their work. While student-athletes have no legal way to earn money, often they try to pursue their careers elsewhere. An above-average division one college basketball player, such as Michigan's Louis Bullock last season is offered the opportunity to go to the CBA or another European League and make a good living. While the average graduation rate is about 58 percent, basketball players have a 45 percent graduation rate, or 13 percentage points lower. Though better than basketball players, football players are graduating at 52 percent, six percentage points lower than the average student is.With giving student-athletes a small salary, such as the $5.40 an hour national minimum wage, more athletes would not have to miss their chance of a college experience. These people are not greedy; they are looking out for themselves. Though a college education is important, the goal of college is to prepare yourself for your future profession. Recently Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, and Shawn Kemp are examples of teens that decided to skip college because of the necessity of money. Had they attended college, they would have enjoyed four years of, well, being slaves.It wouldn't hurt universities to give back a little. The average Division One school profits $6 million per year on basketball and football alone. Consider that, some universities such as University of Florida or U of M profit more than $10 million per year on their respective athletic programs. Everywhere you look in Ann Arbor you see Michigan Football merchandise. The amount of money and number of people the football program brings into this city alone is tremendous. If every player were given a decent salary, say $75 to $100 a week, it would make life a lot more livable for some athletes. They should not struggle for food or money, considering that they are, in a sense, keeping the town alive. What would Ann Arbor be without football? Much less lively and spirited, to say t...
