Brother, can you spare a dime?

My call to change is that the NCAA should allow certain athletes to be paid. I say certain athletes because I don't think that it is possible to pay all athletes right now but in the future I would hope that all collegiate athletes could  be paid.

For all of my life I was opposed to paying college athletes. It wasn't until last year, when a point guard from the University of Connecticut caught my attention. His name was Shabazz Napier and he helped lead his team to win the national title in men's basketball.

 In an interview Napier told members of the media that he often went to bed starving despite having a university meal plan. According to the University of Connecticut's student-athlete handbook, student athletes were allowed three meals in any residence hall from between 7 a.m. and 7:15 p.m. But for Napier, this plan could not simply provide enough nourishment for his body. It was at this moment that I realized that many of these athletes come from the poorest of backgrounds and can't afford the simple indulgences like McDonalds or a Wendy's. I felt for Napier and I thought that it was simply not fair that he would go to bed starving because he couldn't afford to buy food but the University that he played for would make millions of him and his teammates. 

In my first post about this, I found that their were positive arguments for both sides. I can see why some feel that by paying athletes it will diminish the value of college athletics. Also, some feel that by paying athletes the larger school will dominate the college athletic landscape. I think that these are good arguments but the larger schools already dominate the college athletic landscape and the value of college athletics has already been diminished by greedy men and women.

When college athletics first began, it was a way for students to get exercise and compete with other fellow universities. Now, it has become a multi billion dollar industry. In the early industrial period workers were forced to create unions to help protect their workers rights. Today, many athletes from around the country are looking to do the same so that they are no longer taking advantage of. To make sure that their voices are heard, athletes look to new media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to make sure that their natural rights are protected.

It is my hope that college athletes will soon be compensated for their work. They bring in millions of dollars each year for these universities and it's time that they finally receive their fair share of the pie.

Updates

Spenser made some great points. I agree with him that not all college athletes are from backgrounds so they don't all necessarily dissevered to be paid. However, it's not some much about what background that they come from but rather how much money they bring in. Therefore the more money they bring the more they should be compensated. I think Charles is also right when he said that this is more of an human rights issue more than anything. To make sure that this call for change happens I will continue to strongly advocate for certain college athletes to be paid.