Professional Student-Athletes
Should college athletes be paid to play while they are attending school?
Student athletes are different than regular college students. They place themselves in stressful situations voluntarily, choosing to show professional level commitment to a sport all while being a student and working towards a degree. The Discourse of a college athlete is different from the Discourse of a regular college student. Discourse is introduced by James Paul Gee, in his writing Literacy, Discourse, And Linguistics: Introduction, as a “’identity kit’,which comes complete with the appropriate costume and instructions on how to act, talk, and often write, so as to take on a particular role that others will recognize”. (7) When a student athlete is in college they are more than just a student, they are a football player, a basketball player, a hockey player. In that sense, the Discourse of student athlete is more demanding than a Discourse of a student. We recogize this difficulty by attending games and supporting teams. Our love for college athletics provide the universities with opportunities to support themselves.
Americans love college athletics, and its no surprise to say that college sports make money, a lot of money. In 2012 alone the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) reported close to a 71 million dollar surplus, which adds to the now near billion dollar year-end net assets which has doubled from 2007. (USA Today) Claiming to be on reserve for potential lawsuits from the newly formed College Athletics Players Association (CAPA), this new union is poised to earn a substantial amount of money from suits against the NCAA claiming that the NCAA earned revenue from the players likeliness.
This will certainly turn out to be messy court battle with both sides spending absurd amount of money to prove their case. But this case is more than strictly about money due, but also it will set a precedent for the future. If the NCAA must pay past athletes for their participation in college athletics, then current athletes will be close behind looking for their cuts. Change is inevitable, and change will be happening very soon for the NCAA and the term amateurism.
The solution is simple. College athletes deserve to be paid if the college can afford it. Student athletes that earn the university profit should not need to pay for college and have access to a set limit of funds provided by the school. This set limit will keep the all schools relatively equal with one another when it comes to recruitment and will allow students access to money that they can use for themselves.
With 50 universities reporting annual revenues of 50 million dollars and five universities reporting annual revenues of 100 million dollars (US News), these institutions can easily pay for their student athletes. The NCAA can cover lost suits with the extra revenue they have stockpiled and then support universities that need more help covering costs of paying student athletes. This system will still allow the NCAA to gain profits and will settle both sides of the argument.
Resources
Berkowitz, Steve. “NCAA had record $71 million surplus in fiscal 2012." USA today. Gannett Company, May 2 2013. Web. December 7 2014.
Edelman, Marc. “The Case for Paying College Athletes.” US News. n.p. January 6 2014. Web. December 9 2014.
Gee, James Paul. Literary, Discourse, And Linguistics: Introduction. Vol. 171. Boston: Trustees of Boston University, 1989. Print.
