Will compete for cash?

By DON STEWART
Collegian Staff Writer

The majority of college student-athletes are awarded scholarships to play sports. While these scholarships usually cover tuition, books and room and board fees, they don't cover living expenses.

To get by, most student-athletes rely on parents and relatives for spending money. However, coming from a variety of backgrounds, not all can depend on money from home.

For this reason, the issue of whether student-athletes should be paid is repeatedly raised.

"I think it'd be great," junior wrestler Clint Musser said. "It's just spending money. It's not like we're asking for a car or anything."

Yiamouyiannis said student-athletes already receive assistance. They are eligible for the same government aid as non-athletes. If they qualify, athletes can also benefit from the Special Assistance Fund, which helps provide them with necessities such as clothing, shoes, medical insurance and transportation in case of family emergencies.

Senior basketball player Pete Lisicky said he has researched the issue and done reports on it for classes. Lisicky said something is wrong when he sees teammates begging money from each other for food. Athletes should be given spending money or at least be allowed to accept endorsements, he said.

- junior wrestler Clint Musser

Lisicky said the Special Assistance Fund is great but does nothing for athletes such as him who come from non-impoverished backgrounds.

"Because I come from a family with two parents and my dad makes money, I don't see any of that," Lisicky said. "I am immature, but to be at this point in my life and having to ask my dad for money -- I feel like I have an allowance."

Redshirt sophomore football player Chafie Fields said a big problem with the Special Assistance Fund and other programs is that students aren't told what they can get. Fields said he didn't find out about the Special Assistance Fund until well into his collegiate career. When he tried to get into the program, Fields said he was sent to Shields Building to do paperwork so many times the whole process became too much of a hassle.

Many student-athletes argue that being permitted to have a job during the school year is a moot point. Constantly busy with both academic and athletic responsibilities, most athletes don't have time.

"No employer is going to want to employ someone that can only work such select hours," freshman gymnast Dominic Brindle said.

Yiamouyiannis said student-athletes are treated better than nonathletes, especially considering the various perks athletes receive. In addition, she said both student-athletes and nonathletes are in school to get an education, so paying student-athletes to get an education wouldn't be fair to nonathletes.

"If you look at the amount of special assistance given to athletes and the amount of assistance given to students, there is a great discrepancy," Yiamouyiannis said.

However, the perks student-athletes can get are limited by NCAA rules. Athletes aren't allowed to be given things by Nike and other companies. They can only receive what is classified as nonreusable equipment, such as shoes, end-of-the-year awards and awards from specific events like the Citrus Bowl.

For a special event like an invitational tournament, athletes can receive up to $300 in awards. End-of-the-year awards for seniors can also total up to $300. Underclassmen may not receive end-of-the-year awards exceeding $150. These awards, which can be anything under the price limit, must be paid for by the athlete's institution or by an organization associated with that institution, such as the Nittany Lion Club.

"What do we get? We don't get anything. We don't even get to keep our jerseys," Fields said. "It's really not the glitz and glamour everyone thinks it is."

Another problem with paying college athletes, however, is equality. Yiamouyiannis said everyone would need to be paid equally, regardless of gender or sport. This equality, something Yiamouyiannis said the NCAA stresses, would be hard to accomplish.

"It would be really hard because how are you going to justify giving guys something that you're not giving girls?" asked Jill Kaden, a junior on the women's lacrosse team.

Icer goaltender John Sixt agreed it would be hard to pay men and women across all sports equally. However, he said athletes should be paid for what they earn. Sixt said athletes in sports that make a lot of money, such as football, should be given at least a small piece of the profits.

"(Football players) basically kill themselves day in and day out," Sixt said. "They're basically making all the money for the athletic department, so I think they should definitely get something for it. They've basically got a job."

Fields agreed with Sixt. He said he can't figure out why a large university such as Penn State that makes millions of dollars from its football program can't afford to give its athletes anything.

Overall, Musser said people who don't support paying college athletes don't understand what it is like to be a college athlete.

"People like that, I'd just like to sit and talk to a little bit," Musser said. "I'd like to show them what we go through. I just don't like it too much when people say student-athletes get too much."

However, Kaden said paying student-athletes would be too much of a hassle because there are too many problems associated with it.

"It's just not going to be able to happen," Kaden said. "The benefits will not be able to outweigh the costs."

Those costs and benefits are what the NCAA will have to weigh as it deals with this issue in the years ahead.