by Corinne Murdock | Mar 29, 2022 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
In a joint letter last week to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), University of Arizona (UArizona) current and alumnae swimmers and coaches criticized the decision to allow transgender University of Pennsylvania (Penn) swimmer Lia (née William) Thomas to compete in the Division 1 national championships. The UArizona group asserted that the NCAA “failed everyone” by trying to “appease everyone,” insisting that Thomas worked against the equality of women in sports enshrined by Title IX.
“We are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Title IX this year. From the birth of the NCAA in 1906 until 1972, women had to fight to earn the law that provided equal opportunities for women in sports. It took a male to female transgender person one year to take the women’s swimming national championship title,” wrote the group. “This is not equality. Women’s standings, titles, records, and scholarships are suddenly at risk again. Opening the door to allowing natural born men to acquire precious, life altering financial aid packages often split up between multiple women per team defeats the very essence of the flagship legislation we are ironically celebrating this very year.”
The swimmers and coaches also noted that the UArizona Athletics Director, Associate AD for Diversity, and Senior Women’s Advocate remained silent on the issue of transgender women — men — in women’s sports.
Thomas won the 500 freestyle race, but lost in the 200 and 100 freestyle races; however, Thomas reportedly has lost races intentionally in the recent past. Teammates who reported his intentional losses claimed that he was trying to prove that males don’t have biological advantages to females, observing that it was clear Thomas wasn’t trying. They speculated that Thomas colluded with a transgender male swimmer from Yale University, Iszac Henig, so Henig would beat Thomas and make it appear as though women could outperform men.
“Looking at [Thomas’] time, I don’t think [Thomas] was trying,” the Penn swimmer alleges. “I know [Thomas and Henig are] friends and I know they were talking before the meet. I think [Thomas] let her win to prove the point that, ‘Oh see, a female-to-male beat me.’”
The UArizona swimmers credited their decision to submit their letter based on a letter submitted by University of Texas (UT) alumnae and coaches a week prior. Among those on the UT letter were Olympians and UT Hall of Honor inductees, as well as pro golfer and UT Hall of Honor inductee Cindy Figg-Currier.
The letter, first published in Swimming World Magazine, is reproduced in full below:
Dear NCAA Board of Governors,
Do we have a voice?
It’s hard to express the anguish the women’s swim community has experienced this past week watching the 2022 NCAA Swim & Dive Championships. On one hand, we feel we are witnessing irrevocable damage to a sport that has transformed our own identities for the better. On the other, we have reconnected with each other in sisterhood after many busy years living our lives beyond the water’s edge. We are grateful for the many women who have stood up to publicly speak up in protest of your policies including UT’s swim alumni who penned a thoughtful letter to their Athletic Director and inspired us to write from the University of Arizona alumni perspective. We have collected some of our own thoughts on paper to plead to swimming leadership at every level to take immediate action to protect our women athletes.
In 2008, USA Swimming chief Chuck Wielgus was asked to comment on a “culture of fair play” regarding a female swimmer who had tested positive for a banned anabolic agent called Clenbuterol. He claimed at the time “within the culture of swimming, if you’re doing something you shouldn’t be doing, we want to catch you and throw you out of the sport. In other sports, it’s about excuses and justifications and being innocent until you’re proven guilty.” According to the USADA website, Clenbuterol is prohibited in sport because it “promotes muscle growth through anabolic properties.” The Mayo Clinic reports “the main anabolic steroid hormone produced by the body is testosterone” and that it “has anabolic effects promoting muscle building.” In a little over a decade, USA Swimming, the leading organization of swimming in the world has surrendered its firm stance on fair play. This has encouraged other organizations such as the NCAA to make accommodations for biological men who have had the benefits of testosterone throughout natural development and beyond.
According to Duke’s Center for Sports Law and Policy, “there is an average 10-12% performance gap between elite males and elite females” in sport. What advantage does testosterone have for natural born men in swimming specifically? This year in the 500 freestyle the men’s A standard qualifying time is 4:11.62. The women’s A standard qualifying time was 4:35.76. That is a difference of 24.14 seconds. To put that into perspective, the male swimmer in the last seed going into the meet would be two full laps ahead of his female counterpart in this event. This one example alone demonstrates the advantages a biologically male swimmer has over a female. Physiological advantages exist.
Looking back on another moment in swim history, in 2010 FINA banned the use of high tech performance swim suits as the “shiny suit era” saw “records falling at an alarming rate” due to a competitive advantage given to swimmers who had the suits available to them. This year at the fastest short course swim meet in the world, the body inside the suit is what raises cause for concern.
The decisions of the NCAA this year hoped to appease everyone by allowing Lia Thomas to compete directly with women. Instead, the NCAA has successfully failed everyone. A target was placed on the back of a trans athlete subjecting this person to devastating national outcry and humiliation. This swimmer’s lone points for Penn this March catapulted a team to a top-20 program in the country after failing to score a single point last year. Additionally, women athletes competing in the meet were forced to swim in unfair direct competition therefore eliminating all integrity of the entire championship meet.
We are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Title IX this year. From the birth of the NCAA in 1906 until 1972, women had to fight to earn the law that provided equal opportunities for women in sports. It took a male to female transgender person one year to take the women’s swimming national championship title. This is not equality. Women’s standings, titles, records, and scholarships are suddenly at risk again. Opening the door to allowing natural born men to acquire precious, life altering financial aid packages often split up between multiple women per team defeats the very essence of the flagship legislation we are ironically celebrating this very year.
Female to male transgender athletes do not have the same opportunities as their male to female counterparts. They are heavily disadvantaged when it comes to earning a spot on the team they identify due to strength and speed differences between gender categories. This was represented this year in the 100 freestyle by Yale’s Iszac Henig, a transgender male competing at the women’s championship. This swimmer placed fifth in the event. Henig’s time of 47.52 earned the swimmer an All-American award and added 13.5 points to Yale’s team score. Had Henig chosen to swim at the men’s competition however, the same time would have failed to even reach the men’s A qualifying time of 41.71 by almost six seconds dashing the whisper of a chance this swimmer would even step up to the block.
There were many options the NCAA could have implemented to create a fair environment for women competitors. A trans athlete could compete in the meet that aligns with birth gender such as Henig did. At the championship level, there are 10 lanes available in the pool while only 8 swimmers compete per heat. Therefore, a trans athlete could have been added to any finals heat in addition to the 16 women who qualified without pushing any of the deserving women out of the finals such as VT’s Reka Gyorgy , who personally spoke out about the inequality she was subjected to being shut out of the finals. Trans specific heats with separate awards categories and scoring was another alternative. The NCAA could have implemented the more stringent USA Swimming guidelines at the very least. Moving forward, trans swim meets could be organized and built into a new category of athletic competition similar to the Paralympic or Special Olympic platforms to continue to widen the umbrella of inclusion in athletics.
We are writing this letter to the NCAA who has a President at the helm responsible for cutting both the University of Washington’s swimming programs in 2009. Mr. Emmert stood firmly by his decisions as “the right ones for us.” The NCAA Board of Governors is predominantly men. Of the 65 Athletic Directors in the Power 5, only 5 are women. At the University of Arizona, our Athletics Director, Associate AD for Diversity, and Senior Women’s Advocate have remained silent on this issue unfolding over the course of this entire season. These revelations and disparities alarm us when it seems there was no urgency in skillfully and educationally addressing how the scientific and biologic differences may impact women’s competitions. Do we have a voice? The people responsible for protecting women’s swimming should swiftly rectify the guidelines. The women from the University of Arizona will not quietly stand down while our victories and accomplishments float away.
We are eager and willing to discuss directly with the NCAA potential steps it can implement to create new solutions for the expanding athletic family. Please contact us with your next steps towards a fairer future.
Respectfully,
The Women of Arizona Swimming & Diving
info@womenfins.com
Marshi Smith (02-06) NCAA Champion
Frank Busch 6-Time NCAA Coach of the Year for the University of Arizona (11-17) USA Swimming National Team Director
2008 National Championship Team Members:
Lacey Nymeyer-John (04-08) NCAA Woman of the Year, NCAA Champion, Olympic Medalist
Brandy Collins Maben (04-08) Team Captain
Lindsey Kelly (05-09) NCAA All-American
Taylor Baughman (05-09) NCAA All-American, Team Captain
Caroline Rollins (05-09) Team Manager
Lara Jackson (06-09) NCAA Champion, American Record Holder
Annie Chandler (06-10) NCAA Woman of the Year Finalist
Caitlin Iversen (06-10) NCAA All-American
Carley Beaudreau (06-10) NCAA All-American
Dana Christ (07-11) NCAA All-American
Susana Starbuck (07-11) Team Captain
Lindsey Farella (97-02) NCAA Champion, Team Captain
Julie Manitt Andrew (99-03) NCAA All-American
Jenna Gresdal Davis (02-06) Olympian, NCAA Champion
Lisa Pursley Ebeling (02-06) NCAA All-American, Current Head Coach UNC
Katie Willis (02-06) NCAA All-American
Ryann Hackett (02-06) NCAA All-American Honorable Mention
Danielle Erickson (05-06) Big-12 Conference Finalist (Nebraska)
Emily Strouse (03-07) Olympic Trial Qualifier, Pac-10 Team Champion
Kathryn Elofson (03-07) Pac-10 Champion
Whitney Myers (03-07) NCAA Woman of the Year, 5x NCAA Champion
Julie Stupp (08-09) NCAA Runner up, 2x Team Champion (Auburn)
Grace Kittle (07-12) NCAA All-American
Andrea Smith (08-13) Team Manager
Monica Refsnyder (09-13) NCAA All-American, American Record Holder
Ellyn Baumgardner (09-13) NCAA All-American, Team Captain
Aubrey Peacock (10-12) NCAA All-American
Megan Lafferty (12-13) American Record Holder, Pac-12 Champion
Alana Pazevic (12-14) NCAA All-American, Pac-12 Champion
Elizabeth Pepper (13-15) NCAA All-American
Bonnie Brandon (12-16) NCAA All-American
Emma Schoettmer (12-16) NCAA All-American
Alexandra Martelle (14-18) Pac-12 Finalist
Mackenzie Rumrill (15-19) NCAA Woman of the Year Nominee, NCAA All-American
Mallory Korenwinder (16-20) NCAA All-American
Dennis Pursley (89-03) USA Swimming Team Director 5x Olympic Coach, ASCA Hall of Fame Inductee
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Mar 28, 2022 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Legislation banning critical race theory (CRT) was switched out with a bill to offer corporations a tax break in what may be a welcome respite from the lasting effects of the 2020 pandemic. State Representative Michelle Udall (R-Mesa) championed original legislation banning CRT from K-12 schools, which passed the House last month. Then last week, the Senate Finance Committee erased it all with a strike-everything amendment to instead offer a $4 million tax break for corporations.
Now, HB2112 requires the amount of any federal deposit insurance corporation premiums that are disallowed as a deduction for federal income tax purposes to be subtracted from a corporation’s gross income in this state. Senate Finance Committee Chairman David Livingston (R-Peoria) introduced the striker.
“This will benefit small Arizona banks the most,” claimed Livingston.
Udall didn’t speak on the bill during the committee hearing after the striker was announced. Nobody offered an explanation as to why the CRT bill was done away with, or who caused its demise. AZ Free News reached out to Udall and Livingston with these questions; they didn’t respond by press time.
An Arizona Bankers Association spokesman explained that the bill was necessary because the state failed to decouple its tax cut from changes to the federal tax cut in 2019. Livingston noted that failure to establish the tax cut put Arizona at a competitive disadvantage to other states.
A previous version of the bill failed to pass the Senate Ways and Means Committee. This time around, the amended bill was approved without discussion.
Apparently, parents didn’t get the memo that the CRT ban was no longer in question. Several mothers in support of the bill signed up to speak on the bill; one mother began to speak, only to be informed by Livingston that the bill no longer existed.
A different bill may be the reason for the original HB2112’s eradication — this one, a resolution that would have voters decide whether the state constitution should ban any individual or entity from “compelling or soliciting” belief of CRT tenets, as well as imposing preferential treatment based on them. The resolution would encompass all levels of public education, from K-12 through higher education.
State Representative Steve Kaiser (R-Phoenix) introduced the resolution.
The bill, HCR2001, also passed the House last month along party lines, several weeks after Udall’s bill passed. It passed the Senate Education Committee last week, and will be considered in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Mar 28, 2022 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Monday’s scheduled Senate committee meeting to look into requested Maricopa County records from the 2020 election was canceled after the county’s Board of Supervisors complied with Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s subpoena, following State Senator Kelly Townsend’s (R-Mesa) pushes to have them to respond to her records requests echoing those made in Brnovich’s subpoena. Townsend’s efforts were to assert the will of Arizonans, she said in a press release, noting that she took action when the supervisors didn’t comply with Brnovich’s requests at the beginning of this month.
“I am pleased to report that Maricopa County has complied with the legislative subpoena commanding fulfillment of the Attorney General’s request dated March 9, 2022. The Government Committee scheduled for later today is therefore no longer necessary, as its intended objective has been achieved. The County’s acknowledgement of its duty to timely account for election administration activity is a laudable victory in our pursuit of accountability to Arizona voters,” wrote Townsend. “While the Maricopa County Chairman defends the delay in their response to the Attorney General with indeterminate case law and timelines set by courts, our subpoena conveyed the will of Arizonans, from the branch most representative of the statewide electorate, that the County make election integrity requests a top priority, rather than place them in a public records queue.”
However, Townsend noted that her job wasn’t done. She promised that she and a number of unnamed colleagues would ensure that Maricopa County officials carried out their compliance to the end.
“While I am encouraged by Maricopa County’s evolving attitude towards transparency and compliance, I will be closely following the Attorney General’s ongoing investigation and will be following up with additional inquiries to answer further questions I have as Government Committee Chairman,” stated Townsend. “I stand with my colleagues as we remain committed to engage again when it is necessary for the Legislature’s plenary authority over statewide elections to be exercised.”
Townsend issued her subpoena last Monday. In response, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates claimed it wasn’t necessary to show up to Monday’s scheduled hearing because they already submitted requested records to Brnovich. Gates added that Townsend may not have authority to subpoena their board without permission of Senate President Karen Fann (R-Prescott).
Townsend responded by citing Arizona code, which allows committee chairmen to subpoena individuals.
Gates reasserted to KJZZ several days after Townsend’s remarks that the board wouldn’t respond. Instead, the county’s attorney, Ed Novak, was slated to appear at the meeting.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Terri Jo Neff | Mar 28, 2022 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
The third largest owner of radio stations in the U.S. is getting bigger with the announcement that it is expanding into Arizona and Utah by acquiring Cherry Creek Broadcasting LLC.
New York-based Townsquare Media confirmed last week it has agreed to pay $18.75 million to add Colorado-based Cherry Creeks’ 43 stations in 9 markets to Townsquare’s holdings The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022, pending regulatory approval.
Townsquare is a community-focused digital media and digital marketing solutions company with 321 stations in 67 markets focused outside the top 50. Its only stations in the southwest U.S. have been in Texas, but that changes with the Cherry Creek deal.
Three stations based near the border in Sierra Vista -KTAN Thunder 98.1 (1420 AM and 98.1 FM), KWCD Country 92.3 FM, and KZMK All Hits K101.(100.9 FM)- are part of the deal, as well as three stations in southern Utah.
“Folding Cherry Creek’s quality brands and digital platform into Townsquare is the natural next phase in our growth journey and offers Cherry Creek employees access to a deep bench of resources and guidance to continue their shared mission.” said Jonathan Brewster, Cherry Creek CEO.
“As we’ve grown with the help of partners like Bain Capital Credit, we have maintained our focus on serving small-to-midsize communities and leveraging this platform to build a robust digital-solutions business that advertisers desperately seek.” Brewster added.
Kalil & Co. Inc. acted as exclusive broker for Cherry Creek.
by Terri Jo Neff | Mar 28, 2022 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
A last minute bill which could give voters the chance to significantly increase the pay for Arizona’s 90 lawmakers and double the length of terms for state senators is set to be heard Monday.
The Arizona Legislature is in session at least 100 days each year starting in early January. Under current law, voters have the final say in setting the annual salary for the state’s 30 senators and 60 representatives.
That rate is $24,000 a year which has not changed for nearly 25 years.
However, Sen. David Gowan and Rep. Regina Cobb are supporting legislation under Senate Bill 1180 which would ask voters in November to set legislators’ pay at 60 percent of the governor’s salary. The governor’s annual pay is currently $95,000, meaning lawmakers would be paid $57,000 a year starting in January 2023.
But it is not only pay that would double for a state senator like Gowan, who represents all of Cochise and Greenlee counties, as well as southern Graham County and a portion of Pima County.
SB1180 includes language asking voters to change the length of Senate terms from two years to four years. And although state representatives would still serve two-year terms, all lawmakers would be allowed to serve up to 12 years in each chamber, for a total of 24 years if a lawmakers runs between the two chambers.
The current limit is eight years in each chamber, or 16 years total as a lawmaker.
To get the bill heard at this point in the session, Cobb has introduced an amendment to strike all the language of Gowan’s current SB1180, which was a COVID-19 expenditure reporting bill already passed by the Senate. The “strike everything amendment” is 25 pages that if cleared by the Legislature would put the provisions in front of voters in November as Senate Concurrent Resolution 1018.
Among the provisions is an overhaul the reporting system for lobbyists who make campaign contributions or expenditure on behalf of a state lawmaker.
According to SB1180, the current quarterly reporting of such expenditures would be replaced with a new mandate that those expenditures be reported within five business days. It also significantly increases the type of gifts to a state officer or employee or a member of the officer’s or employee’s householdwhich would have to be publicly reported.
Currently there is a long list of exemptions to the gift rule, allowing some public officials and employees or their families to accept travel, lodging, and speaking engagement fees without the “gift” ever being reported to the public.
The new transparency rules related to lobbyist activity would also require a new web-based digital platform application to allow for real-time entry of information and public accessibility. SB1180 would allocate $10 million to the Arizona Secretary of State to cover that cost.
On Monday, Cobb’s House Appropriations Committee will hear SB1180’s strike everything amendment. If it passes, the new version of the bill would go back to the Senate for approval because the language varies from what the Senate passed last month.
Gowan has been a strong advocate for ensuring more Arizonans can afford to run for the Legislature, particularly those who live hours away from Phoenix.
In the 2021 legislative session, he spearheaded a bill to change the per diem rates for lawmakers from outside Maricopa County. Those rates -which had equaled $60 a day for housing and food since 1984- were raised to $207 a day for the first 120 days of session.
Future rates will be adjusted based on the federal winter per diem rates set annually by the U.S. General Services Administration. Per diems are separate from pay or travel reimbursement.
The per diem bill became law when Ducey utilized a rare procedural maneuver to allow the legislation to take effect without a governor’s signature.
by Corinne Murdock | Mar 27, 2022 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
Mesa Public Schools (MPS) won’t explain where over $32.3 million of their federal emergency funds slated for COVID-related expenditures went. The lack of transparency calls into question the amount of funds funneled into undisclosed areas potentially unrelated to education while teachers struggle for increased salaries and school supply funding.
AZ Free News inquired with MPS about their COVID-19 expenditures after readers requested we look into reports that teachers were asking parents to donate basic supplies like paper because they were running out — and apparently their district wouldn’t cover it. In its annual financial report submitted last October, MPS reported nearly $40 million remaining in their maintenance and operation funds
That led AZ Free News to look into MPS expenditures. The millions we inquired about came from their latest public Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) report. Specifically, we inquired about what was behind the repeated listings of “indirect costs,” “other,” and “etc” expenditures that MPS allocated millions of dollars toward. AZ Free News focused on these expenditures:
- Page 8: the “other (includes indirect costs)” totaling over $16 million
- Page 9: the “etc” expenditures under PPE totaling nearly $1.7 million
- Page 9: the “other” and “indirect costs” together totaling over $554,000
- Page 10: the “COVID relief positions” totaling over $122,000
- Page 10: the “indirect costs” totaling nearly $4.3 million
- Page 12: the “indirect costs” totaling over $9.6 million
With each public records request, MPS officials would refer us back to the public ESSER report. After several follow-ups, MPS General Counsel Kacey King informed AZ Free News that MPS could not fulfill the request further because explanation of those additional expenditures in full would require MPS to “create records.” Under Arizona law, government entities aren’t required to create records that they don’t have.
In all, Arizona has received over $4 billion in ESSER funding. MPS received some of the largest bulk of that funding, coming in second for most ESSER funds received: around $229.2 million, coming in second only to Tucson Unified School District (TUSD).
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
