News in Brief: A Washington Roundup

A Department of Education advisory committee formed to study the status of Title IX met for the fist time in late July. The meeting was not announced beforehand and was not open to the public.

The Commission on Opportunity in Athletics, formed by Secretary of Education Rod Paige in June, will hold meetings around the country to examine ways of strengthening enforcement and expanding the reach of the 30-year-old federal law barring sex discrimination in any education program that receives federal funding. Mr. Paige's move came on the heels of criticism from women's groups that he and the Bush administration did not vigorously support Title IX enforcement.

After the July 29 meeting, the co-chairs of the advisory committee, Cynthia Cooper, a former Women's National Basketball Association star, and Ted Leland, the director of athletics at Stanford University, said the time was right...