The Student as an Athlete
The student athlete is a term often used to describe a member of the student body at an institution as well as a member of one of the schools athletic teams. This is not a label that includes students who play recreational sports during their leisure time; this term is used for those students who split their time between athletics and academics.
In the beginning of inter-collegiate competition and even now the governing body the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) wanted athletes to maintain their amateurism. Being an amateur means, to remain unpaid why competing and performing a c. Athletes were to come from the student body and off-campus recruitment of athletes was prohibited. The problem with the many rules and regulations of the NCAA early on was that they expected schools to police themselves and uphold a certain amount of morality, but without checks and balances corruption was sure to take place and did so. From the late 1920’s and into the 1940’s big-time athletes would be “sponsored” by alumni in order to get them to play for that schools team. The alumni would usually just pay the tuition for the athlete and usually it was seen as a loan but rarely got paid back.
In 1948 the NCAA passed new legislation called the Sanity Code which allowed for institutions to pay for the tuition of “exceptional” athletes as long as they could qualify academically. The Sanity Code would last about ten yeas then it would be replaced by a new financial aid package that is very similar to the one used today. This package allows for a school to pay for an athlete’s tuition, room and board and other fee’s like books etc in return for the athlete’s services. To many critics this was seen as th...
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...rity even if they don’t produce right away. Underclassmen will continue to leave early as long as there are NBA teams that want them and as long as college basketball continues to perpetuate the myth of the amateur athlete.
College basketball has gone from amateur competition to multi-million dollar tournaments and will continue to get larger and larger. The student-athlete is no longer a student and has become more and more of an athlete. Admissions are loosened and deals are made in order to get the best basketball players in the land. Athletes who are not students are criticized when they leave for the pros even though they are probably doing the right thing by not perpetuating the myth of academics and athletics. College basketball has become a multi-million dollar industry whether schools will admit it or not and the student athlete is the one getting played.
Reading through Beowulf I began to compare it to the last great epic I read, Homer’s Odyssey. While the Odyssey and Beowulf are each examples of both historic and modern ideas of heroism, the acts of Beowulf’s hero seem to fit better within its context.
First lets explore the history behind the paying of college athletes. Over the past 50 years the NCAA has been in control of all Div.1, 2 and 3 athletic programs. The NCAA is an organization that delegates and regulates what things college athletes can and can’t do. These regulations are put in place under the label of ‘protecting amateurism’ in college sports. This allots
Beowulf is a good example of a courageous and strong hero. He shows all of
In Beowulf, the protagonist Beowulf is shown as a hero with extrodinary strength. This is not what makes him a hero. By definition, a hero is a man of exceptional quality. However this term does not do Beowulf justice. His self-imposed purpose in life is to help others, and eventually sacrifices his own life in doing so. Beowulf’s battle with the dragon serves as a critique of the notion that Beowulf is a hero. The Dragon section displays many of Beowulf’s heoric characteristics. Beowulf establishes himself as a hero by fighting the dragon, exemplifing strength and courage when fighting the dragon, and sacrificing himself so that others can live.
Recently college athletes have been granted permission to work, from the NCAA. Even with this permission, their jobs are still regulated. One regulation to the athletes working is that they cannot work for alumni of the school. The NCAA has this rule because they feel if athletes work for people with close ties to the school then they will be receiving special benefits while working. These special benefits include, (but are not limited to), athletes being paid while not at work and higher salaries then other workers doing the same job (Anstine 4).
A hero is someone who is admired for their courage and bravery, as well as their noble accomplishments. They are respected by almost everyone, due to their kindness and charitable mindset, that drives them to fight for the good of others. Beowulf is the perfect representation of a hero, based on multiple characteristics that he displays throughout the novel. Along with his characteristics, Beowulf also takes on many “hero like” challenges and tasks. In the novel, Beowulf is praised and admired throughout the kingdom for his bravery, humility, and selflessness.
Macbeth is describing sleep as a wonderful thing. It gives you energy and nourishes you like food from a feast.
The novel Ransom by David Malouf (2009) and Beowulf by Anonymous (?8thC) uses different narrative uses of the hero and the failure to be heroic within their respective texts. They both challenge the readers understanding of what it means to be heroic. Malouf depicts that there are greater acts of courage than those that can be gained through a battle, which are qualities of a hero. Both Priam and Achilles are expected to behave in a certain way which causes them to become symbols for a hero, as well as images of the ideal king and warrior for the people who are around them. It is through these characters, as well as Somax, that Malouf highlights that ordinary people who live and work away from the battle field are also capable of having qualities of heroes such as compassion, bravery and courage. Similarly, within Beowulf, the reader is constantly reminded of his heroic presence and strength as he is an ideal king an archetypal warrior. Beowulf is the greatest of the heroes depicted in the poem not only because he has the greatest prowess in battle. He also meets his social obligations for society. He has the values of a civilised man, as well as the strength of the warrior. Boewulf always looks after his people and is always gracious and kind therefore becoming a hero. Themes of compassion and kindness, and courage and bravery are explored in both texts.
A true hero does not fear death or, but instead risks all that he is for what he believes to be right, moral, and just. Beowulf is an epic and tells the story of a legendary hero, conquering all obstacles as if he was immortal. Up until the end of Beowulf’s life he was constantly looking to be the hero. However, his humanity is exposed by his death. Heroes all share the characteristic of their willingness to die in their effort to accomplish their heroic act, thus making the act in itself heroic. Throughout the epic, Beowulf in many ways exhibited all the qualities and characteristics needed to be a true hero.
College athletes are undoubtedly some of the hardest working people in the world. Not only are they living the life of an average student, they also have a strenuous schedule with their specific sport. One of the most discussed topics in the world of college athletics is whether or not student-athletes should be paid money for playing sports. The people who disagree with the idea have some good arguments to make. Primarily that the athletes get to go to school for free for playing sports. Another argument is that if student-athletes were to get paid then it would ruin the amateurism of college sports. People who are against paying the athletes do not want to see the young people become focused on money. “Paying student-athletes would dramatically shift their focus away from where it should be - gaining knowledge and skills for life after college” (Lewis and Williams). This is very understandable because one of the biggest reasons college sports are so popular is because the athletes play for school pride and for bragging rights. They play because they enjoy the game, not because it is their job. Most people that disagree with the idea of paying the athletes fail to realize what really goes on behind the scenes. At most Universities around the country the bulk of the income the school receives is brought in through the athletic programs. In fact the football and basketball teams usually bring in enough money to completely pay for the rest of the athletic programs all together. To get a better understanding of how much has changed in the world of college sports a little history must be learned.
The proposal of payment toNCAA student-athletes has begun major conversations and arguments nationwide with people expressing their take on it. “This tension has been going on for years. It has gotten greater now because the magnitude of dollars has gotten really large” (NCAA). I am a student athlete at Nicholls State University and at first thought, I thought it would be a good idea to be able to be paid as a student-athlete.After much research however; I have come to many conclusions why the payment of athletes should not take place at the collegiate level.The payment of athletes is only for athletes at the professional level. They are experts at what they do whether it is Major League Baseball, Pro Basketball, Professional Football, or any other professional sport and they work for that franchise or company as an employee. The payment of NCAA college athletes will deteriorate the value of school to athletes, create contract disputes at both the college and professional level, kill recruiting of athletes, cause chaos over the payment of one sport versus another, and it will alter the principles set by the NCAA’s founder Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. Under Roosevelt and NCAA, athletes were put under the term of a “student-athlete” as an amateur. All student athletes who sign the NCAA papers to play college athletics agree to compete as an amateur athlete. The definition of an amateur is a person who “engages in a sport, study, or other activity for pleasure rather than for financial benefit or professional reasons” (Dictonary.com).
According to the NCAA regulations an athlete will lose his/her eligibility if they are paid to play; sign a contract with an agent; receive a salary, incentive payment, award, gratuity educational expenses or allowances; or play on a professional team. The word amateur in sports has stood for positive values compared to professional, which has had just the opposite. The professional sport has meant bad and degrading; while the amateur sport has meant good and elevating. William Geoghegan, Flyer News sports editor writes, “Would paying athletes tarnish the ideal of amateurism? Maybe, but being fair is far more important than upholding an ideal” (Geoghehan 1).
...rtant to be able to know how to use all of the sources provided to you that allow you to be an adequate writer. If you are not able to effectively express your thoughts and ideas in college, it’s really hard to be able to complete anything. From my experience, writing itself has never been much of a challenge. I found that the standard college essay is at least 3-4 pages. Some classes even require 1-2 pages. I’ve found that despite the length, the most important factor about a paper is its content. As a writer I hope to develop better time management. I tend to have writers block a lot when I write, but I think that’s mainly because I’m so picky with the way I want to sound when I’m trying to express a point or an idea. I know that the writing skills I have learned and developed are skills that will be used throughout my college career and even outside of school.
...ame all crossed paths as college kids. Building on collegiate stars gave pro basketball an identity. It allows players to develop better due to the superior coaching staff in colleges. Staying in college will also let players develop a valuable following, which benefits the NBA.
The epic poem Beowulf focuses on the hero. Throughout various generations and cultures, people have had an image of the archetypal hero. The Anglo-Saxon ideals of heroism were strength, bravery, and loyalty, which were exactly the qualities that Beowulf possessed. Beowulf, as a result, was an icon of his ancient Germanic heritage. He imitated the world around him by reflecting past traditions of heroes and mirrored their characteristics and actions. With him, his honor and pride made him not only a hero of his own time, but also a hero for generations to come.