Obama and Title IX

The Birmingham News has an article titled "Country waits to see how Obama enforces Title IX".  It reveals little about what could be expected; it mostly reports that we just don't know anything yet, nor can we get a read on it.  We in track & field are concerned in terms of whether any new policies will slow or accelerate the rate of track programs being dropped.

 

Obama hardly comes into the situation blind.  His brother-in-law is the head basketball coach at Oregon State University.  He also has a well-deserved reputation as a consensus-builder.

 

But another thing Obama is noted for is seeing how many different issues tie together.  An example would be how our food industry affects not only health care costs but global warming and land management.  So I'd expect little different here.

 

The article does note the following:

"It's not women's fault that schools value their 120th-worst football player more than their top wrestler," she said. "Title IX did not create these priorities. It just says if you have lopsided offerings, you can't cut from (women's athletics)."

 

This is a roundabout way of saying the fault of imploding athletic departments lies not with the federal government or those darned women's libber's but the NCAA itself.  It could have adjusted policy towards Division 1-A football in order to strengthen all sports in general.  But as Glenn Frey sang, "it's the lure of easy money and it has a very strong appeal".  My hope is that Obama will take this issue right to them.