Ex-women's coach sues school, alleging gender discrimination

When I was looking at some articles on ESPN.com, I came upon a very interesting article. The article was titled "Ex-women's coach sues school, alleging gender discrimination." The article basically dealt with some of the things we talked about two weeks ago in class. According to the article, Surina Dixon (the ex-women's coach) believed she was fired because she complained about gender discrimination and advocated for gender equity. According to Dixon, she was offered $75,000 per year, while the Men's basketball coach Tony Harvey was given a four year contract which will pay him $150,000 per year. Dixon also claimed that she originally signed a four year contract, but it was changed to a one year deal by Charles McClelland (the new athletic director.) This article reminds me of exactly what we talked in class about the ex-coach at Fresno State because. Both cases are similar in the sense that it seemed that they were both fired because they decided to speak up about the discrepancy between men and women sports. In my opinion, examples like this article are one of the reasons why women do not speak up against schools that are clearly treating men and women different because they are afraid they will lose their job. Examples like this article are also one of the reasons why we cannot improve as a society because there are people who still believe women are inferior to men. I look forward to hearing how the case turns out because am curious to see how the courts will rule.

Nnaemeka Oguguo
KIN 338I

College Basketball Assistant Coaches

Did you guys hear about Dalonte Hill salary for the next three seasons of college basketball? He will be getting paid about $ 420,000 dollars for the next three seasons. My first reaction is that the school might be breaking Title IX's regulations, but as i read on the article it said that Kansas State is a private school. It may seem as though this article has no meaning but it does because schools who are federally funded, now have to compete with salaries given to assistant coaches and their staff. This could potentially eliminate more men's and women's sports for those schools just to stay competitive among elite schools. This guys makes more money than Washington State's staff at $330,000 dollars, he makes more than Wisconsin's staff who make $402,799 dollars and he will make just under Texas's staff at $425,000 dollars. If other schools decide to compete with this salary for one assistant coach; not only will it affect other sports but the women's coaching staff who make significantly less. There will be no equal pay for women who led their teams to national titles and Title IX will again be blamed for being a scapegaot.

Lorenzo Gonzalez
KIN338 sec. 1

Women's Volleyball

In class we have discussed many different types of sports activities that women participate in. Although I am not a very athletic kind of girl, I still enjoy watching and learning about different types of athletic participation. Most of us can agree that going to a sports game, whichever the sport may be, really enthralls the attendee and makes them feel a part of the game. I just recently attended my first women's volleyball game and found it incredibly interesting and motivating in many aspects. I noticed the female players on the teams were so intense in every motion they displayed. They were aggressive, determined, and to my surprise played very much like men. You could tell in their faces how serious they felt about the match and their opponents. I also noticed how supportive the girls sitting out of the game were to their fellow teammates. They cheered their teammates on throughout the entire game. Even if they were falling behind with scores they still were extremely enthusiastic and keep a positive outlook. I really enjoyed the supportive attitudes the most out the whole volleyball tournament. Observing my very first women's volleyball tournament was a really eye opening experience. I could not believe how hard these women played. You could see the strength in their eyes. From an observer in the stands the women played just as well and as strong as men.
- Katie Wilson, Kin. 338I

Gender Roles in Skating

   In class, we categorized the characteristics of male and female. each had its own distinct adjectives that society characterizes each gender.  If we look beyond the separate dichotomies, we can see many similarities that each sex holds.  The middle ground between males and females hold a sense of ambiguity for many of middle america.  If males merged into the female characteristics, the men are perceived homosexual or confused and if females have male characteristics, the women are assumed homosexual as well.  The importance of categorizing what a male and female is very important in judging figure skating.  If a female skater performs very strongly, powerful, and is muscular built, she is described as athletic and a manly skater.  However if a female skater performs very delicately, thin, and skates as though she is a ballerina on ice, she is more likely to place higher than the more power, stronger skater.  The bias in the judging is due to tradition and the conventionalism of society and the sport.  The sport is set in their old traditions and seem to never devise from it.  The sport does not want a butch of butch or athletic skaters to be the idolized "Princess" ice skater.  The sport wants to revere the importance of figure skaters to be dainty, pretty, skinny, flexible, and athletic.  There is contradictory.  For example, Nancy Kerrigan  was praised and honored as being the princess American figure skater, while Tonya Harding  was the truck-driver/trailer trash American figure skater all because of each skater's looks.

Rhea Sy

Kin 338i (Tues/Thursday 2-3:15)

Gender Roles

Today in class we talked about gender roles and how prevalent they are in our society. I can agree that no matter what there will always be some sort of roles that are associated with gender but doesn't mean I like the roles. The problem of gender is it associated with our ever day lives and our ability to be successful in anything even sports. People in society take gender as a way in which females and males should act. When someone steps out of that gender roles they are looked down upon and people do not understand why they are acting out. Women are constantly having to prove their femininity and their athletic ability. A female athlete has to overcome the stereotypes of being a female athlete by women and by men. The more feminine a female athlete is the more publicity and recognition they will receive from the public. The better of an athlete a female is the more she is perceived as as man. A women should not have to be manly to be good at sport or anything is society but they are. Over the years our society has gotten better for female athletes but the issues have not completely been overcome. I hope that things will get better and things will change but they will only change if we change it.
Milissa Prothro Kin 338I

what society taught us... how to feel.

The recent class discussion has been about the various Title IX controversies. Although Title IX was enacted to ensure the equality of education, I agree that Title IX has been used as a scapegoat for the budget mistakes of major school programs. The major issue most people have with Title IX is that it cuts into the funds that were once appropriated to key school programs. When I refer to key school programs I am talking about those sports programs that usually have the best overall win-loss records overtime. It wouldn’t be right to disregard that a team’s win-loss record has no influence on the amount of extended support a program receives. The bottom line is that the more you win the more free “stuff” or athletic apparel or merchandise you receive from sponsors. As a result, the winning teams receive preferential treatment from directors, coaches, and sponsors. I’m not an advocate for this type of behavior but unfortunately this is what I’ve experienced while playing sports. In a sense when you receive all the benefits from this type of behavior you don’t stop to think of those other athletes that dedicate the same amount of practice time you do but receive half the funds. I agree that change is needed, but this change has to start from within a school’s infrastructure.

Kristine Huliganga
T/TH; KIN338I-01 {3201}

Title IX

In class, we've been discussing Title IX and how it has influenced althetics over the last 36 years, since it was enacted. I recently read an article that states that "in the past year, however, two separate and rigorous examinations of athletic participation data provided clear evidence that both men’s and women’s participation have actually increased during the last 15 years" (Cheslock, 2007; Government Accountability Office, 2007). As we discussed, there is no surprise that there is this increase. What did shock me some was that the racial and ethnic diversity influence participation. When Title IX was enacted, sponsorships favored the female sports with the "highest levels or racial and ethnic diversity." More recently, however, sponsorships favor sports with "fewer athletes of color." The article does state that this should not be surprising in that most female sports in which colored athletes participate are already NCAA sponsored. Yet, we still need to support athletes which will continue to provide racial and ethnic diversity in sports so that participation can continue to grow. Should the sports with "fewer athletes of color" receive more sponsorship? Is that, in a way, discriminating against those that play the sports with the "highest levels of racial ethnic diversity?" Also, to stay in compliance with Title IX would you encourage more female participation in sports to avoid cutting men's teams?
BWells
Kin338I.S6