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Wheeler Brown is the best candidate for the athletic director's position at North Carolina A&T State University. His leadership will definitely raise the level of performance of all athletics teams at the university.

Additionally, with Wheeler Brown as athletics director, many former student-athletes and alumni of A&T locally, nationally and worldwide will support him in his efforts to maintain a high level of success.

I know firsthand of Mr. Brown's dedication, determination and hard work. When I entered A&T as a freshman football player in 1977, Wheeler Brown was a senior on the team. He stood out as a leader, and everyone on the team respected him highly. He led by example with the work ethic and dedication he displayed. He offered advice to us as younger players and was a good example to us as he worked to complete his graduation requirements. His influence and inspiration helped us see the main reason we were at N.C. A&T, which was to graduate as student-athletes.

His leadership will unite all athletics programs and coaches at the university as he works to achieve a high level of success in a very professional manner. The experiences he gained from playing for legendary coach Hornsby Howell and coach Jim McKinley (both served as athletics directors) provide him with a unique insight into A&T athletics. Hopefully, his work to prepare himself to be one of the best athletics administrators in the nation will be recognized by the selection committee.

- Johnny Alston, Greensboro

News & Record should give female athletes their due

We can be proud of the News & Record on Jan. 29. In an eight-day span where the No. 4 UNC women's basketball team played No. 1 Connecticut and No. 3 Maryland, and the No. 9 Duke women played No. 2 Tennessee, you finally reported the results of the latter on the front page of the sports section, not buried in the middle.

Of course, in men's basketball during this time, the No. 4 UNC men's basketball win over Miami and No. 3 Duke's win over Maryland deserved front-page status.

It would be easy to dismiss this inconsistency as trivial. But sexism, in any form, is not trivial. It diminishes our understanding and appreciation for the hard work women do in our society, at every level, and perpetuates ideas of inequality that cannot be a part of the N&R mission. Your trained journalists know better.

In a society that needs Title IX to ensure that women have the same rights to sporting opportunities as men, and a nation where people still openly admit they will not vote for a woman to be our next president merely because she is a woman, they should be ashamed of their sexist reporting habits that ultimately detract from the hard work of the athletes themselves.

- Stephen Braye Greensboro

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