Tennis champion Pam Shriver participated in the Virginia Slims World Championship Tennis Series of Chicago on Nov. 6 through 10.

Shriver has played professional tennis since March 1979, when at the age of 16 she won her first singles title at the Avon Futures in Columbus, Ohio. She has enjoyed a top-10 ranking since 1980, and currently is ranked ninth place for singles and second place for doubles in the Virginia Slims Rankings.

From 1983 through 1985 Shriver was the doubles partner of Martina Navritilova, and together they had a winning streak of 109 doubles victories. In 1988, she posted an excellent 60-15 singles record and a 47-5 doubles mark. In addition, she won the 1988 Olympic gold medal with Zina Garrison in doubles. In an ironic twist of fate, Garrison defeated Shriver in the quarter finals of the Virginia Slims Tennis Series of Chicago.

Tennis, however, is not the only activity in which Shriver has an interest. Literacy Volunteers of America also has attracted her attention. Shriver said, “When it (Literacy Volunteers of America) became the offical charity of the Virginia Slims, I made some appearances and became more aware of how many adults, particularly women, are illiterate.”

According to recent Literacy Volunteers of America statistics, 23 percent of all women are illiterate as compared with 17 percent of all men. These figures are upsetting and shocking, but Shriver said, “The interesting thing I would like to know is that of that 23 percent how many are a result of teenage pregnancies, how many left school, and how many who graduated from high school are functionally illiterate.”

And as a result of high school graduates who are illiterate, Shriver added, “Somewhere along the way our education system needs a look.”

Shriver said she is not qualified to teach someone to read, but her sister may have the capabilities. “My sister has her master’s degree in special education, and she teaches dyslexic children. So, someone in our family has the ability to teach people to read,” Shriver said.

“If people involved with the Virginia Slims talk about it (illiteracy), then slowly a consciousness develops,” Shriver explained, regarding the possibility that many Americans don’t realize the amount of people who are illiterate.

“It’s similar to the drug problem that started many years ago; they (the public) didn’t realize to what extent drugs were available in schools and a lot of that awareness is thanks to Nancy Reagan and ‘Just Say No’,” Shriver said. “And if Mrs. Bush continues with the literacy program, the same awareness may occur.”

Shriver said that conquering illiteracy may also prevent people from engaging in a majority of today’s social problems. “The whole subject of reading and education is a major fight against many of today’s social problems,” Shriver said. “If you can read, enjoy books, and enjoy education, then the chances of people falling into the traps of drug and alcohol abuse are much less because their world is much broader.”