Should athletes be paid? Kelsey Raynal

As I read this article I became curious what Kevin Ware’s injury was. Watching this video it is hard not to cringe at the sight of such a strong man jumping high just to come down exerting pressure on his shin, resulting in an open fracture. Due to this, and many more athletic related injuries I strongly believe that college athletes should indeed be paid, or shown greater benefits. Benefits for these athletes are slowly fading away, as shown in the legislative decision to replace the four-year scholarship in 1973 with one-year renewable grants. As I see it, our culture idolizes sports especially NCAA basketball, this will never change. If we really want to reward athletes for meeting academic requirements as well as their rigorous work schedules why not pay them for their efforts?

As much as we wouldn’t like to admit it, a college athletic program is a huge sponsor in advertising universities across the country. Athletes represent in a way, our student population. This is why Boise may be known for our football or Louisville for their basketball. Schools use sports to lure new students in. I believe that if this and so many other pressures are put on the shoulders of our athletes why not show them the value of which they mean to us. I agree with Warren Zola, schools should create a “Student-Athlete Trust Fund, which would hold a percentage of revenue generated by television and licensing contracts and place it into a trust for student-athletes to access upon the completion of their collegiate careers.” This would enable athletes to be rewarded, yet not be pushed to their absolute limits.