the sports
THE BATTALION Page 9
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 197«
overnment red tape won’t wrap Ags
By SEAN PETTY
_ Battalion Staff
Ithe U.S. government has gone
Id put its red-taped hands into the
Ld 0 f women’s athletics. And as
liiial its proposals to create
luality of spending between men s
|d women’s athletics is full of the
lual loopholes and vagueness ac-
Lpanying most government legis-
r st Wednesday the Department
[ Health, Education and Welfare
loposed rules that could make
[me colleges pump millions of dol-
into women’s athletics.
■Could this happen to Texas A&M
diversity? Can the athletic pro-
| am afford it?
The proposal states that schools
nerally must spend the same av-
a ge amount on each male and
nale athlete in recruiting, schol-
ihips, publicity, dormitory space,
d, tutoring and other special
Inefits.
But, and this is the first loophole,
j football and basketball powers
Lid not be forced to spend as
Judion women as they do on men.
[lexas A&M could be considered a
Tool that has “a big football pro-
inn.” Football is the main
Iney-maker at Texas A&M as it is
in most major schools around the
country.
The main goal of the HEW pro
posal seems to be the upgrading of
women’s sports programs, in gen
eral, to the national competition
level based on interest among
players and fans.
Although some people may dis
agree, Texas A&M is in relatively
good shape as far as expenditures on
women’s athletics according to Kay
Don, assistant athletic director for
women.
"We are really in pretty good
shape,” Don said. ‘‘In 1975 I made a
five-year projection of how much
money the women’s program would
need here. So far, we have tried to
be at the expected level each year
and have done well.
‘‘A big part of the HEW decision
is aimed at schools that have been
dragging their feet in supporting
women’s athletics. But as far as
Texas A&M goes, we are not really
sure what the decision means as far
as added funds to our present pro
gram.”
The proposal leaves too many
items undefined, such as, what is a
big football school? What is the na
tional competition level for women?
What about scholarships and
dormitory space, especially at Texas
A&M where the male athletes live
in a world of their own in Cain Hall
while the women athletes are
spread all over the campus. Spend
ing is obviously not equal in that
area.
Planning for a new women’s ath
letic dorm is under way, yet more
funds are needed.
This proposal may help us a little
in getting action on the new dorm,”
Don said. We hope to be in the
dorm by fall 1980.
The only area we are behind is in
coaches’ salaries,” she said. “We
plan to work on that this year.”
Some of the loopholes in the pro
posal are needed. Teams that com
pete on a national scale would be
granted special allowances over
teams that participate in a regional
or local basis. In other words,
schools will not have to spend as
much money on women’s volleyball
as men’s football. In fact, football
may be exempt from the proposal
after a 60-day period which is set
aside for interested parties to com
ment and propose changes.
“We can’t knock football here,”
Don said. “It has been very good to
us and carries most of the weight of
the athletic program. The goal of the
;ative:
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Don’t forget to
pickup
Aggielands
and
Directories
before you go home
for the holidays
BOTH
ROOM 216 REED MCDONALD
For Aggielands, bring your student ID.
For Directories, you MUST bring your fee slip.
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and while you’re at it, it’s
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proposal is not to cutback on some
sports like football but to increase
spending in areas that have been
avoided in the past.”
“If we can exempt the income-
producing sports, there’s a real good
possibility that we can live with the
decision,” said Marvin Tate, interim
athletic director at Texas A&M.
“Football, of course, is our revenue-
producing sport here and if we had
to spend dollar-for-dollar including
football we d really have problems.
“Well have problems anyway,
but we have a better chance to live
with it.”
While the HEW proposal is a plus
for many schools, its effect on Texas
A&M may not be felt for a while, if
at all.
“I think that schools like Texas
and Texas A&M are not going to be
affected by the decision because
they both take care of their women’s
athletics because they have the
biggest budgets,” Don said.
“Our program here will probably
get to the point where we are going
to need more money from outside
sources. We are reaching the
maximum point where football can
support us and to remedy this, we
must contact people who would give
to women’s athletics but just haven’t
been reached yet.
“Plus, in the future, the cham
pionship tournaments we go to in
volleyball and basketball will be re
turning money to the program,” she
said. “These tournaments, and wo
men’s athletics in general, are very
young and the money will start com
ing in down the road.”
So although some schools could
be hit hard for their discrimanatory
^DISCOUNT TROPHY\
AND ENGRAVING
Fry is prepared
to climb mountains
for Iowa Hawkeyes
attitudes towards women’s athletics,
Texas A&M seems far ahead of the
game. And the proposal, with all its
vagueness, should improve wo
men’s athletic programs across the
nation.
SELL
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — Haden
Fry, the smooth-talking Texan who
is lowas new football coach is not
the kind of person who ducks a chal
lenge.
When Fry was named head coach
at Southern Methodist in 1962, he
inherited a team that had gone 0-10
the previous season. All he did was
put the Mustangs in the Sun Bowl in
his second year and in his fourth
season he guided the team to the
Southwest Conference champion
ship.
Similarly, when he moved to
North Texas State in 1973 he took
over a team that was 1-9 and had
won only seven games in four previ
ous season. His first North Texas
team won the Missouri Valley Con
ference championship and his last
two teams have finished 10-1 and
9-2.
Now the 49-year-old coach faces
the task of reviving Iowa’s football
fortunes. It could be his sternest
challenge yet because the Haw
keyes haven’t seen a winning season
in years but Fry said he is ready to
meet it.
“A lot of people like to climb
mountains. I like to take football
teams and turn them into winners,”
said Fry, who was appointed to the
post Saturday. “It’s a fantastic op
portunity. If I don’t make it I don’t
have anyone to blame but myself. I
damn sure plan on making it.
“I have been shot at and hit many
times. I’ve been associated with
teams that had terrible records. I’ve
been associated with a Southwest
Conference champion. I’ve been
with teams that won bowl games. In
my 49 years of living, I’ve been
around the horn, so to speak.”
Fry succeeds Bob Commings,
who was fired Nov. 27 after a 2-9
season. Commings was head coach
for five seasons, compiling a 17-38
record and was the fourth Iowa
coach fired since the legendary
Forest Evashevski resigned in 1960.
Fry said he was well aware of
what happended to the coaches who
preceded him but added he has
been assured the university is com
mitted to rebuilding the football
program.
University President Willard
Boyd made that commitment on the
day Commings was fired. He re
stated it during the press conference
at which Fry’s appointment was
formally announced.
“I do not want a single program
on our campus that is not outstand
ing,’’ Bond said. “It seems to me our
problem here is football and that’s
what we re going to concentrate on.
We re going to have a football pro
gram.”
To demonstrate their desire, uni
versity officials will pay Fry $45,000
annually and give him a five-year
contract. That is $8,500 more than
Commings was paid this year and
$20,000 more than Commings re
ceived for his first season as coach.
“I have been extremely im
pressed with the people of Iowa
wanting to have a winning football
team,” Fry said. “I have done my
homework to find out if Iowa is
going to be committed, if the uni
versity is going to do what it takes to
have a winner and I have been as
sured it’s going to take place.
“Obviously something is wrong
here,” he added. “I have talked^to
people about this and no one could
put a finger on one thing specifi
cally. To me that’s a plus. There is
only one way to go and that is up.”
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