by Walter Brasch
Some people foolishly believe the purpose
of a college education is to further one’s education. To explore new cultures
and views. Perhaps to help make a difference in the world.
They, of course, are wrong.
The purpose of going to college is to
party, make contacts, and get a job.
Sometimes the job is as a shift manager at
a fast food restaurant.
Sometimes it’s as a professional athlete.
March Madness, the nation’s annual tribute
to tall teenagers who can dunk a basketball, is now over.
A few of the starters will become
professional basketball players this year; some in the next year or the year
after that.
The University of Kentucky and Duke
University, among a few other Division I powers, in the spirit of getting
students jobs, have changed their mottos to “One and Done.”
That means they recruit the best high
school basketball players. They train them. They give them national exposure.
And they get them ready to get a job after only one year in college.
That job pays an average of $4 million a
year.
That’s 10 times what the president of the
United States earns, and about 100 times what a social worker or firefighter earn.
Obviously, reverse layups and 30-foot
three-pointers are more valuable to society than helping the poor or rescuing
people.
Division I basketball powers may claim they
exist to provide new experiences for all their students. This is just a PR
whitewash.
Colleges have
been mostly unfair to their future professional athletes. You know, the ones
who are exploited and then expected to make a few million dollars a year and
shovel over a chunk of that to the Alumni Fund.
We need to get rid of restrictive NCAA
rules and pay these athletes. Not just scholarships and room-and-board, but, an
actual salary. With benefits. Maybe disability insurance and a retirement plan.
We need to eliminate the philosophy that
elitists like Joe Paterno had. You know, that having one of the nation’s
highest graduation rates for football players was even more important than winning games.
So, let’s dump those stifling NCAA rules
and make college what it should be. A place to fill stadiums and get jobs for
athletes.
[Dr.
Brasch is an award-winning journalist, and author of 20 books. His latest book
is the critically-acclaimed Fracking
Pennsylvania.]
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