Athletic Equality or Lack Thereof?

Just like all of my classmates, I have embarked on the major project that is "Junior Theme". While investigating every possible topic I was interested in, I came across the topic of women in sports (which ended up being my topic). I was reading further on the topic, when I came across an astonishing statistic about the coverage of women's sports on sports news. According to a study done by USC and Purdue University in 2009, men took 96% of sports news. And as an extension of that, according to this study, on ESPN (the biggest sports network that exists in America today), of the flashing news alerts constantly displayed on the bottom of the screen, 96.4% of the information is devoted to men's sports.

I found this statistic, for lack of a better word, crazy. Considering this study was done in 2009, only 4 years ago, it seems like the television and media end of athletic equality is really lagging behind. Title IX, a law passed to create equality between men's and women's sports, was passed in 1972. That is 35 years before this study was done. That is a very long time, and there has been so much progress made. There are so many more opportunities for women at the college level (although not equal with men in some instances), the growth of opportunities is clearly evident. Because of Title IX, many schools and universities added many women's teams to their varsity rosters.


Considering the history and the progress women's sports have made since the 20th century, I am utterly confused as to why that statistic exists. It seems to me that women's sports are only displayed on TV in rare instances, and more frequently if it is a women's sport that has a larger following than the men's version (perhaps gymnastics, or figure skating). Now, I know there are many sides to this argument. Some say that it is completely unfair, while others say that men's sports are simply more exciting to watch on television, so the networks should air men more often. I side with the group that argues that it is not fair. I believe that women should get much more air time on television, considering they are also athletes at the professional level (or at least at the collegiate level). They are competitive people, who deserve recognition for their talent. I understand that there is no way for the above statistic to dramatically increase to 40% or more anytime soon, because that is not the way society functions. However, I do hope that in the near future that percent is raised by any amount, even a small amount, because that would be a step in the right direction.

Do you think women's sports should get more air-time on national television? 

Wake Up & Pay Attention

Right before I left for school this morning, I glanced at the Chicago Tribune. I saw an article that talked about a recent incident at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. At around 2:40 am on Monday morning, a blue line train derailed in the underground station at the airport and drove up one of the escalators, before it came to a halt. There were more than 30 people injured, but none of the injuries were considered life threatening. According to officials, had the accident occurred at any other time of day aside from just past midnight, that would have been a different story.

The headline I read was talking about the possible causes of the accident. One of the reasons they were investigating was whether or not the driver of the train fell asleep while it was running. This happened very early in the morning, so it is definitely a possibility - I mean, who isn't tired at 2 am? But, this got me thinking about the amount of sleep people get, especially teenagers. Even though a teenager was not driving the train, I saw a clear connection between this incident and the amount of sleep recommended for certain ages.

According to sleepfoundation.org, "Teens need about 9 1/4 hours of sleep each night to function best", but the article also says that "only 15% [of students] reported sleeping 8 1/2 hours on school nights". Now, speaking from experience, I can safely say that I do not get 9 hours of sleep - no where close to it. Usually I get around 7, because I have activities and sports after school, but I also have hours of homework to do. In fact, almost every high school student I know will not get the necessary 9 hours. Teachers try to engrain this idea in your head that sleep is most important, especially in grade school. But once you grow up, at least for me, I quickly realized that the likelihood of me getting enough sleep was slim.

So, without any research to back it up, I am going to guess that this lack of sleep transfers into adulthood as well, and adults need more sleep than they get. Because of this, things like the derail of this train will happen, which is very dangerous. And not only for trains, but things like this could happen while people are behind the wheel of a car as well. I have no proposed solution to this problem of lack of sleep, but do any of you? Also, I know there are many factors contributing to this problem, but what do you think is the biggest or most important?

Erased Completely

If you have been watching the news at all lately, you have most likely heard about the missing Malaysian plane. It has been on every channel, in every newspaper, online, pretty much everywhere. In case you have no idea what I am talking about, over a week ago, an international flight on its way to Malaysia went missing. It lost connection with all control centers and disappeared from the radar. Since it lost connection, no one knows where it is or how it lost connection. There are many different theories floating around – some believe that it was taken over by passengers and the connection was lost deliberately, and others believe that the plane plummeted to the bottom of the Indian Ocean, and that is where it lies now. But, no one knows for sure. All we know is it is out there somewhere, and no one has any idea of where to look.

I think it is such an awful event. I mean, it is so sad for the families’ of the passengers on the flight, because they do not know if their relative is dead or alive. And until they find the aircraft, there is always a tiny bit of hope. Living with no clue as to where your friend or family member is must be an awful way to live.

However, I also find it very odd. I found a CNN article summarizing pretty much everything we have found out about the plane, and in this article they say that there are “26 nations help[ing] try to find the missing plane” and that “the search has expanded to cover large swaths of land and sea, including 11 countries and deep oceans”. Although that is such a large mass of land/sea to cover, considering all the modern day technology, and with the help of 26 countries, how has someone not found the plane yet? Modern day technology is so advanced that it makes me wonder how it is possible for a plane to just disappear, and remain invisible or hidden for this long.

I also think that this could have the same effect on modern day airplanes that 9-11 had. After 9-11 security for airplanes and in airports increased dramatically, and although not with security, I think this could have the same impact. I wonder if they will change the science on the aircrafts to make sure that this never happens again – try to find a way to make it impossible for a plane to lose contact completely. I do not know if that is possible, but I think this event could seriously influence the making of future aircrafts. 

"Based" On A True Story

As many people know, The Academy Awards were last weekend. Usually I try to watch all the movies that are in the running before the show, but this year the only one I got around to watching was Captain Phillips, a movie about a Somali pirate attack on a cargo ship a few years ago. This movie was "based on a true story". Whenever I see those words at the beginning/end of a film, it makes me wonder. How real is this? Is this an accurate depiction of what really happens? And the biggest question of all, how much did they 'Hollywood-ify" it?

Tom Hanks (left) and Phillips (right), who Hanks plays in the film

Ok, I made up the world "hollywood-ify", but I think it is a very common thing. Movies often times exaggerate the plot to draw people in so they can sell tickets. In the film, the crew was depicted as a unit that felt of Phillips as a leader, and a hero. I found an article that says pretty much the exact opposite. In this article, members of the crew are quoted saying that the movie was a lie, and they were the farthest thing from supportive of Captain Phillips. They say that Phillips was "known as a sullen and self-righteous captain". Apparently Phillips was warned multiple times that there were pirates in the water where there ship was sailing, and he was told to go farther off the coast to avoid potential attacks, but he refused to oblige. He ignored all the warnings, against the opinions of the crew. There is much more in the article in which the crew depicts Phillips as the farthest thing from a leader.
change or exaggerate the plot of movies that are based on real events to make the film more dramatic and exciting. So, I decided to look up the story of Captain Phillips and see how accurate the movie really is. I came across something that I found really odd. I found an

But, not going that much more into it, I find it very interesting how the directors and everyone who made the movie kind of molded the story to dramatize it and change the story they were trying to tell. And for people that don't know the story, if they just see the movie, that is what they will believe. They will believe that he was a hero, even though people who were there argue that he was not. I think this is a common theme in Hollywood - when movies are made, they always exaggerate events and/or change the story a tiny bit to make it more appealing to their projected audience, so they can sell more tickets. I see it so often in American-made films, which is very interesting. After reading this article, I can't help but wonder, how many other films have they exaggerated? Are there any films that stay true to the story completely?