College Athletics

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer first looks at the amateur status of college athletes and discusses how they are forbidden from profiting from their performances. The writer also discusses the early departure of college athletes for professional leagues. Further, the writer examines the hypocrisy of a system that prohibits student athletes, many of whom devote more than a full-time workweek to their sport outside of classes, from being compensated for their efforts outside of free school-related items like tuition and books. The writer points out that the college system has become inundated with corruption regarding payments and perks offered to players, more and more athletes are electing to skip college or at least a year of it altogether in favor of going professional, and demands on athletes are becoming more and more time-consuming and stringent. The writer maintains that permitting athletes to be paid for performance could alleviate all of these issues as well as help preserve what traditionalists refer to as the "purity" of the college game.

From the Paper:

"The first of these issues is the "amateur status" of college athletes; they are forbidden from profiting for their performances. Despite this, many universities sign foreign players who may have been paid for performance in their native countries. This issue could be completely averted if the NCAA were to switch to a pay-for-play system that basis players' eligibility on their talent and ability rather than their salary history. Resources spent verifying amateur status and payment sources could be spent where they rightly belong--benefiting the student athletes who make up these programs."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bruinius, Harry. "College Players Still Amateurs...but Barely," Christian Science Monitor, 4/3/00, 92:91.
• Gregory, Sean and Fulton, Greg. "Getting Benched," Time 3/14/05. 165:11.
• Kirkpatrick, Curry. "The Hoops are made of Gold," Newsweeki 04/03/95, 125:14.
• "Money Pours In," Associated Press 5/21/03 printed at Sports Illustrated online; available at http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/news/2003/05/21/lebron_upperdeck_ap
• "Tennis coaches: Some foreign players are pros," USA Today 5/13/03. Section: sports, p. 13C.

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