Lynette Labinger, chief counsel for theplaintiffs in the suit, dismissed Brown's claimsas "a totally bankrupt concept."

"As hard as Brown tried to demonstrate thisrelative interest level--and they spent at least$100,000 in expert witness fees to try to doit--they couldn't," she said.

A school is considered in compliance with TitleIX if its ratio of female to male athletes isproportionate to its total enrollment, if it hasdemonstrated continuing expansion of its athleticprogram to meet female athletes' interests andabilities or if its current program "fully andeffectively accommodates" those interests. Pettineruled that Brown failed to meet any of the threetests.

While Nickel admitted Brown has "not had ahistory of continuing expansion," he said theschool's women's sports program went through ahuge growth spurt in the 1970s.

"In the intervening years there has been farless for the university to do in terms of buildingthe size of the program," Nickel said.

But in his ruling, Pettine noted that only twonew teams had been added since 1977.

"Brown has not proven that the percentage ofwomen participating in, intercollegiate athleticshas increased," the judge added.

Pettine also ruled that Brown failed toaccommodate the abilities of its female athletesby keeping its women's water polo team as a clubsport and women's fencing and skiing asdonor-funded teams, and by demoting its gymnasticsteam in 1991.

Labinger emphasized that the ruling does notrequire that the number of women athletes at Brownbe strictly proportional to the school's totalfemale enrollment. "You can have a significantdisparity and still be in compliance" by meetingthe other two tests, she said.

Nickel defended the demotion of the gymnasticsand volleyball teams, noting that Brown faced a$1.6 million budget deficit in 1991 and that itsmen's golf and men's water polo teams had beendemoted at the same time.

The case began when the women sued, obtaining apreliminary injunction reinstating the teams inDecember 1992. The injunction was affirmed by theU.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals the followingyear, pending the trial.

During the three-month trial that began inSeptember, Brown tried to demonstrate a disparityin interest in sports between its male and femalestudents, without success.

The judge gave Brown three options forcompliance with Title IX.

"It may eliminate its athletic programaltogether, it may elevate or create the requisitenumber of women's positions, it may demote oreliminate the requisite number of men's positionsor it may implement a combination of theseremedies," Pettine wrote.

The judge added that cutting wrote. sports isnot the only feasible option for financiallystrapped schools like Brown.