maggie coleman can't think of a topic that is as important to women as sports is to men in day-to-day conversation (or the equivalent of sports in women's gossip). I think the fact that women don't talk much about sports may be an artifact of the under-investment of resources in women's sports. Of course, one reason for this under-investment has been women's lack of interest in sports, so it's a vicious circle (or virtuous cirle, depending on your point of view). Due to title 9 (I think that's its number) in the US, the government has had to equalize spending on boys' and girls' sports, so that spending on the latter has been increasing. So maybe women's interest in sports will rise (if my theory is right). I don't know anything about sports (and am glad that advancement in academia isn't dependent on one's ability to use sports metaphors) so I'll shut up. BTW, on the issue of "was the old USSR 'socialist'"? Remember that in THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO, old Karl and Fred used the word "socialist" to refer to more than one viewpoint that they disliked. So we might call the old USSR "socialist" while seeing it as a vicious class society. in pen-l solidarity, Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] Econ. Dept., Loyola Marymount Univ., 7900 Loyola Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90045-8410 USA 310/338-2948 (daytime, during workweek); FAX: 310/338-1950 "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- K. Marx, paraphrasing Dante A.
