Article of the Week

Week of 1/9-1/13
Directions: Complete all steps below, which includes annotating, answering questions, and margin
notes. You should read this article multiple times before Friday. Be prepared to share your thoughts,
ideas, and opinions on Friday!
Step 1 : Read the article. Use the coding we practiced in class to annotate the article. You can use
the following options:
* important idea

+ you agree

X you disagree

! surprising idea

__ Underline a specific line that you

found interesting

Circle a word you dont know-try to

guess the meaning using context
clues

? you are wondering about that idea

Step 2: Read the article a second time. Number the paragraphs. Read the article carefully and
make notes in the margin. Notes should include:
The 5Ws:
Who is involved in the text?
What is the main subject of the text?
When is the event of the text happening?
Where is the event of the text taking place?
Why is this text written? What is the point?
Comments that show that you understand the article. (A summary or statement of the main
idea of important sections may serve this purpose. You could also [bracket] the paragraph and
write the GIST.)
Questions you have that show what you are wondering about as you read.
Notes that differentiate between fact and opinion.
Make a connection (another event, another historical movement) with something you read (no
personal connections!)
Observations about how the writers strategies (organization, word choice, perspective,
evidence) and choices affect the article.
Step 3: Read the article again noting anything you might have missed during the other reads of the
text.
Step 4: Answer the questions that follow the article. Be sure to use evidence from the article when
necessary.

Equal Pay for Equal Play?

As womens sports become more popular, female athletes are demanding to be
paid like their male counterparts

Notes on my
thoughts,
reactions and
questions as I
read:

By Carl Stoffers | January 9, 2017 | NY TIMES UPFRONT MAGAZINE

The stadium was in Canada, but the crowd chanted U-S-A! U-S-A! The U.S.
womens soccer team had just defeated Japan to win the 2015 World Cupthe teams
thirdand midfielder Carli Lloyd embraced teammates Hope Solo, Megan Rapinoe, and
Abby Wambach. The four players pumped their fists in the air as confetti rained down
on the field. Back home, an estimated 27 million Americans tuned in, making it the
most-watched soccer match in U.S. history.
Yet if the four women had pooled the $75,000 they each received from the U.S.
Soccer Federation for winning, it still wouldnt equal the roughly $400,000 each
member of the mens team would have made if his team had won the same tournament.
Because of that pay disparity, Lloyd, Rapinoe, Solo, and two other teammates filed a
complaint with the federal government last spring. It accused the U.S. Soccer Federation
of wage discrimination for paying women less than men, despite equal workand more
successfrom the women.
When we started to see the mens contracts and saw the differences in pay it really
opened our eyes, says Lloyd, a captain of the womens team. When you do the
comparisons, its alarming.
If the complaint is successful, it could result in the women receiving hundreds of
thousands of dollars in back pay, and the federation could be forced to pay both teams
equally. The U.S. Soccer Federation declined to comment while the complaint is under
review.
The Gender Pay Gap
Gender-based wage differences are nothing new in the United States. U.S. Census
Bureau statistics show median earnings for full-time female workers nationwide are 79
percent of what their male counterparts earn. The issue came up during the presidential

Notes on my

election, with Hillary Clinton arguing that equal pay was long overdue.
(President-elect Donald Trump has said he supported equal pay, with some qualification:
Youre gonna make the same if you do as good a job.)

thoughts,
reactions and
questions as I
read:

According to experts, gender pay differences are partly a result of how Americas
workforce has evolved, both on and off the playing field.
Historically, weve had a male-dominated workforce, says Angela Lumpkin,
professor of sport management at Texas Tech University. They got there first and
established their salaries.
Lloyd and her teammates allege they have it much worse than female workers in
general, earning just 40 percent of what the male soccer players are paid.
The fight for womens equality in sports accelerated after Congress passed the 1972
Education Amendments, including whats known as Title IX. It prohibits gender
discrimination in schools receiving federal aid and has led to explosive growth in female
participation in sports.
A year later, Billie Jean King started the Womens Tennis Association, the first
viable womens pro sports league.
Heated Arguments
Today, men and women are compensated more equally in tennis than in any other
major sport, but the annual prize money paid to the top 100 earners on the mens and
womens tours still roughly mirrors the pay difference in most American workplaces. In
last years Western & Southern Open in Mason, Ohio, for example, Roger Federer
earned $731,000 for winning, while Serena Williams received $495,00068 percent of
Federers prizefor her victory the same day.
That has led to some heated arguments. Last spring, Raymond Moore, the director
of the BNP Paribas Open tournament in California, publicly challenged the notion of
equal pay. He argued that women shouldnt get equal money because they dont bring in
as much revenue for the sport. (Revenue is the overall money generated by a business.)
If I was a lady player, Id go down every night on my knees and thank God that
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were born, because they have carried this sport, said
Moore.
Notes on my

Serena Williams, one of the worlds most popular athletes, responded to Moore,
who later resigned as tournament director. We, as women, have come a long way, she
said. We shouldnt have to drop to our knees at any point.
Other pro sports have even greater pay discrepanciesbut also huge gaps in terms
of how much revenue the athletes bring in. The average base salary in the NBA last year
was $5.8 million, compared with $77,000 in the WNBA, the womens pro basketball
league. The NBAs revenue last year was $5.18 billion. The WNBA, which played its
20th season this year, doesnt release its finances, but estimates put its revenue at about
$35 million.
In the case of U.S. soccer, however, its the women who have more fans. The
federations financial estimates for 2017 project the womens team will generate about
$9 million more than the mens team.
The facts are out there; were generating money, says Lloyd. And now were
fighting for whats right, and thats equal pay and opportunity.
Weve been successful, she adds, and we have leverage now. Its about helping
the next generation of female athletes.

A Tale of Two Leagues

WNBA star Candace Parker (left) earns the league maximum of $111,500 per
year. NBA star LeBron James (right) makes $31 million annually. The NBA
generates billions more per year than the WNBA.

thoughts,
reactions and
questions as I
read:

Directions: Use the article to answer the questions below.

1. Define the following words using context clues from the text.
notion:

revenue:

discrepancies:

2. What is the article mostly about?

3. Why did a group of female soccer players file a complaint?

4. According to the article, how are men and women paid differently in the U.S. in general?

5. When did the fight for womens equality in sports begin to accelerate or move quickly?

6. How has the issue of revenue come into play in the debate over gender pay in sports?

7. Based on what youve read, how should the gender pay gap be rectified? How could the sports business
be forced to make these changes?