A Powerful Noise – The Impact of One Voice

Take part in an exclusive International Women’s Day event on March 5, 2009, featuring the acclaimed documentary film, A Powerful Noise, followed by a live town hall discussion to 450 movie theatres.

Town hall panelists include former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Actress and Activist Natalie Portman, and CARE advocate Christy Turlington Burns who will be broadcast into your theatre.

An official selection of the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, A Powerful Noise is an inspiring documentary that follows three extraordinary women — in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Mali and Vietnam — as they overcome barriers to lead day-to-day battles against ignorance, poverty, oppression, and ethnic strife.

Without an education, women and girls around the world are subject to poverty and exclusion. Together, we can remove barriers and help ensure that every girl gets the chance to learn.

Visit www.apowerfulnoise.org to learn more.

U.S. sends women’s badminton team to Iran

In what may be referred to as badminton diplomacy, the Obama administration is sending a women’s badminton team to Iran this week as part of a broad bid to engage the Iranian people through educational and cultural exchanges.

The 12-member team — four coaches and eight female players including 2008 U.S. Olympians Eva Lee (Orange, Calif.) and Mesinee “May” Mangkalakiri (Garden Grove, Calif.) will travel to Tehran, Iran to compete in the Fajr International Badminton Tournament, February 5-8, 2009, at the invitation of the Iranian Badminton Federation, the State Department said in a statement.

It said the U.S. squad was invited by the Iranian Badminton Federation and that they hoped to extend an invitation to Iran’s national team to come to the United States in July. This week’s trip is being sponsored by the State Department, which since 2006 has promoted people-to-people exchanges with Iran.

The United States cut diplomatic ties with Tehran during the 1979-1981 hostage crisis in which a group of militant Iranian students held 52 U.S. diplomats hostage at the U.S. embassy in Tehran for 444 days.

The nations have remained at odds over many issues, including U.S. accusations that Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons, but in an effort to pursue greater engagement, the two countries have held sports exchanges in recent years.

More than 250 Iranians, including artists, athletes, and medical professionals, have participated in exchange programs in the United States, the department said.

Previous sports exchanges, which started in Jan. 2007, have included wrestlers and weightlifters as well as basketball, table tennis and water polo players. Since then, the department has sent 32 American athletes to Iran and brought 75 Iranian athletes and coaches to the United States, it said.

The badminton trip is the first to take place under the Obama administration, which is considering new approaches to Iran. Those include direct official dialogue and the appointment of a special envoy to deal with Iran, which has not had diplomatic relations with the U.S. since 1979.

The event is sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and results will count toward each player’s international ranking.

Anyone remember Ping Pong diplomacy?

UPDATE: U.S. Women’s Badminton Team refused visas to enter Iran.

Three questions with Title IX pioneer Nancy Lieberman

Basketball Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman grew up playing hoops in Harlem and at Far Rockaway HS in Queens, where she was known as one of the top players in the city – male or female. After she graduated from high school in 1976, Lieberman became the youngest basketball player in Olympic history when she played on the team that won a silver medal at Montreal.

Lieberman attended Old Dominion University from 1976-80, and was the first Lady Monarch to earn a full athletic scholarship. She won back-to-back national championships and an NIT title, and became the first two-time women’s national player of the year. She scored 2,430 points, grabbed 1,167 rebounds, dished 983 assists and had 700 steals in just 134 games.

Lieberman played for several now-defunct women’s pro basketball leagues in the 1980s. In 1986 she became first woman to play in a men’s league when she suited up for the Springfield Fame.

Read Full Daily News Article

Title IX Basics – What Does It Mean?

Gender Equity in Athletic Scholarships
Female students should be aware that federal law Title IX requires athletic scholarships to be distributed in an equitable fashion among the sexes. Consequently, a considerable amount of financial aid is available for women with athletic ability. Read more