Wednesday, February 24. 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 3
Supreme Court ruling favors NCAA
Lower courts still may revisit sex bias issue
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court yesterday made it harder to sue the NCAA under a law banning sex bias in educational programs receiving federal aid.
Ruling unanimously, the court said the fact that the NCAA receives dues from federally financed colleges and universities does not open it to lawsuits with the anti-bias law known as Title IX of the Education Acts of 1972.
But the decision left open the possibility that such lawsuits still may be allowed. The justices told a lower court to consider other arguments raised by Renee Smith, an Ohio woman who said she was illegally declared ineligible to play intercollegiate volleyball.
Smith had argued the NCAA can be sued because the dues it receives from member schools makes it an indirect recipient of federal funds
But Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote for the court, "At most, the association's receipt of dues demonstrates that it
indirectly benefits from the federal assistance afforded its members. This showing, without more, is insufficient to trigger Title IX coverage."
Smith's lawyer, Carter Phillips, said he was not concerned about today's ruling, adding he thought Smith had a good chance of convincing a lower court she still should be allowed to sue the NCAA because schools have given it control of athletic programs.
"We clearly live to fight another day." Phillips said.
The NCAA's lawyers told the court during arguments in January that the association was not a federal aid recipient and that athletes should take up discrimination complaints with the individual schools.
Smith, who lives in Wintersville, Ohio, played volleyball for St. Bonaventure in the 1991-92 and 1992-93 seasons. She chose not to participate in the next season, and she graduated in less than three years.
Smith later pursued a graduate degree at Hofstra University and a law degree at the University of Pittsburgh. At each, her attempts to play two more seasons of volleyball were thwarted by an NCAA rule that bars graduate students from competing in intercollegiate athletics at a school other than the one from which they earned their undergraduate degree
Her lawsuit said the NCAA granted men a disproportionate
number of waivers from that eligibility rule. The NCAA said more men sought such waivers and added that a higher percentage of women were granted them.
Today, the Supreme Court disagreed.
A federal judge threw out Smith's lawsuit, but the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated her Title IX claim last year. "The NCAA is not merely an incidental beneficiary of federal funds," the appeals court said.
"Entities that receive federal assistance, whether directly or through an intermediary, are recipients within the meaning of Title IX; entities that only benefit economically from federal assistance are not." Ginsburg wrote.
The justices returned the case to a lower court to hear Smith's arguments that she should be allowed to sue the NCAA because it receives federal funds through the National Youth Sports Program and on grounds that schools have handed controlling authority to the NCAA.
Baseball 2-5 despite Chad King's streak
Continued from page 1B
which he said was unlikely - his approach would remain the same.
"That's a huge if, in my opinion," King said. "I've just been getting a lot of lucky breaks and bounces."
King has had some notable hits in the past seven games. In the season opener, he hit his first career triple.
"I've been working on my speed, as we all have, and with me in particular, my speed has improved a lot." King said.
Despite King's hitting streak, the baseball team, which is 2-5, has had a disappointing start.
King's next attempt to continue the streak will come this weekend in Lubbock, Texas, when the Jayhawks play Texas Tech, which is ranked No. 22 in the nation.
"Across the board I just try to improve with every at bat," King said. "I don't really worry about errors or my batting average. I just try to play hard."
Edited by Sarah Hale
Washington,team readv for Cowgirls
Continued from page 1B
Washington said. "I just don't think (Halterman) has that role player yet that could help Crow." Washington said her team would not be looking past Oklahoma State no matter how severe an underdog it appeared to be.
"They're the kind of team that doesn't have a thing to lose, and when you play like that anything can happen," she said. "It's the kind of situation where if you're not careful you could underestimate them. I learned a long time ago that's the worst thing you could ever do."
Although Kansas' 20-win season has most likely locked up an NCAA berth, the Jayhawks are motivated to finish the season on a winning note. "You'd like to think you've got something secure, but we've got to keep working hard," Washington said.
Washington:
Won't underestimate the Cowgirls.
—Edited by Steph Brewer
The Starting Lineup
KANSAS
JAYHAWKS
104.4 MILES OUT
7 WEEKS AWAY
JENNIFER JACKSON 5-10 So.
G LYNN PRIDE 6-2 Jr.
F JACLYN JOHNSON 6-1 So.
B BOOKE REVES 6-0 So.
NANIA SANDFORD 6-3 Sr.
Gallagher-Iba Arena • Stillwater, Okla.
HOUSTON — Kim Perrot made a name for herself as a scrapper, a dynamo point guard who wasn't even supposed to make the Houston Comets, let alone help them win the first WNBA championships.
The Associated Press
Fighting the cancer that has spread from her lungs to her brain will take more than a determined spirit. But Perrot says she's up to the task.
"I believe with all my heart and faith in God I will overcome this." Perrot told a hushed gathering of reporters Monday as she went public with her illness. She will undergo surgery today to remove the largest of the tumors in her brain, then two weeks of radiation to fight the rest.
After that, she faces six months of chemotherapy to combat the lung cancer that started it all.
The 5-foot 5 Percert showed little of the feisty demeanor Monday that earned her the reputation as one of the league's most effective defenders. Instead, fighting through tears and halted speech, she showed a quiet determination to beat her most fearsome opponent.
Brain tumor found in WNBA guard
"I've accepted it. I've dealt with it," said Perrot, who herself learned the diagnosis just last Friday after seeking treatment for weakness on her right side. Doctors discovered a golf ball-sized tumor on the left side of her brain.
Despite starring at the University of Southwestern Louisiana and playing six years of pro ball in places such as France, Sweden, Germany and Israel, Perrot wasn't exactly considered a shoe-in when she joined 54 other players in the Comets' local tryout in 1997. She barely made the team.
After assuming the point guard duties during the first title season, she guided Houston to a 27-3 record and a second trophy last summer. Her 84 steals earned her second place in Defensive Player of the Year balloting.
Playing on two sprained ankles, she capped off the deciding game of the best-of-3 championship series against Phoenix with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists in Houston's 80-71 victory.
"It's just going to be a little set back," Perrot said of the cancer. "I'll be back."
Doctors said it was too early to guess her prognosis, although they were confident her brain cancer could be brought under control.
According to Raymond Sawaya,
chief of neurosurgery at the renowned University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, the lung cancer is the biggest long-term worry, but the brain tumors
are the most immediate threat.
A nonsmoker, Perrot's lung cancer is a "low-frequency, random event," Sawaya said. The fact that the cancer had not originated in her brain made that part of her illness easier to treat, he said.
During the operation, Sawaya said, surgeons must be careful not to damage the nearby parts of the brain that control Perrot's movement on her right side.
Though she won't be at full speed while undergoing chemotherapy for the lung cancer, Sawaya held out the possibility Perrot could at least suit up with the team when the WNBA's third season begins this summer.
But whether it's this season or next, the tenacious guard expressed confidence she would return to the court.
"I have no doubt in my mind that I will be playing basketball again," Perrot said. "I wanted to announce this to the public as a demonstration of my faith and a testament to my own will to survive."
WEDNESDAY Dance Party!
dance music only
$1.00 Anything
no cover before 10:00 (after 10 $4 guys, $2 girls)
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- Saturday - $1^{00} anything
842-9845 2515 W. $ 6^{\mathrm {th}} $ St.
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Kansas Union, Level Two March 2,3,4 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Join us for this special event! Official KU Graduation Announcements Official KU Caps & Gowns ArtCarved & Jostens College Rings KU Alumni Association Information Diploma Frames
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