SPORTS UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 1994
Future uncertain for two clubs
By Kent Hohlfeld
Kansan sportswriter
Kansan sportswriter
SECTION B
While the women's crew and soccer teams prepare for the upcoming season, members are uncertain about the future of their clubs.
Both clubs have been chosen to become the University's newest addition to its collection of varsity-level teams. The move was made in order to help bring the University into compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. All federally funded universities must comply with the title in order to keep their funding.
"The law says we need a participation ratio in athletics that is equal to that in the general student population," said Betsy Stephenson, associate director of the Kansas Athletic Association.
Stephenson said the ratio of men to women is 51 percent to 49 percent in the general student population. The ratio of men to women in university athletics is 68 percent to 32 percent. The athletic department hopes that the addition of the two sports will bring the school closer to compliance with the law.
petitive at the varsity level.
The projected cost of elevating the two sports will be $600,000 over the five-year period. Part of that cost will be covered by a $6 student fee passed by the Student Senate last year.
When deciding which clubs to elevate, the department took into account which sports could be com-
"We want to have the sports fully funded by the year 2000," Stephenson said. "We're using this year to do research and locate coaches and equipment."
That consideration helped the crew team, which has competed in national regattas for many years. The women's soccer club benefited from the large number of participants from high schools in the surrounding area.
"It's not a forgone conclusion that just because we are adding the sports to the varsity teams that the clubs won't continue." Stephenson said.
Women's soccer co-president Liana Hemphill said she thought there was a place for both a club-level soccer team and a varsity squad.
Questions remain about what the move will mean to the continued existence of the clubs.
"We also looked at participation reports for colleges and high schools in about an 80 mile radius," Stephenson said.
"There are a lot of people who enjoy playing but can't spend the time that a varsity team requires," Hemphill said. "There are also people who can't compete at that level."
She said that she thought the varsity team would bring a lot of people into the sport and to the University.
The women's crew team faces similar questions about its future, but Laura Poyas, women's crew captain, said she did not think that the move would affect this season.
Stephenson said the athletic department was working slowly in order to avoid hurting the eligibility of any club members who might want to try out for the varsity team.
"In some cases NCAA rules take club experience into account when figuring an athlete's eligibility," Stephenson said.
Jayhawk secondary strong
Togetherness translates to success on the field
By Matt Irwin
Kansan sportswriter
In the past, the Kansas football team's defense looked to its defensive line to lead with its talent and experience. Now it is the defensive backfield's turn.
The Jayhawks return four players with nine years of experience. This includes seniors Gerald McBurrows and Kwamie Lassiter, junior Dorian Brew and sophomore Tony Blevins, who was the Big Eight Conference defensive freshman of the year. Also competing with Brew and Blevins for one of two spots at cornerback is Avery Randle, a red-shirt freshman.
Out of the four, the seniors have the most experience. McBurrows has started 24 consecutive games and Lassiter was named to the all Big Eight team after his junior season in 1992.
Despite the experience and the confidence that this secondary has in each other, McBurrows still believes leadership should come from the seniors and not from a certain part of the defense.
Yumi Chikamori / KANSAN
McBurrows said the backbone of the defense is still the defensive line.
"They contributed the most time," he said of the seniors. "They have a lot to lose. We've put forth a lot of effort. Don't get me wrong. There are talented underclassmen that will step up and play."
Although he believes senior leadership is the key for the entire team, McBurrows agrees this year's defensive backfield has a significant factor within it — cohesiveness. The group has clicked during off-season workouts and preseason practices.
"This is the closest-knit secondary that I've been a part of as far as togetherness, working together and work habits are concerned," McBurrows said. "We've worked out together the past two years, maybe more than that with guys like Dorian and Kwamie."
A void at strong safety needed to be filled after Robert Vaughn ended his career last year. McBurrows was moved to that position during the spring.
In that time, the free safety position was open because the Jayhawks thought Lassiter's college career was over. Blevins began the spring in that spot.
After a long appeal process to get a medical hardship, Lassiter received an extra year of eligibility. He missed most of last year when he broke his collarbone in the season's second game.
Lassiter is an added bonus to an already strong defensive backfield. Brew said that addition will make the Jayhawks tough to defeat in the secondary.
"I feel we have one of the best secondaries in the country," Brew said. "It takes pressure off me when I know that when we come up to press, I don't have to worry about the other guy."
Kansas senior free safety Kwamie Lassiter works through defensive drills. National magazines have rated Lassiter and his teammates in the secondary as some of the Big Eight Conference's best.
Jay Thornton / KANSAN
Kansas junior outside hitter Tracie Walt, left, prepares to block a spike being set by a fellow teammate. All this week, the Jayhawks are preparing for their first tournament
Volleyball faces tough schedule
By Chesley Dohl
Kansan sportswriter
Karen Schonewise believes that a team builds strength and character through adversity. This season's non-conference schedule should prove to be a formidable test of the Kansas volleyball coach's philosophy.
"Our schedule is much stronger than in the past," Schonewise said. "We knew we needed to upgrade our schedule to get the team up to the next level of competition."
This season the volleyball team will be playing more top 20 regionally and nationally ranked teams than ever before. These scheduled teams include Santa Clara State, Northern Arizona, Southwestern Missouri State, New Mexico and Pittsburgh State.
Schonewise said the Kansas volleyball team has always been consistently viewed as a team ranked 60 or 70. But in the next couple of years, she said she hoped to get her team in the top 20 range.
"Early on in the season it's going to take some work to get up to that next level, but the team realizes what has to be done," Chonewise said.
The season may be tougher and the record may suffer at the start of the season, but the players know the experience gained from the early season tournaments will carry over into the Big-Eight conference games.
"Each year the competition keeps getting better," junior outside hitter Tracy Walt said. "Even
if we aren't at the levels of some of the other teams, it still helps us improve our game. This will definitely get us ready for the rest of the season."
One drawback of the harder schedule is that the tournaments will be away games. Normally Kansas plays host to one home tournament early in the season. But this year home games will be rare, and Kansas will be seeing new courts and new teams.
"It will prepare us for the Big Eight schedule where we have teams with higher levels of play," senior middle blocker Jenny Larson said. "Anytime you can raise your level of play it's better for the team all around."
Three weekends this fall the Kansas volleyball team will have out of town road trips to compete in tournaments. The team will leave on Thursday and return to Lawrence on Sunday three consecutive weekends in a row, Larson said.
That can put a strain on student-athletes in the classroom.
"It just makes the academic part that much harder missive three full Fridays of classes," she said. "It's not bad though. We've done it in the past and it's good for us to travel."
The Kansas volleyball team is looking to make the most of the adversity the tough early season tournament competition will provide.
"We're excited about the schedule," she said. "We have lots of new aspects to look forward to this season — new players and coaches."
Talk is cheap in baseball negotiations. issues aren't
No progress made on strike's 14th day
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Talking isn't changing anything for baseball players and owners.
"Maybe one of these days, we'll be able to report some progress," union head Donald Fehr said yesterday after talks resumed for the first time since the strike began Aug. 12. "That day is not today."
With the strike in its 14th day, it still seems there's little chance of an agreement any time soon.
Twelve management representatives and 21 players faced each other across a bargaining table in a room that, including all the lawyers, contained 55 people. The pair of two-hour sessions consisted of speeches, not give and take.
itch continuing to argue for a salary cap.
Talks were to resum today, with management negotiator Richard Rav-
As the number of canceled games reached 169, players released a report by Stanford economics professor Roger Noll, who examined baseball finances for the union and concluded "the claim of widespread disaster in the sport is pure fiction."
"We did not really get to the issue of cost certainty." Ravitch said, adding: "I don't think you can expect any instant change in this."
According to the report, Noll said teams underestimated revenue by as much as $140 million in 1994. However, his statement that revenue is increasing faster than salaries is true only for 1992-93. From 1989-93, player salaries doubled while revenue increased 50 percent.
John Harrington, chief executive officer of the Boston Red Sox, called it a "very biased report" that was a "sideshow and a distraction."
players and 12 management representatives joined their lawyers around a large, U-shaped table, with four officials from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service at one end.
There was plenty of that in yesterday's session. Inside the room, 21
Many fans have said these negotiations are a joke, and Mason proved them right.
"I think these people have no place else to go in the morning," he said of the lawyers. "It keeps them busy."
Players had been insisting for months that owners come to the table. Owners refused until federal mediators entered the talks the day after the strike began.
"It's always better to have it rougher and blunter than have it covered up with a lot of polish," Fehr said.
In the morning session, three owners and nine team representatives gave speeches from two to 12 minutes in length, all insisting a salary cap is necessary to save the game from financial ruin. In the afternoon, players and their lawyers gave speeches
"It reminded me of what you might expect in a preliminary bargaining meeting prior to a strike deadline," Fehr said.
Owners then caucused among themselves, and about two hours later mediators said the talks will resume today.
Ravitch and Harrington agreed the atmosphere improved with owners at the table. Harrington said it could not have happened earlier.
insisting that baseball is a booming business.
"The receptiveness prior to this would not have been there," he said. "It's like any other touchy-feely situation."
Fehr, as usual, was more gloomy in his assessment.
"I don't think that anybody is optimistic about progress," he said. "But the dynamic changes a little bit when you talk to the people who matter."
Protester on roof draws attention
The Associated Press
He readily admits the vigil is a publicity stunt dreamed up by his boss at Pickles Pub.
Two tents, a mattress, cable television, a phone, lawn furniture, compact discs and room, or rather, roof service have eased the ordeal for Cotton.
Pickles Pub is directly across the street from Oriole Park at Camden Yards, which is normally packed with
"We're trying to draw some attention to how bad this is hurting the small people, the non-millionaires," Cotton said.
BALTIMORE — For 13 days, Eric Cotton, a 23-year-old bartender and graduate student, has braved wind, rain, searing sun and dark of night on a bar roof, protesting baseball's ongoing strike.
"I've paid for the fall semester, but not the spring. Right now, I'll probably have to take the spring off and work to make more money.
"We make 70 to 80 percent of our money during baseball season. This is paying for my graduate studies," Cotton said yesterday.
He said he is not being paid during his vigil, but he is getting free food. One customer even sent Cotton $10 and a note of support.
"The note said I' worked my way through college at Dodger Stadium, stick with it.' He said the strike in '81 hurt him. Ten dollars all he could afford, but he said he knew what I was going through." Cotton said.
Other than trips to a bathroom, Cotton has not left the roof. He showers and washes clothes when it rains.
It's also given him a new perspective on humanity.
"There's a lot more bad people in the world than I thought," he said.
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