Letters to the Editor, summer 2005

From M, summer 2005

Media disrespect

Thanks for the article on Title IX. As a former Lady Gopher living in Chicago, I mainly keep up with women's athletics at the U via the Internet. A story from the old days: During the scandal-plagued [1986] men's season when a player was accused of rape while on the road, the team returned to the Barn and held a meeting just before one of our games. The TV networks were there to cover it. The clip on one news channel that night was a floor-level shot of two men's players sitting courtside watching our game. You could see our lower legs and feet running by as play progressed. The voice-over described the team meeting and who the two players were..."watching the women's game." The announcer didn't even add, as an afterthought, something like "which, by the way, the women won."

Other than living with Sid Hartman's constant negative asides about women in sports sprinkled sporadically in his columns, this was the most egregious example of the kind of disrespect we lived with as athletes at the U in the early to mid-80s.

(Hey J Robinson, women attend the U and unless your daughter goes there, as far as you should be concerned, none of them are girls.)

Lisa Hoelscher Ripley Anonymous athlete

Thank you for the informative cover article regarding the status of Title IX. I was sorry, however, that you neglected to identify the splendid basketball player on page one. Susan Rosol Sano, CLA '85 (n/k/a Susan R Tuveson) Kittery, Maine (Editor's note: We certainly didn't intend to slight the splendid student-athlete in the photo cutout. She is Shannon Bolden, a forward from Marshall, Minnesota, who will be a senior next year.)