jacqueschambers

JacQues Chambers

Professor Lucas

ENG 131.09

November 23, 2015

                                                          All Work with No Pay

                                                                 Introduction

            There has been constant controversy on whether college athletes should be paid to play or not. In my opinion, I believe that student-athletes deserve compensation for their hard work. Athletics bring in a substantial amount of revenue for universities annually. With billions of dollars generated repeatedly, I believe that it is not unjust for athletes to receive even just a minimal amount to compensate for their output.

            In this essay, you will see that I’ve cited three separate sources, all in favor of paying college athletes to play, and one contrary to the thought of paying college athletes. They all have similarities in their reasoning for believing so. In these articles they have written about the breakdown of economics and financial income, the time and effort that our bodies expend, the level of greater demand and more.

            Through all of the research, I am a firm believer that is only the adequate thing to do in paying college athletes to play, even if it is in a modicum fashion. As we bleed, sweat and cry in attempting to reach for our furthest level of competitive excellence, it’s only fair to pay a hardworking employee for their actions.

                                                 Annotated Bibliographies

Mitchell, Horace, and Marc Edelman. “Should College Student-Athletes Be Paid?.” U.S. News Digital Weekly 5.52 (2013): 17. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.

            As a college athlete, it may seem biased that I agree that college athletes should be paid. After looking over and considering the facts, “Should College Athletes Be Paid” by Horace Mitchell, raises the criteria to generate a compelling argument in whether college athletes should or should not be paid. In this periodical, Horace Mitchell states the fact that

“The college sports industry generates $11 billion in annual revenues. Fifty colleges   report annual revenues that exceed $50 million. Meanwhile, five colleges report annual revenues that exceed $100 million. These revenues come from numerous sources, including ticket sales, sponsorship rights, and the sale of broadcast rights. The National Collegiate Athletic Association recently sold broadcast rights to its annual men’s basketball tournament for upwards of $770 million per season. And the Big Ten Conference has launched its own television network that sells air time to sponsors during the broadcast of its football and men’s basketball games.”

Although some may argue that an athletic scholarship is payment to an athlete that has no relation to outside of school activities, such as meals, traveling expenses to visit home, and many other possible expenses that we have as student athletes. Athletic programs generate a valuable amount of revenue to its university, and as the asset that generates such a significant portion of the revenue that a school annually generates,  I agree that athletes should receive a gratuity portion to appreciate the hard work and dedication they input in their daily lives.

 

Mitchell, Horace, and Marc Edelman. “Should College Student-Athletes Be Paid?.” U.S. News Digital Weekly 5.52 (2013): 17. Academic Search Premier. Web. 9 Dec. 2015.

As much evidence that college athletes should be paid, there are also ideas and thoughts that are contrary to that belief. In this article I’ve previously used, Horace Mitchell, current president of California State University, writes briefly why he is also not in favor of paying college athletes. In his debate of the pros and cons of paying college athletes, he stated

“Students are not professional athletes who are paid salaries and incentives for a career in sports. They are students receiving access to a college education through their participation in sports, for which they earn scholarships to pay tuition, fees, room and board, and other allowable expenses. Collegiate sports is not a career or profession. It is the students’ vehicle to a higher education degree. This access is contingent upon continued enrollment, participation in the sport for which they received the scholarship, and academic eligibility. The NCAA Student Assistance Fund can be used to help those student-athletes who have unusual needs in excess of the usual cost of attendance. A high percentage of student-athletes graduate without the burden of student loans, which most other students accumulate.”

While athletes debate the fact that they are not able to afford the cost of living outside of school, without a scholarship that covers everything, attending school whilst paying for your education would be next to impossible.

 

COOPER, KENNETH J. “Should College Athletes Be Paid To Play?.” Diverse: Issues In Higher Education 28.10 (2011): 12-13. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.

            Through an average course of a day for an athlete, the level of physical demand is extensively greater for an athlete compared to an average student. Not only must we attend our classes, but also participate in long, agonizing hours of physical labor in practice. Along with our classwork and extra studying we do to maintain sufficient grades to remain eligible for participating in extracurricular activities, we must also study our competition, such as scouting reports, opposing teams plays, etc. In this writing, a Michigan State law Professor Robert McCormick mentions that,

“There are more demands put on these young men than any employee of the university. These young men are laboring under very strict and arduous conditions, so they really are laborers in terms of the physical demands on them while they’re also trying to go to school and being required to go to school.”

As a student-athlete, we commonly here the cliché phrase, “You are a Student Athlete, student first, athlete second.” Due to the level of demand from both the classroom and our athletic teams, it is difficult to differentiate the level of importance in which where priority becomes apparent. Being a collegiate athlete is more than just an opportunity to further your athletic career while receiving an education, but emphasized as more of an occupation due to the stress and requirements that are needed to be fulfilled such as that of a regular job.

 

“Should NCAA Athletes Be Paid?” US News. U.S.News & World Report. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.

            As an athlete, we all understand the unwritten rule that winning is everything. We all aspire to achieve greatness by being the absolute best, ranked number one, the team to beat and so on and so forth. There’s no greater feeling as athlete than being crowned as the champion, winning a championship ring, cutting down the nets in a celebratory action, and many other winning traditions. As we rejoice for being the best, we fail to recognize anything else in the moment but the level of greatness in which we have achieved. Outside of that feeling of immortality, if we look at the financial aspects, the numbers are quite astonishing. In this article, it displays one of the world’s most popular sporting events known as “March Madness”. It states,

“The NCAA basketball tournaments, or “March Madness,” have become a huge business. As Forbes’ Chris Smith wrote, CBS and Turner Broadcasting make more than $1 billion off the games, “thanks in part to a $700,000 ad rate for a 30-second spot during the Final Four.” Athletic conferences receive millions of dollars in payouts from the NCAA when their teams advance deep into the tournament. Ditto for the coaches of the final squads standing. The NCAA, as a whole, makes $6 billion annually.”

As these universities gain so much money from national events such as March Madness, I do not believe that it is immoral to receive any compensation for the level of excellence that athletes compete at. As businesses take care of employees with salaries and wages, is it wrong to ask for any form of compensation for the energy and effort we expend?

JacQues Chambers

Professor Lucas

Eng. 131.09

September 23, 2015

Tradition vs. Technology

Ever since we as writers have reached the age where we can reflect on our readings and transform them into our words on paper, it has often been through the use of traditional essays. The same format, the same font, the same margins, everything must be consistent. As of recently, the debate of a substitute for term papers, blogs, has prompted the question which is the better route for writers? Is blogging the new, more widely used, style of writing with efficiency? Or do we continue tradition of the typical three to five page paper with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion? The biggest question is do we continue tradition, or has technology replaced what we have become accustomed to?

After years of debating which is the best way to enhance our writing skills, research is beginning to take its course on this debate. A professor at Stanford University, Andrea Lunsford, has collected thousands of samples from the years 2001-2007 from 189 different students to study on how their abilities and passion for writing has transformed as online forms of writings such as blogs have presented themselves in our era of writing. Through her research, she has also received student feedback about their personal experiences when it comes to writing. Lunsford’s conclusion that the New York Times article “Blogs vs Term Papers” reported; “Students feel much more impassioned by the new literacy. They love writing for an audience, engaging with it. They feel as if they’re actually producing something personally rewarding and valuable, whereas when they write a term paper, they feel as if they do so only to produce a grade.” What she concludes from her research raises the question: Are our traditional term papers only for a grade and nothing else?

Similarly, William H. Fitzhugh, editor of the Concord Review, agrees that writing is becoming a dying art. Mr. Fitzhugh uttered the comment that, “Writing is being murdered. But the solution isn’t blogs, the solution is more reading. We don’t pay taxes so kids can talk about themselves and their home lives.” As he agrees that writing term papers is definitely unraveling in our writing world, he does not agree that technologies new advancement of blogging will revitalize the art of writing, but expanding the horizon of what we read will feed our creativity to aspire to continue writing.  Mr. Fitzhugh stresses that educators today shy away from true academic writing resulting in the ease of writing short, minimal essays. The less we read, the less material we have to focus our term papers on.

After considering both sides of the argument on blogs versus term papers, I have concluded that blogs provide the opportunity of creative exploration but lack the physical structure of a typical essay. On the other hand, term papers provide structure and mostly factual evidence, but become tedious through repetition that only results in a grade. With technology advancing at the rapid rate that it is in, blogs could become a substitute for what we know now as the dreadful term paper. Blogs are an adequate way to express one’s self with their own creativity in the use of their words, their profile, even down to what they want to be known as. As a writer, I feel more inspired to create a blog because I can express myself in words more freely than in a term paper, in which a writer must appeal to the teacher and the certain requirements to sustain a good grade. Term papers today are becoming a lost art. I partially agree with Mr. Fitzhugh when he stated “Writing is being murdered.” Writing three to five page essays are becoming scarcer, due to lack of interest and information to write about, but where we differ is that I do not agree with his theory that more works will inspire and ease the task of term papers.

In conclusion, with the advancement and popularity of technology, tradition is in my eyes fighting a losing battle. Will we always see term papers as simply a grade? Will blogs replace what we once known as the new writing assignments? Both great questions, but only time will tell.

Works Cited

Richtel, Matt. “Blogs vs. Term Papers.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 21 Jan. 2012. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.

The Grandmother one had hands is a moving and also touching poem that reminds me a lot of my grandmother.  It reminds me of how busy my grandmother always was . Coming from a big family such as I did , every 2 weeks we would have a family dinner , and everyone in my family came . The house would be fluttered with at least 40 plus people weekly . It would always be held at my grandmothers house , never any place else . She would wake up at 9 am to begin her cooking to be finished in time for the arrival of all the family at 3 pm sharp. When the NFL season starts , we get even closer as a family because my grandmother requests that everyone come weekly to enjoy NFL Sundays . Outside of cooking , my grandmother and my uncle work as a team to plant their own special garden . She would plant flowers , tomatoes , etc . She would always be on her hands and knees working and I never knew why , but now I understand the importance and bond of keeping the family together and strong piece by piece