FEDS PROBE COLLEGE'S SPORTS; FEMALE ATHLETES FILED BIAS COMPLAINT IN MARCH.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer Federal education officials began a three-day visit Tuesday at Antelope Valley College Antelope Valley College is a comprehensive community college located in Lancaster, California, USA. It is operated by the Antelope Valley Community College District, with a primary service area of 1,945 square miles covering portions of Los Angeles and Kern counties. to investigate a complaint of discrimination against female athletes. A three-woman team from the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden talked with college President Linda Spink, Athletic Director Athletic director (commonly, "athletics director") is a position at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, which oversees the work of the coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic Brent Carder and Wanda Gallerson, coordinator for Title IX, the civil rights statute that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. ``They are looking into issues raised in the complaint and gathering information. They will conduct an analysis of the data gathered during (their) on-site visit,'' said Rodger Murphey, spokesman for the Education Department. ``If they find inequities, school officials will be informed and will be asked to give us a plan on how they intend to address the issues.'' The civil rights office received the complaint March 4. It alleged the college is discriminating against female students by denying them an equal opportunity to participate in intercollegiate athletics, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. an April 14 letter from the civil rights office to Spink. Specifically, the complaint cited disparities favoring male athletes in ``accommodation of the athletic interest and abilities of women students; provision of opportunities for athletes to obtain work study jobs in the athletics department; provision of equipment and supplies; scheduling of games and practice times; modes of travel and per diem per diem adj. or n. Latin for "per day," it is short for payment of daily expenses and/or fees of an employee or an agent. allowance; opportunity to receive coaching and assignment and compensation of coaches; provision of locker rooms and practice and competitive facilities; provision of medical and training services; provision of publicity; recruitment; and support services support services Psychology Non-health care-related ancillary services–eg, transportation, financial aid, support groups, homemaker services, respite services, and other services .'' ``It's a complaint against us,'' said Steve Standerfer, spokesman for Antelope Valley College. ``The whole reason they are doing the investigation is they are trying to determine whether there is any validity to the complaint. ``From our our perspective, we've tried to offer opportunities for both men and women. We have got a proud record of success in sports for both men's and women's teams.'' Murphey said he could not disclose who filed the complaint or what sports were being targeted. College officials said faculty, staff members and students connected with a variety of sports will be interviewed over the three-day visit. ``The OCR OCR in full optical character recognition Scanning and comparison technique intended to identify printed text or numerical data. It avoids the need to retype already printed material for data entry. is being quite thorough,'' Standerfer said. ``They are looking at the entire program, based on the letter.'' The college athletic programs include football, women's volleyball, men's and women's basketball Women's basketball is one of the few games which developed in tandem with men's. It became popular, spreading from the east coast of the United States to the west coast, in large part via women's colleges. , men's baseball, women's softball, men's and women's track, and men's and women's cross country. The civil rights office team has requested as part of its investigation 37 pieces of information from the college pertaining per·tain intr.v. per·tained, per·tain·ing, per·tains 1. To have reference; relate: evidence that pertains to the accident. 2. to each area contained in the complaint. The requests include copies of budgets for the men's and women's athletic programs for the past two years; a description of the methods used to determine the athletic interests and abilities of students; a description of the program for providing, maintaining and replacing equipment and supplies; competition schedules for teams; and the names of all coaches and summaries of their background and qualifications. |
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