RUNNING HEAD: Should College Athletes Be Paid?

RobertoNieves
TheUniversityofTexasatElPaso
February27,2015

Should College Athletes Be Paid?

Abstract
TheNationalCollegiateAthleticsAssociation,otherwiseknownastheNCAA,is
thegoverningheadofallsportsintheUnitedStatesofAmericaatthecollegiatelevel.
TheNCAAistheorganizer,rulemakers,enforcersamongotherthings,ofeverysportat
thecollegiatelevel.Asofrecenttimes,NCAAhasbeenunderfireduetothefact,ofthe
recentaccusationsofexploitingstudentathletesbynotcompensatingthestudent
athletes,despitetheirathleticscholarships.AccordingtotheNCAA,itisagainsttherules
foranyprofitorrevenuethatastudentathletecanmakerelatingtothemarketingoftheir
nameorlikenesswhilebeinginvolvedwiththeNCAA.Although,studentsreceive
scholarships,oftenworthupto$40,000ormorepersemesterintuitioncosts,the
controversyexistsmainlyduetothe,largeamountsofmoneyinrevenuemadefromthe
marketingofthestudentathletesandtheirperformance.Whileitisillegal,underthe
NCAA,forplayerstomakemoneyfromtheirownnameandperformancetheNCAA
basetheirbusinessmodelthroughtheuseoftheplayersperformanceonthefieldand
theirlikenessoffthefieldthroughthesaleofjerseyswiththeirnameandothermarketing
strategies.AretheNCAAsactionsethicaland/orjustified?

Should College Athletes Be Paid?

Purpose/Audience
TheintendedaudienceforCNNsCrossfire:ShouldAthletesBePaidMore?is
fortheaverageAmerican,whomaynotbethemostinformedaudienceontheNCAA
andtheinnerworkingsoftheorganization.However,USNewsreportisdirectedtoa
youngeraudience,whoaremoreinformedandinterestedincollegiatesportsandthe
controversyinvolvingtheorganization.CNNsCrossfiredebateintendstoinformtheir
audiencewithargumentsthatseebothsidesofthearguments.Duetothestyleofthe
debate,theaudiencebenefitsbyobtaininginformationfrombothperspectives,thus
becomingmoreinformedthanreadinganarticlethatmaybebiasedduetotheeditors
personalopinion.Also,thedebatesintendstomakethedilemmaintoamuchmore
relatablesituationbyalludingandappealingtoemotionsthroughtheuseofexamplesof
howthismayaffectstudentsathletesacrossthenation.USNewsreportintendsto
informaboutthesubject,andlaterintendstoswayandpersuadetheiraudienceintoa
prostudentathletecompensationstance,throughtheirargumentsandpointsleaning
towardsthecompensationofstudentathletes.

Ethos,Pathos,Logos

Should College Athletes Be Paid?

Bothgenresmentioned,arebothverycrediblesources,largelyinparttotheir
trackrecordasbothveryreliablenewssources,USNewsandCNNrespectively.When
alludingtothejargonandspecializedvocabularyUSNews,wasabletodepictand
describethecontroversythroughthelensofadevotedCollegiateSportsfan.However,
CNNsCrossfiredebatewasabletodepictanddescribethecontroversylogicallyby
alludingtootherpiecesoflegislationandlaw.Thejargonandspecializedvocabulary,
alongwiththepropercitingofotherworksandlawscreatesasenseofreliabilityaround
thedebate.Bothoftheaforementionedgenresappealgreatlytotheemotionsandfeelings
oftheiraudience.Bothsourcesalludetotragediesinvolvingstudentsandtheaftermath
andbacklashthatresultsonthesestudentathletes.Specifically,examplesofstudent
athleteswhosuffermajorinjuriesandasaresultdonotreceivepropercarefromthe
NCAAandarestrippedoftheirscholarshipandanyotherbenefitgrantedbytheNCAA,
thusleavingthemstuckwiththemedicalbill,injured,poor,andwithoutapossibilityof
aneducation.According,totheCNNsCrossfire89studentsreceivedcareerending
injuriesthisseason,infootballalone,oftheseonly12Thusexemplifyingtheemotional
appealtotheiraudiences,whichconsistsofstudentathletesorparents.

Structure/Delivery
From the beginning of the US News article they begin by
referencing the upcoming March Madness tournament, and stating the

Should College Athletes Be Paid?

amount of revenue and profit made from previous tournaments. Later,

they begin to introduce the controversy surrounding the NCAA and
their tactics and how these tactics by the NCAA affect students. The
structure is very organized and allows for an almost chronological
setup of events, starting from setting up the background of the
situation to later tackle and debunk the consequences and effects the
NCAA has had. On the other hand, CNNs Crossfire debate is a much
more fluid and less structured informant. Mainly, due to its
presentation as a debate, thus allowing the free flow of argumentative
points. There was not any type of chronological order followed during
the debate, and the debaters jumped from point to point freely without
any clear pattern.

Conclusion
The NCAA is multi-billion dollar industry, in which the main
component of their successful business model, the student athlete, is
exploited and restricted of the same things in which the NCAA has built
their national business empire. Although paying these student-athletes
as professional athletes would be ludicrous, there has to be a reform
within the NCAA that allows student athletes more freedom,
protection, and rights than the ones already given to them by the

Should College Athletes Be Paid?

NCAA. The need for change within the NCAA is evident, and that
change needs to happen now more than ever.

References
CNN.(2014,March20)Crossfire:ShouldCollegeAthletesBePaid?[VideoFile]
Retrievedfromhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8QL5yr0Lw

Frederick, Brian, Bobby Rush, Ramogi Huma, Warren Zola, Allen Sack,
Richard Burton, and Andrew Zimbalist. "Should NCAA Athletes Be
Paid?" US News. U.S.News & World Report, n.d. Web. 11 Feb.
2015. <http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-ncaaathletes-be-paid>.