Should Division I collegiate athletes be compensated? I would like to point out that I am specifically talking about Division I athletes over Division II and III athletes because Division I programs are the ones bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue into their respective institutions on behalf of their athletes. The demand for Division II and III is unfortunately not as high, so they do not generate anywhere near the amount of money that Division I programs do. The question on paying student-athletes has been debated for some time, especially since the discontinuation of NCAA video games took place. (For all of those who do not know, NCAA sports games were banned after 2013 for using the likeness of college athletes without compensating them.) Although my answer to the debate is yes, many more questions arise. For all of those who agree with my opinion on paying student-athletes, we must consider the question "how will Division I collegiate athletes be paid if legislation got passed supporting their compensation?" This issue is very confusing and conflicting, and therefore will not have a black or white answer to how much these athletes should be paid and where the money will come from. The reasons I am so interested in this question is because I have loved everything about sports from playing them to watching them for my entire life, and I am also an aspiring business major. Answering this question in a way that could benefit the collegiate athlete would mean a lot to me because of my love for sports,  interest in business, the moral aspect of the severely lopsided financial aspect of collegiate sports, and the fact that I have good friends who are Division I athletes. Also, it is very possible that Division I athletes will in fact be paid in the future, making the solution of this question even more interesting to me. This motivates me to voice my argument on the dilemma. Playing football in high school, I realized how much of a time commitment playing a sport was especially when I had to manage my job and school work. Remember, this was at a high school level far less rigorous than that of a Division I program. My experiences as an athlete, my interest in business, and the moral perspectives I possess allows me to take a stance on this issue and makes me qualified to try and solve this highly debated question.

The first source I used was written by two authors, Marc Edelman and Horace Mitchell, and was titled "Should College Student-Athletes Be Paid?" This article touches base on the differing opinions regarding whether collegiate athletes should be compensated or not. The authors briefly and effectively present the two sides of the controversial issue with statistics and factual evidence that allows the reader to make their own decisions. For the side opposed to paying collegiate athletes, the authors bring up the different tiers (divisions) of college football and how some schools do not generate enough money from sports to pay athletes (which I will use in my counterargument). The supporting side includes statistics on the enromous amounts of revenue Division I coaches, schools, and conferences make on behalf of the student-athlete. Edelman is a Professor at the Zicklin School of Business in New York City. He is a specialist in sports law. Edelman's position and level of expertise in this field makes him a reliable source. Horace Mitchell is the President of California State University. He was also a Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs and a professor at the University of California, Berkley. His academic background and accolades gives him credibility. Both of them were published in the 'U.S. News and World Report,' which is a reliable and trustworthy source.

The second source I used "A Way to Start Paying College Athletes" by Joe Nocera. This article displayed tangible and practical plans that Nocera deemed as fit to actually carry out the paying of student-athletes. One of these plans consisted of adding a salary cap to Division I football and basketball $650,000 and $3 million respectively, so programs could offer premier recruits money (i.e. $60,000) to come play for their school. These athletes would not be making anywhere near professional athletes' salaries, but it would be enough to have propel these young men into the real world if professional athletics didn't work out for them. Other plans included paying athletes rather than spending millions on teams' facilities to "build up its programs." Another plan would be to give student-athletes 8 years to complete their degrees, with the option to come back after (if) they play professionally. Joe Nocera is an American business journalist, a commentator, and attained his journalism degree at Boston University. Nocera is also published in the New York Times. His credentials as a writer and an expert in the sports business realm makes his article a credible source. Nocera is definitely writing in favor of the collegiate-athlete, so there is definitely some bias within the context. However, the plans he provides are practical and well thought out and are also guided by factual data. His proposals are logical and reasonable, making him and his work credible for my paper. 

The third and last article I chose was titled "Should College Athletes Be Paid to Play?" by Kenneth J. Cooper. Cooper writes about how two law professors at Michigan State University deem collegiate athletes as "employees" and compare their obligations to playing a Division I sport to that of a full-time job. He goes on to write about how the professors think that these athletes are put under more demands than any school official or employee. He also makes it a point to emphasize how the professors see the conflict between picking the right major and playing sports are for the individual athlete since some classes cannot be taken because of conflicting practice times. Cooper incorporates a great message by using two very credible and learned professors in the realm of law to get across their points and ideas about how hard it really is to be a collegiate athlete and how much they have to sacrifice to be able to play. Kenneth J. Cooper has been a journalist for over 30 years and is a Pulitzer Prize Winner, which is a very prestigious honor for journalists. He also wrote and worked for the Boston Globe and the Washington Post. His career and experience in journalism and writing makes him a credible source. Cooper does an outstanding job getting credible and educated people to speak out about an issue that he most likely agrees with. With this, we must see the bias Cooper has towards the compensation of student-athletes. However, since the source she used are professors of law, it makes his article and argument credible and logical.

My research question is arguable because as many people debate on why collegiate athletes should be paid, no one really talks about how they would be paid, how much they should be paid, and where the money should come from. This is a very complex question that doesn't necessarily have a great answer. It will be difficult to create a solution, but with thorough research and analysis, I believe that I can make a strong case in supporting the collegiate athlete and coming up with a way to do so. As there are many agreements across my sources on how collegiate athletes are under excessive demand and stress and that there is definitely a lopsided financial situation in the NCAA, the main disagreement I have seen in my sources is the fact that scholarships are enough compensation for students to play sports at the level they are expected to play at. The many different points made about how these athletes should be paid and why/why not they should be has opened my eyes to this dilemma from many different angles. These perspectives have made me think greatly about the world of college sports and my opinion has jumped around from time to time. However, it has also allowed me to enter my moral scope and rationale as a person, and has made my passion for college-athlete pay and business in general stronger. I think my question is complex and provocative, but solvable, and I am excited in attempting to do so.

