stevens

Joe Stevens, Panel Agrees: Pay Athletes, QUEE Ed., Newsday, 8 Mar 1998, pp. C25.

College athletes would get paid in addition to having scholarships,

if the decision were up to a panel that met at St. John's Law School

this week.

The need to pay athletes was the consensus of a four-person panel

during a Thursday night discussion titled "The Plight of the Student

Athlete."

Randolph Scott-McLaughin, the moderator and a professor of law at

Pace University, insisted that the panel's view was not far-fetched,

despite opposition from the NCAA and some student-athletes.

"When you look at how Olympic athletes are now getting endorsements

and no longer have to be amateurs, and when you see the changes that

have made college sports a billion-dollar business," Scott-McLaughlin

said, "you can see that compensating college athletes is not that

radical of an idea."

No members of the panel, which was put together by the Center of

Constitutional Rights and the Black Law Students and the Entertainment

and Sports Law associations of St. John's University, voiced a

difference of opinion with the moderator. However, several audience

members challenged the panel in a question-and-answer session.

One audience member asked if all college athletes should receive

payment, or just the ones in high-profile, money-making sports, such as

Big East basketball, as opposed to fencing.

"This is not just big business," said Johan Powell, an attorney,

who added that all athletes should be paid. "This is huge business."

Even so, no one on the panel could offer concrete numbers or a plan

determining how much an individual athlete should be paid.

Panelist Lyndon D. Williams, an attorney, talked about the rigors of

being a student-athlete and how academics normally are sacrificed for

athletics. He mentioned several factors that compromise the education of

student-athletes.

Student-athlete Newton Gayle, formerly of Niagara and currently

playing basketball at Mount St. Mary's, added that most athletes on

scholarship have to maintain a 1.5 grade-point average in their freshman

year to stay in school. Those with academic scholarships must maintain a

3.0 GPA.

"The reality is most athletes are not educated when they leave

college," Williams said. "The athletes are stuck without an education,

or at least a meaningful education, and are lost."

Panelist Alice Crowe, an attorney whose specialty is helping

students with the recruitment process, agreed. She urges

student-athletes in high school to research potential colleges and make

sure they fully understand the terms and clauses in their scholarship.

She also said student-athletes should negotiate their scholarship

package whenever possible, even though institutions lead recruits to

believe scholarships are standard.

Crowe said she often sees universities revoke scholarships after

sub-par athletic performances, using certain clauses in the scholarship.

She pointed out that a scholarship "isn't a guarantee for an

education."

She added: "Athletes are more valuable than a regular student. They

bring in millions of dollars to the institution. And, because they put

on that school's emblem, they have to abide by all the rules of the

university. They are always upholding the image of the college or

university. A regular student isn't held to that standard."

She added as an example that if a non-athlete causes a ruckus in a

bar, few will hear about it. But if an athlete commits the same act, he

runs the risk of losing his scholarship for conduct unbecoming to the

institution.

A few St. John's athletes attended the discussion and talked about

their concerns. Andrew Prophet, a senior linebacker, said that many

student-athletes would like the university to start a program to help

them get jobs after graduation. He also said many athletes don't realize

that a " 'C' won't get you hired. You can play with a C average, but you

can't get a job when you graduate."

Prophet was not an advocate of athletes being paid, but there were

other athletes who favored the idea.

Lowes Moore, a former NBA player and panelist, said he has witnessed

many athletes leave college without a degree or a professional sports

career after graduation. "You really have to ask," Moore said. "Is

[college sports] about education or economics?"

Crowe had answered the question earlier in the discussion. "Myth

number one is that athletes are at a college for an education," she

said.

ON STUDENT ATHLETES

Alice Crowe, attorney - "This is a billion-dollar industry, [a student

athlete] can't go into it blindly."

Johan Powell, attorney - "Student-athletes believe they will develop

their [athletic] skills enough to move to the next level. They also

believe the coaching staff will help them in that goal. They don't think

about developing their [academic] skills . . . College athletics is a

huge business."

Lowes Moore, former New Jersey Net - "I lacked preparation for college

or a good understanding of what it took to be successful off the court.

Four years at West Virginia University and I left without a degree.

"I think most of the athletes just want an opportunity to make a

living when they leave the institution. At least be able to provide for

themselves and their families."

Lyndon D. Williams, attorney - "I think if the public is informed

about the student-athlete's plight, they will care. For those who don't

think they care, I'd say to them, `If you don't educate a person, you

have another person out on the streets [potentially] breaking into

houses.' . . . You have a better society if you have better-educated

people.

"The reality is most athletes are not educated when they leave

college. The demands of the sport take so much out of them that they

don't have anything left for their education."