Martin
continued from page 1A
Stevens wrote in the opinion.
Granting an exception would “al
low Martin the chance to qualify for
and compete” in events also open to
qualifying members of the public,
he wrote.
Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the
dissent, joined by fellow conserva
tive Justice Clarence Thomas.
“In my view, today’s opinion ex
ercises a benevolent compassion
that the law does not place it within
our power to impose,” he said.
Scalia wrote that for the majority,
“there is one set of rules that is fair
with respect to the able-bodied, but
individualized rules ... for talented
but disabled athletes.” He said the
law “mandates no such ridiculous
thing.”
Eugene Attorney William Wiswall
represented Martin in his lawsuit
throughout the Federal District,
which included arguing the case in
U.S. District Court in Eugene.
“The purpose of the ADA is to
have people bend the rules to ac
commodate the disabled,” Wiswall
said in a 1998 court document.
Wiswall and Walsh legal assistant
Phyllis Bishoff said Wiswall is cur
rently out of the country, but was
“thrilled” and “definitely very, very
pleased” after hearing Tuesday’s de
cision. Bishoff said that the appeals
process was handled by a New York
attorney.
The 1990 Americans with Dis
abilities Act bans discrimination
against the disabled in public ac
commodations, including golf
courses and entertainment sites.
The law requires “reasonable modi
fications” for disabled people un
less such changes would funda
mentally alter the place or event.
That law applies to professional
sports events when they are held at
places of public accommodation,
the justices said.
Mark Phelps, a senior instructor
of international and sports law at
the University’s business school,
said that the decision sets a new
precedent for the American Disabil
ities Act.
“ADA has applications to the
public — what makes this so impor
tant is that now [the ADA] is inside
the playing field.,” he said. “ This es
tablishes, for the first time, that Con
gress intended to get involved at
that level.”
Tuesday’s decision upholds multi
ple lower court rulings that ordered
the PGA Tour to allow Martin use of a
cart during tournament play.
Martin’s legal battle began in No
vember 1997, when he filed a law
suit in U.S. District Court in Oregon
against the PGA Tour for the right to
ride a cart in competition. Five days
after Martin filed the lawsuit, U.S.
Magistrate Thomas Coffin granted
an injunction that allowed him to
use a cart during tournament play.
Following a six-day trial in Dis
trict Court in Eugene, Coffin ruled
in favor of Martin. However, the
Tour appealed the decision to the
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals,
which ultimately upheld the lower
court ruling in March 2000.
In July 2000, the PGA toured ap
pealed the 9th Circuit Court’s deci
sion, and in September the
Supreme Court agreed to hear the
appeal. Tuesday’s decision denied
that appeal.
An official statement released
Tuesday by the PGA Tour reiterated
its position that they believe the is
sues involved go beyond the con
siderations of an individual player.
“Through the lawsuit brought
against the Tour three years ago, the
courts were asked to examine the is
sue of whether the Tour should be
forced to abandon its long-standing
requirement that the rules of com
petition be applied equally to all
competitors,” the statement said.
The PGA Tour said in the state
ment it will continue to welcome
Martin as a member and a competi
tor, and it wished him every success.
Martin’s circulatory condition is
Graduates
continued from page 1A
associate director of the Office of In
ternational Education and Ex
change.
But he said there is still a strong
international community at the
University, with many resources
available to international students.
These resources include the Inter
national Student Association and
other student unions, as well as
the OIEE office, which has several
international student advisors on
staff. These advisors are available
to answer any personal, cultural or
immigration issues students may
have.In many ways, Shirzadegan
said, the concerns of graduating
international students are no dif
ferent than those of other students.
“International students are first,
students — and then international
students,” he said.
But international students face
some issues that other students do
not. For example, those hoping to
stay in the country and work on
their student visa after graduation
must find work that relates to their
field of study. In addition, they can
only work for a total of 12 months
on the visa while not attending
school.
This can be difficult, Yoshida
said.
“It definitely limits you to what
is available,” he said.
Some international graduates
get around this by going on to
graduate school rather than work
ing after receiving their undergrad
uate degrees. Wan-tzu Lee, from
Taiwan, plans on attending gradu
ate school after she graduates this
term with degrees in economics
and Japanese.
Lee said the Chinese Student
Association and the international
student orientation program
helped her to make initial connec
tions. And after spending three
years at the University, she said
she likes nearly everything about
the school — especially the friend
ly attitudes and school spirit of
students.
She has applied to several grad
uate schools, but she said she
hopes to be accepted into the grad
uate program at the University.
“I don’t want to go,” she said. “I
really like it here — the people are
so nice.”
Pick up
campus & community
called Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber
Syndrome. He sued the PGA Tour
in 1997, saying the ADA — enacted
in 1990 — gave him a right to use a
cart during tour events.
Martin was a teammate of Tiger
Woods at Stanford, and the two used
to room together on road trips. Woods
has said that Martin sometimes
would be. in so much pain that he
couldn’t get up to use the bathroom.
Although he has played some
events on the PGA Tour, Martin has
spent most of this season on the
Buy.com Tour, a minor league
linked to the main tour. His best fin
ish this year was a tie for 34th at the
Louisiana Open on April 1.
Jim Furyk, a tour golfer preparing
for the Memorial, said he was happy
for Martin.
“I understand where the Tour’s
coming from, and my heart goes out
to Casey,” he said. “He’s a wonder
ful person, he’s a great guy and a
great competitor. I’m happy he gets
to go ahead and fulfill his dream. I
understood both sides of the story...
if I was Casey I would have done the
exact same thing. I’m happy for him
as a person.”
Annika Sorenstam, the top mon
ey winner on the LPGA Tour, also
said she was happy for Martin.
“He wants to play golf, he wants
to compete and this gives him a
chance to do it,” she said during
practice for the U.S. Women’s Open
at Southern Pines, N.C.
But not all golfers were glad to
hear the news.
Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer
have spoken against allowing any
player to use a cart in elite competi
tion to accommodate a disability.
They have said that using a cart
would give Martin an advantage and
take away a basic part of the game: the
ability to walk an 18-hole course.
“I think we ought to take them all
out and play golf,” Nicklaus said of
the justices. “I think they’d change
their minds. I promise you, it’s fun
damental.”
“Anytime you get to ride you gain
r
an advantage, don’t you?” said
Frank Nobilo, a PGA Tour regular
from New Zealand. “I think you do.
It’s the same reason they try to ban
drugs in sports — because it gives
an advantage.”
One day after the San Francisco
based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Ap
peals ruled for Martin, a Chicago
based federal appeals court ruled
against Indiana golfer Ford Olinger,
who sued the U.S. Golf Association
for the right to use a cart in U.S.
Open qualifying rounds. The ap
peals court said a cart would change
the nature of competition.
Among those supporting the PGA
Tour in friend-of-the-court briefs
were the Ladies Professional Golf
Association and the men’s pro ten
nis organization, the ATP Tour.
The Justice Department backed
Martin, is did disability-rights
groups including the National As
sociation of Protection and Advoca
cy Systems and the Disability Rights
Education and Defense Fund.
The PGA said in the upcoming
months the Tour’s Policy Board will
review and evaluate the Court’s de
cision and determine how that de
cision and the requirements of the
ADA might affect the Tour’s rules of
competition.
Some believe that future actions
will greatly affect the public’s per
ception of the PGA Tour.
' ‘ I think that the PGA and how it re
sponds will have a greater impact on
its public image than what has tran
spired so far,” Phelps said. “If they
were to fight every request for accom
modation — in the same degree as
this case — I don’t believe they will
be viewed in a positive light.”
The Associated Press contributed to this
article.
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