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NCAA president Mark Emmert says pay for play will not happen under his reign.

Should college athletes be paid to play?

This controversial issue affects nearly every individual involved in an institution of higher education. The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) has made a proposal to provide a cash stipend to college athletes for their participation in sports. The proposal should be rejected because it places a higher value on sports than it does academics -- a university or college’s premier purpose and responsibility.

Education is an investment that places a great strain or nearly cripples a great number of families. Most college athletes have scholarships that cover tuition, room and board, books, and fees. It is simply unfair that hard-working students who are unable to clinch a full scholarship or financial aid due to their lack of athletic ability have to watch idly as athletes go to school free of charge and are still provided with cash stipends. It is morally wrong to leave hard-working students behind as they try to make good grades and cover their college costs by working, while paying student athletes in addition to their full scholarships. If the star quarterback is paid for his winning touchdown throw in a bowl game, why not pay the mathematics major for his or her A on a statistics exam? It is nonsensical to pay a student who can catch, hit, or throw a ball for going to school and not pay the student who can extract DNA from a strawberry.

Due to Title IX mandates that state gender inequality must be excluded from college sports and events, every sport, men’s and women’s, must compensate their student athletes. If this proposal is adopted, not only will this place financial duress on many institutions, but it will cause a nationwide collegiate power struggle to erupt between the "elite" school sports programs and the ones that don't bring in enough, or at least what the school thinks is enough, revenue and recognition. This will cause schools to discontinue sports programs that aren't considered essential and will disenfranchise many students on campus who are no longer able to participate in sports activities because an institution is now obligated to pay athletes of a higher status.

Our natural inclination is to focus on our own self-interests. Athletes who are paid may begin bargaining and negotiating their cash stipends to higher amounts. This will ultimately lead to corruption because "star" players may refuse to play or threaten to go to other schools if the school does not provide them with more money.

Most students who attend college are enrolled in order to obtain a degree and make themselves more marketable in the job industry, ultimately earning more money. We go to school in order to develop the intelligence and skills that will allow us to excel into our careers. College sports is not a student athlete's career, it is their educational platform that will advance them into a career, whether in sports, or in an unrelated field in the job market.  Most of the money that an athlete will receive over four years will be a loss to the individual institutions due to the low number of collegiate athletes as a whole that actually advance to the professional level. Essentially colleges will be providing salaries to individuals who most professional organizations would not offer a dime to.

If student athletes would like to make money aside from the large scholarships that they receive, they should be able to bring in a little income by doing positive things that improve their self-image and their communities. Holding athletic camps for the youth, speaking at gatherings, events, and high schools, and possibly doing endorsements for companies would be a just and fair way for athletes to close in on extra cash.

Despite the unfairness and nonsense that paying athletes poses, most importantly, it sends the message that, in America, college sports are valued more than college academics. Student athletes are not college employees; they are among the thousands of other faces walking a campus that are their trying to reach a goal in life and they are no different from anyone else.

WOuld you like to add your opinion? Tell us what you think by leaving a comment, and vote in the "Have Your Say" poll on the home page of the Pony Express Online.