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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 27, 1982)
Women sport winning edge BE THE LIFE OF YOUR NEXT PARTY! WITH COSTUMES FROM ST. VINCENT DE PAUL Go to St. Vincent De Paul at 110 E. 11th for all your party props and costume needs. Lampshades available too! Open nightly until 6p.m. IN FOUR YEARS OF COLLEGE, NOBODY TOLD YOU THIS. They couldn't. There aren't any words for it It’s education in Togo, where you first build the school with your own hands It’s forestry in the West Indies, where forests have been leveled to make charcoal for cooking It’s home economics in the one-fifth of the world where per capita income is $70 a year You measure results not in dollars and cents but in human lives. It’s hard work In fact, it’s the toughest job you’ll ever love THE PEACE CORPS INFORMATION TABLE: UO EMU Lobby, Nov 1-4, 9 a m - 3 p.m FILM SEMINAR Forum Room, Wed , Nov. 3, 3 - 4:30 p.m INTERVIEW BY APPOINTMENT: CAREER PLANNING AND PLACEMENT, 246 Susan Campbell Hall Wed Nov 3, Thurs Nov 4 CALL PEACE CORPS on the UO Campus, 686-3235 By Tony Hazarian Of the Emerald While the men's athletic pro gram has experienced pain and frustration similar to that of the Great Depression in recent years, women's intercollegiate athletics at Oregon flourishes with the vigor of a post-war economic boom Since its inception in the early 1970s, the women’s athletic program has evolved into one of the nation's most successful The cross country and track teams are perennial contenders for the national title while the women's basketball squad has established itself as the top team in the Northwest The vol leyball and gymnastics teams have also gained national prominence in recent years. But without the passage of Title IX in 1975, the women's athletic programs wouldn't have a chance at any limelight They weren't even mentioned in the same breath with the men's program until the new law opened the collegiate sports doors for women It reads: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from par ticipation in, be denied the ben efits of, or be subjected to dis crimination under any educa tion program or activity receiv ing federal financial assis tance.” "It (Title IX) was wonderful,” says Chris Voelz, director of women’s athletics and coach of the volleyball team "Whether it was used as ammunition or a support program, people used it But it was never used against women.” Economically and psy chologically, the times were right for the mandate, Voelz says Universities had the funds and men finally accepled women as athletes "It was timely, and in my opinion, it was absolutely necessary But it would have been timely a century ago,' Voelz says. "One of the things that you must remember is thal we were in a golden age of af fluence and it was a logical step Survival was a given "We were very fortunate Haa they waited and been less ag gressive and more conserva tive, we'd be in trouble right now," she says But if Title IX was a nation wide appeal for successful women's intercollegiate athle tics, why has Oregon's program risen to its present level while other schools have failed? "Oregon had an excellent athletic program before Title IX because of Becky Sisley (former director of women's athletics)," says Tom Heinonen. head coach of the highly successful track and cross country teams. first Of SIX COIISBl/UUVC icyiunc titles and finished seventh at the nationals while the track squad finished second in the region Heinonen’s cross country teams have finished seventh or better at the national cham pionships in each of his years at the helm, including second place finishes in 1979 and in 1982. The success of the track pro gram was the result of a series of "steps that added up to ack nowledgement of our pro gram," Heinonen says. The first of these steps was the recruiting of track stars Melanie Batiste and Debbie Adams, now an as sistant coach with the women s basketball team, in the fall of 1977 "All we could capitalize on in the beginning was the Oregon tradition," Heinonen says. But in the fall of 1978, Heinonen says he "had the best recruiting class in the country." The steps continued in 1979, when Heinonen says fans start ed coming to the meets and noticing the womens' high level of competitiveness "We got to the point where people began to recognize what a good performance was for a woman athlete I can remember when Jody Parker hit the tape at a meet in the 3,000 and a buzz went off in the crowd, recogniz ing she had broken the school record." Heinonen says. The track team has strung together five consecutive regional championships since 1978, and four consecutive top ten finishes at the national championships, including a tie for third in 1981 and a fourth place finish in last year's NCAA championships "We've come from a novelty to a legitimate program," Hein onen says The women's basketball pro gram couldn t fall back on tradition — because there was no tradition In the three sea sons from 1974-1976, the team suffered through three losing seasons and a cumulative record of 10-23 In the 1976-1977 season. El win Heiny took over the strug Continued on Page 7B CHRIS VOELZ "One of the first things she did was give the coaches salaries that kept them here," Heinonen says. She also used Title IX funds wisely, bringing "stability and continuity to the program," he adds. "That's why we have been the lead program in the Northwest for the last five years," he says Heinonen became the head coach of the women's cross country team in the fall of 1975, and took the reins of the track team In the spring of 1977. When he arrived, he says, women's "cross country was non-existent and the track pro gram was excellent by the stan dards of the game "The first year I was the head coach I was a grad student and it damn near killed me," Hein onen says That year Heinon en's cross country team won the asiarTamerican student union present MODERN times theatre! Wy™ with their ott.Broadway i production I ■ STORIES FROM HIROSHIMA I November 3rd 8 p.m. I EMU Ballroom I $3 - EMU Main Desk
