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Anderson wants caucus goers to understand proportionality
By KEVIN EVANS Courier Sports Editor When Iowa's brave few venture out to make their views known on presidential politics Monday, most will have taxes, Social Security, Medicare and the like on their agendas. Former Waterloo resident Dale Anderson is hoping one more issue will be moved to the front burner: Proportionality as it is applied by the U.S. Department of Education and Office of Civil Rights to collegiate athletics. The problem that Anderson, a West Waterloo state wrestling champion and Michigan State NCAA champion, and many like him see is generally thought of as Title IX by the general public, but that's not the case at all. Title IX is well and good, and in fact, Anderson thinks it is a good law. What he doesn't like is the way some bureaucrats interpret the law, and the demands they are making on college programs all over the country. "The legislation is fine," said Anderson, a lawyer himself. "It says you can't discriminate against women, and who can argue with that? That's what we want." The law is gender-neutral, he argues, but the enforcement is not. What proportionality means is whatever percentage of the enrollment of a college is female, that's how many female athletes there should be. The same goes for men. The problem is, there are more females in most colleges, while the majority, a declining majority, of the athletes are males. Anderson says there are three ways Title IX can be satisfied. Two of the three, in theory, will increase the number of opportunities for females in athletics. The three ways to satisfy the law are: * Proportionality * Have a history and continuing practice of increasing female sports; * Accommodate all of the interest of females presently on campus. Proportionality ends up causing colleges to drop men's sports, or at least scale them back. Walk-on athletes are cut first. The other two ways add sports for females. "Proportionality is the only one of the three that decreases male participation, and that's the one they are using the most," said Anderson. "Very, very few schools are in compliance with proportionality right now. "It's a rule made by bureaucrats. It's not legislation," said Anderson. "To make a rule that imposes a quota is so far from congressional intent, it's bizarre. Who would ever think, except in our stupid bureaucracy, that could occur?" Anderson has been fighting this battle for about six years now. He's not paid to do it, and it eats up his time. He thinks that the male population is sitting back and taking it, and that is wrong, he says. "Women have fought so hard for something they believe in, and I admire that," he said. "Males do not fight for their kids. We lost huge amounts and nobody fights for those kids." Wrestling is his sport, but he says no men's sport outside of football and basketball is safe. Petitions opposing proportionality have been circulated throughout the state, and Anderson says well over 5,000 individuals have signed. What he can't understand is the lack of effort on the part of college coaches. Fear is part of the reason, he says, and that scares him. "College coaches are afraid to put the petition out (at meets and tournaments); they're afraid they'll get fired," said Anderson. "There is no free speech on our university campuses anymore. "When I go talk to a coach, we go into a room and whisper because he's afraid to talk. They're afraid to talk if a woman is around because they are afraid the (college) president will find out and fire them. It is outrageous." So, Anderson is going to the people. All presidential candidates except John McCain have been talked to personally by Anderson or someone from Iowans Against Quotas. Republicans Gary Bauer, Alan Keys and Steve Forbes have signed the petition. George W. Bush said he is against quotas, but hasn't gone so far to say he would abolish the rule. "We've got to get people to the caucuses," said Anderson. "I've talked to people all over the state. We have a phone bank." The goal is to have a resolution introduced, and voted on. It reads: "Be it resolved that the (Democratic or Republican) party of (name of county) applauds the intent of Title IX and agree that athletic opportunity is equally important to male and female athletes. "We recognize that the proportionality test for Title IX compliance is a quota that NEVER creates athletic opportunities for females and ALWAYS eliminates athletic opportunities for males. Continued use of the proportionality test endangers the existence of men's Olympic sports in intercollegiate athletic programs. "We urge the Department of Education to eliminate the rule of proportionality, an unfair quota, as a test for Title IX compliance." It's a pretty complex issue, to be sure. But it's hard to see why anyone wouldn't agree with that kind of resolution.
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