From the cool chicks at Feministe (including the title which is just perfect) ....

* Women don't really understand Title IX or the variety of ways in which impacts education (not just sports and athletics)

* It is under continuous attack b/c we obviously discriminating against boys

* It hasn't been enforced effectively

* The current administration wants to deep-six it. Surprise, surprise.

The uber-cool Women's Law Project hosted a Title IX seminar a few years ago which your Correspondents attended.  It was fascinating for moi as someone who did not really understand it, especially the aspects of gender discrimination underlying anti-bullying programs.    

Here's a few tidbits from the WLP website on Title IX things you should know about here in Pennsylvania:

Slippery Rock University - The lawsuit was brought on behalf of twelve student athletes and a coach against Slippery Rock University (SRU). The lawsuit, filed three months after SRU announced it was going to cut three women's varsity sports, claims that SRU provides neither equitable athletic opportunities for its female students nor equitable treatment of female student athletes.

Report -   Gender Equity in Intercollegiate Athletics:  Where Does Pennsylvania Stand?

Back in the 80's, I decided to join the track team.  The women's team had historically been just a goof off team -- they literally had been doing each other's nails at practice.  Then the school decided to put the entire track program under one coach, Mr. Shar.  That was my first year.  We had the same resources, the same commitment, the same expectations.  Only three women lettered, including yours truly and I got it b/c I was the only woman on the entire team who showed up for every practice and every event even though I only scored one point the entire season.

My point, aside from bragging about my glory days - ahem, is that a lot of people criticized the rest of the women's team for being uncommitted, undisciplined, lazy girls who preferred to do nails than develop their talents and skills.  No one EVER said a word about all those years that these talented women had been shunted off to the side with a do nothing coach, no support, no equipment, nothing.   It was like being set up for failure -- they give us the resources and a few of us succeed which proves that the rest of the girls weren't worth the resource invesment.  What a load of crap.   In fact, I think the fact that I excelled is due to having the best resources from the get go and not having to undo years of second class citizenship. 

We've got a long way to go baby.

7:01 PM  ------- Live tonight on KDKA, John McIntire talks with Mary Cheney for the lesbian perspective on the Ben Roethlisberger situation .... tune into 1020 AM ....

7:15 PM -------- Mary Cheney's book has sold less than 6,000 copies since its May debut according to OnePageQ.

7:16 PM -------- Marriage amendment "its a bad idea, how about that?" says Mary.

7:17 PM -------- She sounds like she's chewing on a duck.  She came "darn close to quitting."  She was troubled working for George Bush, but she stayed for Daddy.  He thinks discrimination should be left to the states.  She also stayed b/c terrorists will hurt our country so she didn't have the luxury to be concerned about same sex marriage. 

7:20 PM --------

7:23 PM -- ----- President Bush has at least tried to have a civil discussion around this. 

7:25 PM ---------  President Bush wakes up every morning thinking "what am I going to do to keep this country safe?"  Just like her Dad. 

7:27 PM --------- "People can look at it that way and its a valid opinion.  People can look at it another way and its a valid opinion."   WTF?

7:29 PM ---------- John tosses gay rights softballs to Mary Cheney. She is possibly the most boring controversial guest he's ever had on the air.

7:29 PM ---------- The Western state of mind.  People treat people as individuals.  Even gays.  Or poor people.  Maybe even poor black gay people.

7:30 PM ---------- KDKA is going to my hometown West Mifflin this week.  Our former police chief faces more than 19 counts of drug charges.  Its a great town. 

7:32 PM ---------- Mary's partner Heather is a nice person who doesn't bitch slap people.  She's supportive blah, blah, blah. 

7:34 PM ---------- Parents come to her book signings and her book helps them deal with having a gay child.  Or they are happy that she says nice things about her parents.  Because people don't do that these days.

7:35 PM ---------- We have purposeful and decisive leadership in Iraq.  They've held 3 elections.  A cabinet has been named.  We got the big one.  But there are still a few insurgents.  John: "and 100,000 innocent civilians are dead."   Mary: "give me a name to verify that."

7:40 PM ------I try to call and the phone rings incesssantly.

7:41 PM ------ A woman calls her on working for the Coors family and reaching out to gays for a conservative company.  Mary takes credit for making the entire Fortune 500 gay friendly.

7:43 PM ------- NOW ITS MY TURN! Mary is making a difference by being open about who she is.  Iraqi gays have more important thiings to worry about than being gay. Then I got cut off.  Oh well ....

7:45 PM ------- I should have listened to my gut and watched the rerun of Friends and Seinfeld.  Or cleaned the cat litter.  I can't believe I got suckered into calling.  Note:  I allowed myself to get suckered -- I was not the sucking victim of any one particular person.

7:47 PM -------  Her goal was to write a book that she could be proud of and sell a few copies.  Pittsburgh is not on the book signing list.

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Overall, this was not very exciting.  She had nothing noteworthy to say about gay issues.  She did show some spunk defending the Iraq war, but has this weird delusion that the President wakes up every day thinking how to keep America safe.  I think Paris Hilton has more insight into the life of the typical American homo than Mary Cheney.  Ah well ... kudos to John for putting her on the air.   

From 365gay comes the tidbit that lawyers for Jennifer Harris, the former player suing Penn State coach Rene Portland for harassment and discrimination, have expanded the scope of the lawsuit.  This move comes after Portland made public statements degrading Harris and dismissing her athletic accomplishments. 

?We're not saying Rene does not have a right to defend herself. Of course she does,? said Harris' attorney, Karen Doering, of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. ?But the law does not permit her to make defamatory statements, which is what she has done by claiming that Jennifer was unable to make contributions to the team.?

The Tribune Review reports that the NCLR has also filed a formal complaint with Penn State's Affirmative Action Office.

"Graham Spanier is the one who said, if she is found to have violated the discrimination policy again, and this is defamation as opposed to harassment, she would be in violation of the school's policy," Doering said. "So, we will see if he does anything."

Of course he won't do anything.  He didn't really mean he would fire the winningest women's coach ever at PSU.  He meant that he would slap her on the other wrist after checking to make sure she didn't violate the real discrimination policy (aka other minority protected classes). 

If Portland were to be fired, she could probably have a nice second career as a housemother for the Duke Lacrosse team.