Letters

Title IX Committees Needed on Campus

The front-page article "Brown U. Lawsuit Will Color the Future of Women's Sports," May 9, is timely and informative.

I teach at one of the largest universities (close to 40,000 students) with an extensive athletic program. The struggle to achieve gender equality is a continuous task. We have an active university Title IX committee, of which I am currently a member. Our successes have been rewarding, but it requires much effort and vigilance.

My advice to all universities and colleges is to have athletic programs accompanied by an active Title IX committee. The committee should not be managed by the administration, alumni, or athletic director. It should reflect the university community and diversity. Female athletes should have direct access to the committee. The chair of the committee should be a person of integrity and independence with job security.

Such a committee needs to be savvy - not controversial, but eternally vigilant. It must also understand well the provisions of Title IX.

Charles W. Arnade

Tampa, Fla.

Distinguished Service Professor

University of South Florida

Egypt and democracy

Regarding the opinion-page article "The Dangers of Miscalculation in the Middle East," May 3: While the article contains some interesting and valid opinions, the author's assessment of the situation in Egypt is not accurate.

Egypt enjoys a democratic multi-party system, where freedom of opinion and the press are guaranteed and respected. But free speech does not allow criminal activities. No government can accept, and no democracy can survive, laws that have no teeth. Those who break the law must be fully accountable if the democratic rights of the majority are to be honored.

The Egyptian government has launched economic reform that has yielded positive results in improving the quality of life. We do fight terrorism through police actions, but primarily through building a democratic and prosperous society where young people will not be "easy preys to indoctrination," as the author rightly says.

Ahmed Maher El Sayed

Washington

Ambassador

Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt

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