College athletes are everywhere. Maybe you've bought Emeka Okafor's Connecticut basketball jersey or played as Maurice Clarett on Play Station 2's NCAA College Football 2004. But dressing like Okafor and living through Clarett doesn't lead to payment for college athletes. While the National Collegiate Athletic Association estimates that Division I schools each sell between $6 million and $7 million in team apparel a year, the athletes they are promoting receive none of the profits. That is, of course, if you don't consider full tuitions, expense-free housing and free books reasonable benefits.
Teams sponsored by companies like Nike and Adidas already receive enough to keep them fully clad before, during and after the game. Other college teams that compete in tournaments like the Final Four get high-priced gifts and spending money from sponsors. Viewed this way, the education pays for itself and then some.
The majority of college athletes will not go on to be professional athletes. Most will work in the business world, and the important thing that they received in college won't be advice on how to kick a field goal - it will be an education. Only the best of the best will move up and become professionals. Athletes with money-making last names are already getting enough praise and recognition to carry them from the amateurs to the pros. To pay them now would only close the gap that separates college athletes from the professionals.
When Kobe Bryant plays for a team like the Los Angeles Lakers, he is playing to support himself. When Jason Maxiel plays for the University of Cincinnati Bearcats, he is playing to build a name for himself and the university. It might be hard to distinguish this at a time when college and professional teams have become equally popular, but this is a necessary distinction. Clearly, talent and media attention already set college athletes apart. Money should not be a reason for division among players. When college athletes represent a school, their profit is measured in experience, not dollars.
The university's dorm decision
Local reports recently revealed that there is a registered sex offender living in Ohio University's Wilson Hall. Raphael L. Edwards registered with the Athens County Sheriff's office as a sexually oriented offender after pleading guilty to sexual misconduct with a 13-year-old. Although the girl claimed it was a consensual relationship, Edwards was given a suspended prison sentence, placed on one year of community control and ordered to register as a sexual offender. University officials decided to allow him to continue living in the residence halls, and this is a good, reasoned decision.
OU knew nothing of Edwards' record because at the time he filled out his application, he had not yet been convicted of any crime. If Edwards had been convicted at the time of his application, the university would have looked at the case and determined if he posed a risk for students. The university's case-by-case rationale is the only fair measure that can be taken to ensure both safety for students and reasonable consideration for offenders.
If an Athens newspaper had never brought this story to light, students living in Wilson would not have known that a sex offender was living in their building. Although the information was accessible to the public, it was not brought to their attention. Edwards was registered as a sexually-oriented offender, the least severe sex offense acknowledged in Ohio. If the law had found the sexual misconduct to be more serious, the sheriff's department would have been required by law to notify everyone living nearby. But because the law did not find it necessary, OU had no reason to make the offender known.
In the case that a student living on campus poses a high threat, OU should and would take swift action by looking directly at the details of the case to make sure that student safety is a top priority. Officials were right in allowing Edwards to stay because, after researching the matter, they found his offenses to be unthreatening to students in the area.
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