The the part where this year a group of college student-athletes asked to form a union in order to have a voice in the say of their rights as student-athletes. Mark Conrad, a professor of sports law at Fordham University stated, "You'd have to deal with labor laws, and those would be difficult to enforce at the college level." This brings in various federal and state labor laws, which in fact can be daunting to enforce, but something must be done.
But what really is in question is, are college athletes employees of the school? Black's Law Dictionary defines "employee" as "a person in the service of another under any contract of hire, expressed or implied, oral or written, where the employer has the power or right to control ad direct the employee in the material details of how the work is to be performed." So would a player fulfill these requirements to be defined as an employee?
But lets not try to make them employee of the college, but rather an employee of themselves. Would it make more sense for the athletes to consider themselves independent contractors rather than employees? A "independent contractor, according to Black's Law Dictionary is someone who, "in the exercise of an independent employment, contracts to do a piece of work according to his own methods ad is subject to his employer's control only as to the ed product or final result of his work."
Obviously this is a very complicated issue which will be battled for some time. Do you think college athletes are right to fight for monetary compensation?
Black's Law Dictionary can be found here. Enjoy!
5 comments:
Hmm, this is a very interesting debate! In my opinion, I think the student athletes are being paid in the form of scholarships. Because school is so expensive, those scholarships will allow the student athletes to go to school for free, if not significantly discounted, and be able to get an education and enter the labor force with a degree. I think that the school is investing in these athletes and allowing them to do their studies and play the sports in which they are gifted. When they have completed their degree, they will not have the insane student loans like other students and therefore be able to have more income that is not spent on paying off those loans.
I agree 100% with Jessica(above) and I think they're getting the education for closed to nothing out of pocket. Other students as well live in poverty struggling between jobs and school. The revenue generated from the sports should be used for housing, tutors, and helping all of the students on campus. Athletes can earn the money if they make the cut and get accepted into a professional sports league. Just my $0.02
Uh... Hate to beat a dead horse but there aren't a lot of posts up yet. So... Um... Yea. See above.
I agree that students getting paid in scholarships in exchange for their sports experience is a great deal considering the price of colleges. Athletes often have to give up alot of their time for practices which often limits them from getting a job or severely limits their hours. I feel that the athletes should receive a small stipend for food or living expenses initially not covered by the college.(Food, entertainment, ext)
I like the point of view that makes them independent contractors rather than employees of the college. I want to say at some level they should receive compensation for their hard work. If they are active participants in each game they should receive some monetary compensation whether their class fees are covered for that particular school year or a direct transfer of money. The colleges generate a lot of money from the fans that come to watch these athletes play. Grades could play a factor in the amount of compensation each player receives as well. Motivation? I think it would be for most athletes.
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