1. Morgan Griffith
FYS 100
Information Literacy Assignment FYS
A college athlete being paid seems to be a very controversial topic lately. The main argument
that people make is that since colleges make millions of dollars off of athlete’s performances, then the
student-athletes should be paid. However some will argue that student athletes are already given
scholarships that cover tuition, fees, room, board, textbooks, and more.
The author’s main argument in the Newsday article by Michael Dobie is that college athletes are
not blind to the billions they earn for the organization that is the NCAA. He claims that there is a lot
going on that threatens the structure of big time college sports. The point is also made that TV contracts
for the men’s basketball tournament and the new football playoff system are worth 18 billion. This
money goes the to the NCAA and its schools. A couple of months ago the National Labor Relations Board
ruled that football players at Northwestern University were employees of the school. This means players
can form a union and take place in collective bargaining. This could mean big change for the NCAA. Over
the summer they went on trial because a former UCLA basketball player filed a suit that claims college
athletes should be paid when they are used in something like video games. However some believe the
student-athletes are hardly students. At UNC, a learning specialist reported that 60 percent of football
and basketball players read at a level between fourth and eighth grade. This makes the NCAA’s emphasis
on the word “student-athlete” very questionable.

2. Checking the claims made I realized this is a very talked about topic. One article states that
college athletes are students who are receiving a college education through their participation in sports
for which they get scholarships that pay for fees, room and board, tuition, and other allowable
expenses. It is also true that a high percentage of student-athletes graduate without student loans,
which most of other students will have to deal with. The article however also shows that in 2011 a
report confirmed that 85 percent of college athletes with scholarships live below the poverty line. Marc
Edelman also thinks that the argument against allowing student athletes to be paid arises from greed
and self-interest. In another article the author stated that when the NCAA voted to allow athletic
scholarships, that college sports started down a slope toward open professionalism. However, in the
third article I came upon said that there are more demands put on football and basketball players at
division I schools more then any other employee at the university. People believe the players are
working under very strict conditions and are laborers in terms of the physical demands. The point is also
made that the athletes don’t have the free choice of what they want to major in if the classes conflict
with their practice schedules, and that shoots down the idea that college athletes are “secondarily
athletes”. Some people also find it unfair that the NCAA limits athletic scholarships to one year, because
the scholarship can be withdrawn for not following the coach’s rules or any other reason.
There is very well a lot of information that can help determine a author’s creditability. First we
have to look at the purpose of each article. Every article I read seemed to have a great purpose. Some of
them did seem to be a bit more persuading than others. One even one section for athletes being paid,
and one section against it. Even reading these articles somewhat persuaded me into thinking that
college athletes possibly should be paid. All of the articles also seemed to inform the reader and also
somewhat prove a point. The material of these articles also seemed to be very well focused and
organized. When asking if the articles were biased, I would say only one article had a very strong point
of view. Now when it comes to the articles being up to date, the credibility doesn’t seem so great. The

3. article we were given and one of the ones I checked was perfect, as they were written in 2014 and 2013.
However my other articles were written in 2011 and 2008. For the topic we were given and the research
project we were assigned, I believe all of the articles were very useful. As they helped me gained
knowledge about the certain topic. In one of my articles the author was a perfect source to use seeing as
he played on a division I college football team, and is also a professor at a University. Him having
experience being a college athlete makes you more interested in his opinion. When it came to the
coverage of the articles, they very well covered the topic as much as they could. The audience the
articles are reaching out to is anyone from a actual college athlete, to maybe college athletes families,
people just interested in sports, friends of athletes, and many more. So over all, I believe all my sources
were very credible.
There are a lot of things that build credibility. I will start with the question would you trust a
book about how to take care of a dog from me, or a dog trainer? The obvious answer would be the dog
trainer. When you are looking for a book or article about a certain topic, you will want to find someone
who is most likely a expert in that topic and knows what they are talking about. This is also why if you
have a sickness you go to a doctor and not just somebody random who isn’t experienced in that field.
You also need to read whatever you are reading over first before deciding if you should use it. If it seems
to be unorganized in the least way you might reconsider trusting it. Also, if it has a bunch of spell ing and
punctuation errors it is probably best you choose a different source. The publisher of a book can also say
a lot. You should see who the publisher is and do a little bit of research before trusting that book or
article. The date of publication can also be very important. If it is out-of-date you should definitely
consider a more up to date source. You should also make sure the audience the book or article is writing
to is appropriate for your needs.
The main thing when you’re trying to prevent the spread of misinformation is just simply don’t
use the article or book that is misinformation. It also can help if the article or website has something on

4. it where you can report the misinformation, so other people don’t believe and use what is in the arti cle.
Make sure you do your research so you aren’t writing about something that is simply not true. Don’t
ever use a website that doesn’t seem trustworthy. The best way to find out if information is actually true
use common sense, readers cannot be gullible!

5. Works Cited
Sack, Allen. "Should college athletes be paid?." Christian Science Monitor 07 Mar. 2008: 9. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 16 Sept. 2014.
Mitchell, Horace, and Marc Edelman. "Should College Student-Athletes Be Paid?." U.S. News Digital
Weekly 5.52 (2013): 17. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 Sept. 2014.
COOPER, KENNETH J. "Should College Athletes Be Paid To Play?." Diverse: Issues In Higher Education
28.10 (2011): 12-13. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 Sept. 2014.
"A rim-rattling ruling in college sports; Athletes aren't blind to the billions they earn for the NCAA.
Change is coming...." Newsday (New York). (March 30, 2014 Sunday ): 583 words. LexisNexis
Academic. Web. Date Accessed: 2014/09/16.
Gregory, Sean. "Some College Athletes Will Now Get Paid--A Little." Time.Com (2014): 1. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 16 Sept. 2014.