The Student Newspaper of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Volume XIV, Number 16
Charlotte, North Carolina
December 12, 1978
HEW soys athletic
spending must be equal
By Nancy Davis
If a recent HEW proposal, pro
viding equal spending for men and
women athletics, goes through,
UNCC’s quarter of a million dollar
basketball budget for men could be
cut drastically.
As an effort to keep colleges and
universities in compliance with Title
IX, the proposal would require equal
spending by a school for each athlete,
male or female, in scholarships,
recruitment, equipment, meals,
transportation, hotels and publicity.
According to Joseph Califano,
secretary of HEW, there are excep
tions which would protect the football
programs of major colleges. Califano
said the proposals “recognize that in
tercollegiate football, in particular, is
unique among sports at some institu
tions, because of the size of its teams,
the support staffs and facilities it re
quires and the volume of revenue it
generates."
There are likely to be many heated
arguments over the new proposal.
Many groups applaud the require
ment seeing it as another step in im
proving women’s sports programs.
At the same time, many see it as a
threat to the male dominated college
sports programs.
The announcement brought out
many comments by the UNCC
athletic department. Serving to
benefit from the proposal, UNCC
assistant athletic director for
women’s athletics and women’s
basketball coach, Judy Wilkins, said,
“Overall, if it happens the way it
says, it could kill athletics at UNCC.”
Wilkins, in support of the men’s
basketball budget, says UNCC
couldn't support “two quarter of a
million dollar programs.” She also
said there wouldn’t be a women’s pro
gram without the revenue of the
men's team. “Realistically, it would
only hurt us.
“Now, idealistically,” she con
tinued. “I would love to get the
salary, have the assistant coaches,
have 12 full scholarships and jet all
over the place to games.” Presently
the women's basketball budget sup
ports five grant-in-aids, provides no
housing, no assistant coaches and
must schedule games within a
reasonable driving distance.
Wilkins would rather have a com
promise. “It can be more equal than it
is,” she said. “But if it has to happen,
the women's program won’t be
brought up to that level. . . the men's
program will be brought down.”
The next 60 days have been set
aside by Califano to receive com
ments and criticism. Some modifica
tions are expected, but the proposal is
"expected to be adopted closely to as it
is now. The proposal would go into ef
fect this fall.
(photo by Robin Colby)
Women's basketball at UNCC could take a giant leap forward ifHEW's plans
to equalize spending go through. The men's program could suffer greatly.
Students dislike U.S. support of Shah
By Rebecca Brown
Because universities in Iran are
closed, Iranian students have been
coming to America for their educa
tion. At UNCC, the 85 enrolled Ira
nian students are presently having
money problems. Their tuition is due,
but Iranian banks are not doing
business and the economic life there
has stopped during the general strike.
Most Iranian students here are
middle to lower middle class and their
parents or relatives have been financ
ing their educations through small
business and land sales. Even if funds
could be transferred, the Iranian rial
(currency) has been devalued within
the last year to 40-45 percent relative
to the U.S. dollar.
The short term problem of tuition
payments is in the' process of negotia
tion between the Iranians and the
( Business Office. At the end of the
holy month, Iran’s strike will be
over, but Iranian students opposed to
the Shah have a longer range goal if
the present struggle doesn’t oust the
Shah. Their goal is to educate
American students about Iran, and
try to persuade them to believe an
Islamic republic would be more
responsible to human needs than the
present regime.
UNCC students have seen notices
posted in flowing script, communica
tions written in Farsi between Ira
nians, and notices in English calling
for the Shah’s overthrow and more
particularly the withdrawal of U.S.
support for the Shah. Besides the
notices, Iranian students held an
“Iranian Night” dinner three weeks
ago.
Two Iranian students, who re
quested only their first names be us
ed, spoke with the paper last week.
They felt official government sources
were trying to brainwash the
American people in case the U.S. felt
military intervention was necessary.
According to Ali, the Iranian peo
ple “don't want a monarchy system.
They are fighting for an Islamic
republic. They’ve been fighting for
2,500 years. Right now, with the help
of Islam and Islamic leaders, they
have got the strength to fight the
monarchy.”
The present Shah was ousted in the
late forties, but was reinstated by the
CIA in 1953. Iranians estimate the
U.S. spent $20 million to put the
Shah back in power. In the interim,
the Iranians elected a premier,
equalized exports and imports and
nationalized oil, the students said.
Saeed, the second Iranian student,
commented, “The Shah's regime has
destroyed everything in Iran,” and
explained that 16-20 years ago, before
“modernization,” Iran could feed
itself.
The Iranian students were upset
that industrial plants in their country
were just assembly lines for parts
manufactured else
where. “If someday the U.S. doesn't
want to send the parts to Iran, they’ll
be closed up, really,” Ali commented.
Socialism, the Soviet kind, would
be extremely unwelcome in Iran, the
students say. Shiite Moslems com
prise 98 percent of the population,
and these people want an Islamic
state, where natural resources would
be divided up among Iran's 36 million
people, but under Moslem economic
laws, not under a Marxist regime.
Islam is an especially democratic
religion. The present leader of the
Shiite group, Imam Khumayni,
presently in exile in Paris, is accepted
because he expresses the Views of
many Moslems, rather than th he was
ordained by a religious heirarchy. The
students quoted from the Koran, the
Islamic holy book, “all or you are
brothers and sisters.”
Paraphrasing the Koran, Surah Saf
(Part Eight), Ali said God has promis
ed the oppressed people that if they
will rise and fight against the wrong
things God will help them because
they are the true rulers of the world.
Ali said he saw this society divided
into two parts — consumers and
capitalists, and he and Saeed felt the
Shah's modernization program was
designed to turn people away from
religious considerations and “to make
them busy and not to think about the
facts in Islam.”