among Professors
By Robin Wilson, The Chronicle of Higher Education, October 26, 2006

The American Association of University Professors is scheduled to release a report today that establishes four indicators of "gender equity" within the professoriate, and offers a listing of how 1,445 colleges and universities measure up. “The report, called 'AAUP Faculty Gender Equity Indicators 2006,' marks the first time that a detailed breakdown of the nation's professoriate by gender has been released for such a large group of higher-education institutions,” said Martha S. West, a professor of law at the University of California at Davis who helped write the report.

Yes to Women's Colleges
By Susan Scrimshaw, The Boston Globe, October 4, 2006

Two women's colleges, Regis College and Randolph-Macon Woman's College, announced recently they will become co-educational. Does this matter? Haven't today's women "made it"? Are women's colleges still relevant today? Yes, every bit as relevant, and in some cases more so, than they were when I was an undergraduate at Barnard College 40 years ago. Women have made extraordinary gains, but women are still the "first" and sometimes the "only" in many settings and situations. There are still wage and opportunity differences. There is still work to be done. Women's colleges are an important place for that work to continue. Women's colleges empower their students. Students say they receive support for who they are, what they bring, what they want to accomplish, and how to get there. You hear "yes" and "why not?" instead of "no" or "why?" And you gain confidence that you are in charge of your future. Even today, when women occupy more than half the seats in a typical coeducational classroom, women at single-sex institutions report having more engaging academic experiences than women at coed schools.

Girls of the Gridiron
By David Lewellen, GM Today, June 15, 2006

When Amelia McCarthy was in sixth grade, the coach at her school asked her to play quarterback on the football team. She went home in high excitement to tell her mother — only to hear, "Girls don't play football." But now grown women do. The Milwaukee Momentum, owned by McCarthy and two other local women, is about to begin its second season in the 34-team National Women's Football Association. Playing at Hart Park in Wauwatosa, they compiled a 4-4 record in their inaugural season in 2005. The team is about much more than wins and losses, however. It's about female athletes pushing into one of the last frontiers, and about little girls realizing that they have more choices.

Women's Leadership in American Sport: Progressing or Backsliding?
By Sheila Robertson, Canadian Journal for Women in Coaching

A common assumption by women in sport outside the borders of the United States is that, thanks in large part to Title IX, their American counterparts are upwardly mobile, moving in ever-increasing numbers into leadership positions as coaches, senior administrators, and, for the purpose of this article, athletic directors (ADs).


The Early Admissions Loophole
By: Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher ED.com

When several elite universities announced this fall that they were eliminating early admissions programs, they were showered with praise for their commitment to ending the special advantages some applicants had over others.

She's a Warrior: Female Coaches Wide Receivers
By Alan Goldenbach, Washington Post Staff Writer

Oh boy, was Jerrard Hunter in trouble. The drill called for him to run a stop-and-go pattern, only the H.D. Woodson High School wide receiver didn't do much of the latter. The pass from quarterback Gabriel Prophet sailed past the 6-foot-2 sophomore, right to the spot to where Hunter should have run, and his coach was seething.


Reciprocation Hosting Agreement between Eckerd College and Florida Tech
Two institutions have come together to develop and implement a plan in case a hurricane strikes their respective campuses. Eckerd College and Florida Tech have signed a reciprocation agreement out of a commitment of both institutions to accomplish two goals: first, to insure the safety of their student-athletics in the event of a hurricane, and second, to create the best opportunity to maintain continuity in their student-athletes' endeavors in the aftermath of dangerous storms that strike their campuses.


6 Universities Win New Grants to Foster Flexible, Family-Friendly Faculty Policies
By Robin Wilson, The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 25, 2006

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation will announce today the six universities that won new grants in a program to help make faculty jobs more flexible so professors can balance the demands of their family lives without damaging their careers.

As Athletes' Graduation Rates Rise, So Do Fears of Academic Shortcuts
By Brad Wolverton, The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 28, 2006

…Wednesday, as the NCAA released its annual graduation-rate report, Mr. Brand's goal (80 percent) did not seem out of reach. The report found that 77 percent of Division I athletes were graduating within six years of enrolling in college, with rates improving sharply in dozens of sports. The higher numbers -- over all, the graduation rate rose 1 percentage point from the previous tracking period -- reflect a change in how the NCAA measures academic success.

An Unwelcome Visitor (Bacterium) in the Locker Room
By Erin Strout, The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 29 , 2006

A deadly bacterium has killed at least one athlete and has colleges scrambling to make their facilities safe…The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) as an emerging health risk and has issued guidelines for athletics programs to follow to prevent outbreaks, including educating athletics trainers and staff members to check suspicious-looking wounds.

Coaches Put Thumbs to Recruits Via Texting
By Mark Alesia, IndyStar.com, September 13, 2006

The NCAA is grappling with the latest recruiting tool, that of text messaging, amid concerns that it’s too costly and invasive. NCAA rules regulate phone calls and the type of material that can be mailed through the U.S. Postal Service; for instance, overnight mail is prohibited. But coaches are allowed to send unlimited text messages and e-mails to recruits after they’ve started their junior year of high school.

Congress Broadens Inquiry into College Sports, Focusing on Academic Problems and Lucrative Programs
By Brad Wolverton, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 14, 2006

A Congressional committee that oversees legislation affecting nonprofit organizations has broadened its inquiry into college sports in recent months, say nearly a dozen college officials who have participated in the investigation. … Ways and Means staff members started questioning athletics officials in January about whether certain revenue generated by athletics programs and the NCAA should be taxed as unrelated-business income.


NCAA Sets Goal of 80% Graduation
From USA Today, September 7, 2006

NCAA president Myles Brand wants to see an 80% graduation rate for Division I athletes, setting what he called an "aspirational" goal Wednesday to build on academic gains of recent years. The 80% mark isn't a requirement. "This is not an official NCAA number," Brand said. "This is Brand's number."


Member Profile: Joni Comstock
oni Comstock, currently the director of athletics and recreational sports at American University, has accepted a position on the NCAA staff as senior vice-president for championships. She will also serve as the Association’s senior woman administrator. Comstock will assume her new duties September 29th at the NCAA national office in Indianapolis. In her new position, Comstock will report directly to NCAA president Myles Brand and oversee 85 championships each year, in addition to supervising the statistics and playing rules staffs and the administrators for the 85 championships. Comstock is very familiar with NCAA championships, having served on the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee and as the committee’s chair since September 2005.


Equity For Michigan's Female Athletes Could Finally Be Realized
National Women's Law Center, August 16, 2006

Victory in an eight-year battle to obtain equal treatment for high school girls in Michigan may finally have been reached as the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals today reaffirmed an earlier ruling that the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) discriminates against female high school athletes by scheduling only their sports in nontraditional and less advantageous seasons, in violation of the U.S. Constitution and Title IX. The National Women's Law Center, which is of counsel in the class action law suit Communities for Equity v. MHSAA, praised the decision and urged MHSAA to immediately bring its scheduling of girls' sports into compliance with the law.

Closing the Gaps: Like Football, Women's College Basketball Has Few Black Head Coaches
By: Charles Hallman, Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

There are so few Black head coaches in big-time college football at last count, five but the paltry number of Black women running big-time college basketball programs has been virtually ignored.

Penguin Chronicles: All in the Family
By: John Bingham, Active.com

There are times when a single image is crystallized into a lifetime's memory. These are moments of transcendence, awareness and enlightenment. And sometimes these memories become road signs that direct us along the highway of our lives.

Disabled Women Push Barriers in Sports
By Kristin Bender, WeNews, August 11, 2006

Disabled women lag behind their male counterparts in competing in sports events. But opportunities and recognition are gradually expanding and one Paralympic swimmer is training for 2008 in Beijing.

When people ask wheelchair racer Jean Driscoll, the eight-time champion of the Boston Marathon in the wheelchair division, about the obstacles faced by female athletes with disabilities, she talks about Sharon Hedrick.

Pony Leagues Will Let Deaf Children Use Interpreters
Associated Press, August 17, 2006

The PONY Baseball and Softball league, where Mark McGwire and Alex Rodriguez once honed their skills, will allow deaf children to use sign language interpreters in games under an agreement with the Justice Department.

NSCA Continues Focus on Steroid Education and Awareness
National Strength Conditioning Association, August 8, 2006

From the halls of the United States Congress to the streets of Paris, the controversy around anabolic steroids and other banned substances continues to draw negative media attention.

The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) is committed to educating the athletic public about the inherent risks associated with the use of anabolic steroids, and the importance of providing ethical, healthy and nutritious alternatives to the athlete, doing so through their highly successful Steroid Education and Awareness Program, sponsored by EAS.

News: Girls Are Doing Better (Not Boys Are Doing Worse)
By: Ruth Sweetser, Miami Herald

Beware! Some pundits would have us believe women are taking over the world and trampling men in the process. Sounds ludicrous, right? These individuals have staged misguided attacks on Title IX as well as credible research addressing equity for women and girls in education. One can only wonder why women's success makes them so uneasy.


Doing Your Best
By John Bingham, Active.com, July 13, 2006

Doing one's best -- sounds like an easy enough concepts. "Just do your best, that will be fine," we are told by teachers and parents. But we quickly discover that doing one's personal best is not enough. If you were like me, you found out at an early age that simply doing YOUR best wasn't fine.

Creating a Coaching Culture
Leading Effectively e-Newsletter - July 2006 Issue

What can organizations do to support the coaching efforts of leaders? How can organizational practices ease the specific challenges coaches face? Apply the "three C's" suggests Center for Creative Leadership's Douglas Riddle: create a coaching mindset, champion a standard of excellence for coaching and campaign for coaching communities.

What's in a Name? Leaving the 'I-AA Stigma' Behind
By: Mark Alesia, IndyStar.com, July 25, 2006

For the first time since they were created 28 years ago, the top divisions of NCAA football could get new names next week. Division I-A would become the "Football Bowl Subdivision" and Division I-AA the "NCAA Football Championship Subdivision." The 16-team postseason tournament in Division I-AA would be called the "NCAA Division I Football Championship." The proposal came about because schools in Division I-AA felt stigmatized when the designation, which applies to football only, is used by media and others to describe the entire athletic program. "You get a lot of 'I-AA basketball' labels that were never intended to be for any sport other than football," said Patty Viverito, commissioner of the Gateway Football Conference, which includes Indiana State. "Missouri Valley Conference basketball is Division I, not I-AA, on the same plane as 300-plus other Division I basketball programs. That's the incentive to change the name."

New Vaccine For Cancer-Causing Virus Wins Unanimous Backing From College Officials
By Elizabeth F. Farrell, The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 12, 2006

College health officials gave unanimous support on Tuesday to a proposal to recommend that young women receive a new vaccine that greatly reduces a woman's chance of getting cervical cancer. All nine members of the American College Health Association's Vaccine - Preventable Diseases Committee voted in favor of a recommendation that every woman between the ages of 11 and 26 receive Gardasil, a vaccine manufactured by the American drug firm Merck & Company. The American College Health Association, a nonprofit group, is generally accepted as the top authority in college health, and most college health centers follow the organization's recommendations.

At Colleges, Women Are Leaving Men In The Dust
By Tamar Lewin, The New York Times, July 9, 2006

Nearing graduation, Rick Kohn is not putting much energy into his final courses. "I take the path of least resistance," said Mr. Kohn, who works 25 hours a week to put himself through the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. It is not that Mr. Kohn, 24, is indifferent to education. "What's the difference between an A and a B?" he asks. "Either way, you go on to the next class." He does not see his female classmates sharing that attitude. Women work harder in school, Mr. Kohn believes.

Life After The A.D. (Athletics Director)
By Elia Powers, Inside Higher Ed, July 10, 2006

Vanderbilt University's David Williams, no stranger to collegiate sports, is by now a familiar face at the Southeastern Conference athletics directors' meeting. He attends every event, armed with Commodores gear and the latest National Collegiate Athletic Association gossip. But Williams' name tag must be something of a surprise to the non-regulars: What's a vice chancellor for student life and university affairs doing at a sports convention?




Small Colleges, Short Of Men, Embrace Football
By Bill Pennington, The New York Times, July 10, 2006

Kevin Bosworth's football career here at Shenandoah University amounted to all of 10 plays, across four years otherwise spent watching from the sidelines. No matter. A reedy tight end, Mr. Bosworth wanted to play football, and the college was starting a team. Some small American colleges, eager to attract men to increasingly female campuses, have taken notice of how many students like Mr. Bosworth can be lured to attend by adding football teams. Officials at these colleges say football can bring in more tuition-paying students than any other course or activity — and not just players themselves.

NCAA Decertifies 16 More Preparatory Schools
By Brad Wolverton, The NCAA News, July 6, 2006

The National Collegiate Athletic Association announced on Wednesday that it will stop certifying transcripts from 16 more preparatory schools with dubious credentials, bringing to 25 the number of nontraditional high schools that have failed to clear the association’s tightened academic requirements.

Basketball Committee Turns Down Expansion Proposals
By Michael Marot, The Associated Press, June 30, 2006

The NCAA's little guys could still get locked out of the most lucrative championship event in college sports—even after George Mason's improbable tournament run last year. The men's basketball committee announced it rejected a coaches' proposal to nearly double the size of the NCAA tournament field from 65 to 128, calling expansion unnecessary and not imminent.

Putting A Claim To The Name
By Michelle Butlag Hosick, The NCAA News, July 3, 2006

Endowed academic chairs and professorships have helped universities attract and retain top-notch faculty for decades. That same principle is beginning to catch on in athletics departments as wealthy donors — often former student-athletes — begin to approach athletics departments with a desire to help sustain a program that was such an important part of their lives.



A Classroom Comeback
By Eugene McCormack, The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 7, 2006

Although thousands of athletes who left college early have returned during the past two decades, the numbers have recently spiked. Athletics officials attribute some of the growth to a new incentive from the National Collegiate Athletic Association that rewards teams when former athletes come back. Under the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate formula, which measures how well teams are performing in the classroom, teams with low scores can lose scholarships. But when former players return to complete their degrees, teams earn bonus points that can help them avoid such penalties. The incentive has spurred some colleges to reach out to former athletes as never before, offering free tuition, housing, and other assistance — often in exchange for part-time work in the athletics department.

Queen Latifah Announces Women's Confidence Day
First Wednesday in June Will Celebrate Building Women's Self-Esteem
By Britney Johnson, ABC News Correspondent 
June 7, 2006 — The country is celebrating women's confidence, by official decree. The singer and actress Queen Latifah, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., and the YWCA-USA teamed up today to launch the first annual National Women's Confidence Day on Capitol Hill. Now printed in the Congressional Record, women’s' confidence, self-esteem and self-respect will be officially celebrated the first Wednesday of every June by millions of women across the country.

Initial List of Invalid Prep Schools Released
The NCAA News - June 09, 2006

The NCAA has begun its review of nontraditional high schools to ensure the academic legitimacy of the high schools used in the initial-eligibility process. High schools that are currently being reviewed were selected based on significant irregularities in the information reported to the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse.

What About the Boys?
By Lyn Mikel Brown, Meda Chesny-Lind, & Nan Stein
Published: June 7, 2006
 
We seem stuck in this zero-sum game in which concern about girls means that we necessarily ‘neglect' boys. Years after conservative pundits began to warn of a "war against boys," we've started to see the mainstream media pick up the argument. A USA Today headline warns, "Pay Closer Attention: Boys Are Struggling Academically." Business Week calls the problem "The New Gender Gap" and claims that boys are now "the second sex." In a Newsweek cover story, it's "The Boy Crisis."  The issue has even attracted the attention of the White House, where Laura Bush is leading a campaign to help boys improve in school. She told National Public Radio, "I feel like, in the United States, that we've sort of shifted our gaze away from boys for the last several decades, and that we've neglected boys."

Ticker Envy - For Some, Publicity Is Bottom Line
By Josh Center, The NCAA News, May 22, 2006

A couple of years ago, Division II Presbyterian College had the football game of its life, and the Blue Hose didn't even win. In fact, they weren't even close. After losing to perennial Division I-AA power Furman University, 52-7, ESPN reported the score incorrectly on its BottomLine, telling fans across the country that Presbyterian had scored a monumental upset, 14-7. While Presbyterian Athletics Director Bee Carlton had to deflect the nonstop congratulatory calls that came his way, he says there's no question the mishap on the sports ticker provided the institution with significantly more publicity than it was used to receiving. "The impact (of being on the BottomLine) is difficult to quantify, but there's concrete evidence that there's an impact, at least in the perception of those people who follow sports carefully," Carlton said.

Text Appeal
By John Barr and Lindsay Rovegno, ESPN.com, May 28, 2006

While text messaging recruits is a painless process for coaches, some feel the overwhelming number of text messages recruits are receiving is bordering on intrusive. The NCAA now finds itself questioning the original ruling on text messaging, wondering if the regulations that were created to protect recruits, are in fact invading their privacy. Shane Lyons, who chairs the NCAA's Recruiting Committee on Academics, Eligibility, and Compliance, said the NCAA must find a delicate balance between limiting intrusive contact and allowing coaches to pursue their top recruits. "What is too much? What's not enough?" Lyons said. "We want to give our coaches the opportunity to recruit the right type of athlete for their program, for that institution, allow them to get to know the individual, not only as an athlete but as a person. But there's a balance there as well."

NCAA Studies Adding Schools From Outside U.S.
By Mark Alesia, The IndyStar.com, May 12, 2006
 
The International Collegiate Athletic Association? After licensing a new football bowl game in Toronto last month, the NCAA will study the possibility of allowing schools from outside the United States to become members. Canada's University of British Columbia and St. Clair College have expressed interest in joining the association. The NCAA's highest policy-making group, the executive committee, asked for recommendations on the issue to be delivered in October. NCAA spokesman Bob Williams stressed there is still much to learn, including how Canadian laws might affect NCAA rules.

Title IX Shouldn't Be Used As An Academic Weapon
By Christina Hoff Sommers, USA Today, May 18, 2006

It is common knowledge that American schoolboys are faring poorly compared with girls. The average 11th-grade boy has the writing skills of an 8th-grade girl. Boys receive a majority of the failing grades, while girls garner most of the honors. Women earn 57% of bachelor’s degrees, a gender gap that experts predict will widen. So what are the Department of Education and National Science Foundation doing about the problem of male underachievement?

Study To Sharpen Prospects' Academic Focus
By Michelle Hosick, The NCAA News, May 22, 2006

With an eye toward protecting the academic success of prospective student-athletes, an NCAA working group has been appointed to examine the issue of “early commitments,” particularly in football and basketball. The Collegiate Commissioners Association requires institutions to wait until a prospect’s senior year in high school before offering a letter of intent, but that hasn’t stopped prospects as young as 15 from “verbally committing” before their senior year.

A Life Lesson
By Heather Wood, Golf Course News, May 11, 2006

A handful of Lehigh University graduates now have something on their resumes that not many others can claim – they designed a golf course with a business plan that could make it possible for such a project to be built and sustain itself. What’s more, they could see their plans become a reality. Construction is now beginning on a practice complex on the Bethlehem, Pa., campus that will house driving, putting and chipping ranges as well as a clubhouse.

Male Practice or Malpractice?
By Michelle Hosick, The NCAA News, May 8, 2006

Nearly two years after the issue first began to gain momentum, advocates and opponents of the use of male practice players with female teams both seem to be getting at least some measure of satisfaction. Those who favor the practice are relieved that nothing has changed, while challengers think change may be more achievable than once believed. The matter has been a volatile topic for some time, one even the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics — the issue's staunchest critic — has struggled to address.

For True Reform, Athletics Scholarships Must Go
By John R. Gerdy, The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 12, 2006

The president of the Nat