[ OUR OPINION ]
Corruption cases
need more biteCITY contractor Michael Matsumoto's plea agreement with the city prosecutor's office is the first in what is expected to be a series of legal actions aimed at putting an end to political corruption in Hawaii. Proof of serious wrongdoing will be necessary in future court proceedings to give substance to Prosecutor Peter Carlisle's strong rhetoric.
A city contractor has pleaded no contest to a charge stemming from contributions to the 2000 campaign of Mayor Harris. THE ISSUE
Carlisle says Matsumoto's conviction of laundering $139,500 in contributions to the 2000 re-election campaign of Mayor Harris "will serve as a remarkable shot across the bow for anybody who thinks of doing this." He vows to "clean up the political system we have in this state right now" through aggressive prosecution of "this kind of conduct."
But Matsumoto, the chief executive officer of SSFM International Inc., has made no admission of engaging in "this kind of conduct." Instead, he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge that he made dozens of campaign contributions under false names to circumvent the $4,000 limit on individual donations to mayoral candidates. He faces no jail time.
He does not confess to giving money to the Harris campaign in exchange for contracts for SSFM, the recipient of $3.7 million in nonbid contracts with the city. Prosecutors have agreed not to prosecute Matsumoto for felony theft or to bring charges against the company or the friends and relatives in whose names the contributions were made. Matsumoto has promised to cooperate with prosecutors, but his criminal lawyer, Howard Luke, says his client has been doing that all along and would have continued to do so, agreement or not.
City Corporation Counsel David Arakawa, a Harris appointee, insists that political contributions have played no part in the awarding of city contracts, and Matsumoto -- at least for now -- asserts nothing to the contrary. Indeed, Harris' civil attorney, William McCorriston, points out that the plea agreement contains no suggestion of any unseemly deal between his client and Matsumoto.
So what is "this kind of conduct?" Deputy Prosecutor Randall Lee declines to say, except that "if you look at the sizable amount of money over the campaign spending limits, the sheer amount alone suggests that there was something compelling to make that sizable donation."
Obviously, "this kind of conduct" involves "something compelling." Stay tuned.
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Keep gender bias
out of college sportsWOMEN'S participation in high school and college athletics has soared because of a 1972 law authored by the late Rep. Patsy Mink that banned sex discrimination in education. A national commission has rejected a proposal to ease those standards, but it has allowed the Bush administration possibly to erode the law through lax enforcement. Schools should have some flexibility in applying the law's standards, but they should not be allowed to distort them.
A national commission has recommended ways to clarify the law banning sexual discrimination in college athletics. THE ISSUE
Title IX, the Mink law, prohibits sexual discrimination in public and private schools that receive federal funds. The law set off a dramatic influx of female participation in sports. The number of women in intercollegiate sports has quadrupled since the law's enactment, while girls competing at the high school level have increased nearly ten-fold.
The law requires that the percentage of women in athletics mirrors a school's enrollment, which is 56 percent nationally, although women comprise only 42 percent of college athletes. Fewer than 20 percent of college athletic programs are in compliance with that standard.
The Commission on Opportunity in Athletics split 7-7 this week on a proposal by Debbie Yow, University of Maryland athletic director, that the split be 50-50, with a flexibility margin of 7 percent. The proposal will be forwarded without endorsement to Education Secretary Roderick R. Paige, who appointed the commission last year.
Title IX allows schools to comply in one of three ways: adopting proportionality with enrollment, having a history of expanding women's opportunities in sports or "fully and effectively" meeting women's interests in playing sports. Most colleges follow the first standard as the simplest way to avoid lawsuits.
The commission recommends expanding the role of surveys of students' interest in participation. A strong factor in that consideration should be that women's interest in sports participation has been skewed downward by their limited opportunities in the past. Surveys should not be relied upon as a gauge in setting standards.
Title IX has been blamed for cuts in men's sports, especially wrestling, swimming and gymnastics. In fact, male participation in intercollegiate sports has increased by 23 percent in the past three decades. Spending on men's sports in Division I colleges has risen 38 percent since 1997.
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