By: Buckeye Paul

Buckeye Paul
Fri, 31 Jan 2014 05:36:31 +0000

I don't know what the right answer is, but it sickens me that the schools perpetually at the top of their conferences in Division I can charge for their football seats far more than NFL teams can typically get. And the OSU Athletic Department even having the audacity to create "premium games" and in one year raise the ticket prices for those games by around an additional 40%. All the while, the sweat and talent that allows OSU to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars is compensated basically the same as your average graduate assistant: a tuition waiver and something meager to help support their room and board. "Paying" student athletes is a very slippery road. Let's not kid ourselves; that moves these kids from students to professional athletes. Sports like OSU football are definitely grueling beyond what I probably can even comprehend. I'd like to see colleges offer these students perhaps a full tuition waiver that remains in effect for up to 10 years, plus some form of a stipend for living expenses as long as they remain enrolled and are making progress toward a degree. OSU OWES THEM an education. Just like we expect our athletes to "leave it all on the field", we should expect OSU to likewise "leave it all in the classroom"...Do everything it possibly can to assure 100% of our student athletes complete their degree.