I'm about to propose something so earth shattering, you may just drop, throw, or break whatever medium on which you're reading this. College athletes deserve to get paid. Wait? What? Yea, that's right - young adults who are enrolled in a university, while playing a sport for said university, should be paid.
Wait a second, aren't there scholarships, grants, and loans for college athletes? Yes, there are. Doesn't that money include room and board, food, tuition, and books? Yes, it does. Isn't that amount of money enough to live on? Yes, it probably is. If these are the questions running through your head when you read the opening sentence, good for you, you're right where I want you. However, I'm not saying student athletes are not receiving any sort of financial help, rather that they aren't being paid for the services they are providing. .
cFirst off, we need to define what it means to get paid. What qualifies one to get money from someone? Dictionary.com defines pay as, "transfer[ing] money as compensation or recompense for work done or services rendered " (Dictionary.com, 2012). Do college athletes not fit into this definition? College athletes are essentially working for free. The athletes are providing a service (games played), which the university profits from. By the definition of the word "pay " they are entitled to something for the jobs they are performing. However, these benefits can't be scholarships, grants, or loans. These are available to any student studying at that university. .
Here's an example. An employer is considering giving a raise to two of his employees. Both employees fulfill their job requirements to the letter, however one of them does extra work that results in some extra income for the employer. Which one would get the raise? Here's a hint, it's the one that compliments the point. Is this example any different than what NCAA athletes are doing for their university?.