
I am not only just interested in this research question, but I am dedicated to finding a true answer.  I have read many articles that give the other side of the argument, but they are just illogical answers.  Some say that the players receive enough money in scholarships, but there are facts out there to prove that some of the players still struggle with day to day money.  If you truly sit down and think about it, these athletes are working for the Universities to make money for them, so I believe the athletes should be receiving some of the profit.  The Universities do not have to directly pay the student athletes, but at least allow them ways to make a profit for the work they do.  This research does not directly affect me, but I can certainly tie in my values to it.  I believe one should get paid for the effort and work they do and anyone who is making money for a company should receive pay for the work they have done.  My personal experience regarding this problem is seeing family members and friends go through the struggles of balancing academics, athletics and a side job because they are not being paid for what they do on the field and in the locker room at their respective Universities.  I am qualified to write about this because I have a first hand experience on witnessing the pressing life of a student athlete.

In this article, Louis Barbash explains his opinion on whether college basketball players should be paid or not.  He believes it is unfair for these athletes to not be paid.  He uses arguments such as; it would improve college basketball if the players are paid because they would not have to go to the NBA to get a salary, there are fewer and fewer basketball players that cannot afford college and the rules the NCAA has in play for less wealthy athletes.  The author gives many examples of players who have faced some of these problems while going through this situation.  He claims if the players do not rush to leave college and get a paycheck, they will not end up uneducated and dropped from an NBA team.  Louis Barbash is a professional writer for The Washington Monthly in Washington D.C.  Barbash does not seem to have too much of a bias on this issue because he is not affiliated with one side or the other.  I think he is just your typical basketball fan wanting to see the game improve and see the players successful in what they do.

    In this article, Ben Cohen is offering suggestions for ways the NCAA could pay the student athletes.  He mentions the Olympic Model that would allow athletes to make money through endorsements from big companies, such as Nike.  Also he mentions someone's idea of having a bonus of money waiting for these athletes if they graduate without having any NCAA violations.  This would both increase the education of the athletes and improve the quality of the sport.  There are once again, two sides to this.  There are many people who say the athletes make enough money and they should not receive money from endorsements or from the colleges.  Cohen proves that most players have to pay somewhere around a little over three thousand dollars a year out of pocket, even with a "full" scholarship.  Cohen is a writer for The Wall Street Journal and he is a well-respected journalist for sports.  This article is from 2011 but I think it is still extremely credible, given its information still has not changed.  The bias here could be that he is a sports writer, but I believe he, like the other writers just want the quality of the game to maintain its course or even improve so I do not think he is biased to one side or the other.

    In this article, Ken Reed explains the simplicity of this issue and the easy solution.  He, like Ben Cohen prefers the Olympic model, referring to allowing the students to profit off of themselves.  He claims the colleges should be promoting these students starting up their own businesses, not prohibiting it. He uses examples such as Leonard Fournette and the amount of money he could have made off of endorsements and clothing sales.  This article has everything to gain and really nothing to lose.  There are many people that back this approach and will stand by it.  If the NCAA agree with this system, the person who brought this suggestion to them would receive high honor and that comes with money.  Dr. Ken Reed is the Sports Policy Director for the League of Fans.  He is also a sports writer for the Huffington Post.  There is not much of a bias in this article and it is credible because it was written a few months ago and it is by a professional writer who has a degree in this field. Granted, there really is not a "simple" solution because of all of the different parties affected by this change to the NCAA rule book, but he believes it is the one with the least amount of ramifications. 

    This research question is very arguable because there are many different routes one could take to come up with a solution.  At first I thought it was either they were paid for the University or they were not.  Now after doing even more research I see that there is another option, to allow the student athletes to make money on their own, though autographs and clothing sales.  Some sources say paying the athletes would take away from the game and others say the exact opposite.  Some say the colleges need to pay the kids directly, and others take the Olympic model approach.  At first I agreed that the student athletes needed to be paid by the colleges because of some of their financial struggles and the labor they are put through.  After doing more research I have tweaked my question a bit more to have the NCAA change up their rules to allow the students to make a profit on the work they are doing and allow them to even start their own sales business.
