Piece of the Pie

Piece of the Pie


    Money is an important issue for almost all college students. Very few are lucky
enough not to have the financial burdens of tuition, housing, and food interfere
with their academic initiatives. Some students have parents that are wealthy
enough to cover all of the costs of college. Other students are given financial
aid from the university that they attend. If necessary, students can get jobs to
help differ the costs. There are no restrictions put on most students as to
where they can work, or how much they can earn. Most students have this freedom,
but varsity athletes with scholarships attending Division I schools do not. The
National Collegiate Athletic Association, the governing body of collegiate
athletics, restricts these athletes from having jobs.   Even though these
athletes would have a hard time make room for a job between practices, meetings
and games, they are not even given the opportunity to do so because of the NCAA
regulations. These regulations are based on the fear that athletes could be
employed by affiliates of the university, who could attract the best athletes by
unjustifiably paying them extraordinary salaries. While this may be a valid
concern, the regulations are most often carried out to ridiculous lengths which
ultimately do not serve the purpose they are intended to have. For example,
Northwestern University has an aspiring young actor named Darnell Autry who also
happens to be the starting running back for the University's   football team.
Darnell was offered a role, based entirely on his acting abilities, in a major
network's sitcom. The NCAA   nearly forbid him from accepting this offer based on
the regulations against athlete employment. Darnell was eventually allowed to
accept the job, however, the NCAA did not allow him to get paid for his work.
They reasoned that the cost of the flight out of Chicago was payment enough for
Darnell. As in Darnell's case, the regulations cause more problems then they
prevent.... [continues]

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