In case you missed it, and the Bush Administration is hoping you did, on Friday, July 11, George Bush killed off Title IX reform.    It came in the form of a three-page Dear Colleague letter, signed by Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Gerald Reynolds. (I say signed, because I highly doubt Mr. Reynolds wrote the text of this creepy letter).    In effect, after almost three years in office, the Bush Administration decided not to change Title IX interpretation one little bit. In spite of the efforts of the Commission on Opportunities in Athletics, which spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars and a tremendous amount of time and effort reviewing Title IX, George Bush decided to do nothing. After all of the work and public discussion on this issue, the best that George Bush could do was issue a weak little letter that does nothing to deal with the problems.    Instead of having the courage to handle this as an important public policy issue, the Bush White House chose to turn it into a political issue. Due to an unsubstantiated fear of maybe losing some women's votes, George W decided to abandon thousands of male athletes, their coaches and their families. Wrestling, swimming, track and field, gymnastics, baseball and others, you have been sold out.    This "further clarification" letter could have been written by the leaders of the gender quota groups that have yelled and screamed and lied about Title IX ever since the topic reached the national scene. That is why the leaders of these groups are jumping and cheering and acting as if they have won the World Series (and the Stanley Cup and the World Cup and the NBA finals and the Super Bowl, too). All along, they have wanted to keep the status quo, and lock the proportionality gender quota in place. That is exactly what Bush gave them on Friday.    If you have the time, you can read the letter as posted on TheMat.com. Click the link below, and make sure to have a garbage pail available nearby when you feel like wretching.    http://themat.com/pressbox/pressdetail.asp?aid=7982    You might think that this letter kills off the concept of "safe harbor," the enforcement hammer that Norma Cantu created with her 1996 clarification letter. Reynolds tells us in this letter that proportionality no longer has more importance than the other two prongs (continued practice of opportunities for women, plus interest and abilities).    So what if all three prongs of Title IX are supposedly equal? By doing nothing to change the way the law is being interpreted, the proportionality quota remains the easiest and most effective method for college administrators to keep the OCR off their campus. In practice, only proportionality has become safe, as Bush decided to protect the quota from reform. Thousands of more male athletes and hundreds of more men's teams will be cut because this new clarification letter neglected the legitimate needs of college Olympic sports.     The sad part is that during the election, George Bush talked like he understood the problems with proportionality, and might do something about it. The Republican Party seemed to get it a little bit too, because they added a plank to the 2004 Republican platform addressing the issue. But when push came to shove, in a cowardly act of political expediency, George Bush and his advisors caved in to a group of radical feminists who would never, ever vote for George Bush, no matter what he did in office.    What a shame for all of those hard-working Commission members, who spent a year on the hot seat dealing with a challenging issue. All that time, all that effort, all that expertise, was flushed down the toilet because it was easier to appease the well-funded screamers than to stand up for the truth and for principle.    Do I sound a little angry? Damn right, I am. I have worked on this issue within wrestling and the Olympic community for about eight years. I learned enough about the topic to be chosen as a panelist at one of the Title IX hearings. I have seen hundreds of wrestling programs die off in the last 30 years, as well as thousands of other programs in other sports. There is a personal and professional investment at stake.    We all thought that George Bush was a man of integrity and would give us a fair chance in the public debate on this issue. During the Commission process, it seemed that we were actually being listened to for the first time. There was hope for reform. But once the Commission hearings ended, Title IX went back inside the Washington beltway, where the politicians took over. We won the nation but lost the Beltway. The wrong side came out on top. Politics won out over policy and reason.     Somehow, wrestling's top defender in Washington, Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert, let this one get by him. His party, led by the President himself, has chosen to ignore Hastert's position and personal conviction on Title IX. It seems that "Coach" was not able to bring home a win in this political game, at least not yet.    This letter was released late on a Friday afternoon in an attempt to place the decision under the national radar screen. The Bush advisors just wanted to kill off Title IX, so it was no longer a public issue by the time the 2004 elections roll around. It was easier to dash the dreams of young athletes and their families than to stand up for what was right, and for what was promised.    There is something that we can do about this. We can continue to fight the battle, and keep the Title IX travesty in the public eye. The Bush advisors and feminist leaders want Title IX to go away. We have to keep it out there, now more than ever. This is the time to be loud and to be public.    Tell George Bush that his decision to sell out on Title IX is wrong, and that you are mad as hell about it. Call it what it really is, a bush-league political copout.    Here is George's email, switchboard and mailing address. He may never see your letter, but you know his staff will have to read it.    President George W. Bush  The White House  Washington DC 20202  President@WhiteHouse.gov  Switchboard number: 202-456-1111  FAX: 202-456-2461    While you are at it, also send a copy via e-mail to the following people:    Secretary of Education Rod Paige  Rod.Paige@ed.gov            OCR Director Gerald Reynolds  Gerald.Reynolds@ed.gov    Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert  speaker@mail.house.gov    Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D.  Note: Frist will not accept e-mail. You must use his webpage feedback form.  Web Form: frist.senate.gov/contact.cfm    Let them all know you are out there. Let them know that you will always remember July 11, the day that George Bush abandoned you concerning Title IX.