Breaking Down the Prompt

Please reread information from the first page of the Pay College Athletes? synthesis packet, which I have included below. Notice that the information provides context, and it also includes the prompt and basic expectations for the response. When you are finished reading this information, please post a comment to this post that answers the following questions:

1. Paraphrase the instructions listed under "Directions."
2. What information from the "Introduction" part of the prompt do you believe is most helpful in presenting the issue/topic of the packet? Why do you think this information is most helpful?
3. The "Assignment" part of the prompt asks you to create an argument that argues one of two options. What are the two options the prompt asks you to select from?
4. What are a few other important instructions or details you should pay attention to in this information?

Pay College Athletes? Synthesis Packet

Directions: The following prompt is based on the accompanying sources.

This question requires you to synthesize a variety of sources into a coherent, well-written essay. When you synthesize sources, you refer to them to develop your position and cite them accurately. Your argument should be central; the sources should support the argument. Avoid merely summarizing sources.

Remember to attribute both direct and indirect references.

Introduction

With increased income and revenue being generated by college athletics at major NCAA Division 1 schools in the United States, the question of whether or not to pay student athletes beyond paying for their schooling has developed over the years. According to an article in The Business Insider, the athletic department’s total revenue at the University of Texas for the 2011 - 2012 school year was $163.3 million.  A little closer to home, at the University of Wisconsin, the athletic department’s total revenue for the same year was $101.5 million (Gaines).  Some argue that much of this money being generated by the athletic departments should be given back to the people who are primarily responsible for bringing in the money:  the athletes.  Others claim that scholarship athletes are given enough already, as much, if not most, of their college tuition is paid for by athletic scholarships.  

Assignment

Read the following sources (including the introductory information) carefully. Then, in an essay that synthesizes at least three of the sources, develop a position on whether or not college athletes participating at the NCAA’s Division I level should be paid for their participation at their respective schools. Your position should be that the cons of paying these athletes would outweigh the pros, or vice versa.

You may refer to the sources by their titles (Source A, Source B, etc.) or by the descriptions in parentheses.

Source A (Edelman, Marc)

Source B (Mitchell, Horace)

Source C (McKee, Rick)

Source D (Darko, John)

Source E (Nocera, Joe)

Source F (Dabad, Jane)

Work Cited in Introduction

Gaines, Cork.  “The 25 Schools That Make The Most Money In College Football.”  The Business Insider.

16 January 2013.  Web.  18 November 2014.

Identifying Initial Reactions and Opinions

I would like you to reread the prompt information for your synthesis packet one more time, so I have included it below. After you reread this prompt information, please respond to the following in a comment to this post:

• If you were to write an essay in response to this prompt right now, without doing any further research and without reading any of the included sources, which side would you argue, and why? 
• Then, using your answer to the previous question, write out a rough main claim that states your position and a few reasons.

Pay College Athletes? Synthesis Packet

Directions: The following prompt is based on the accompanying sources.

This question requires you to synthesize a variety of sources into a coherent, well-written essay. When you synthesize sources, you refer to them to develop your position and cite them accurately. Your argument should be central; the sources should support the argument. Avoid merely summarizing sources.

Remember to attribute both direct and indirect references.

Introduction

With increased income and revenue being generated by college athletics at major NCAA Division 1 schools in the United States, the question of whether or not to pay student athletes beyond paying for their schooling has developed over the years. According to an article in The Business Insider, the athletic department’s total revenue at the University of Texas for the 2011 - 2012 school year was $163.3 million.  A little closer to home, at the University of Wisconsin, the athletic department’s total revenue for the same year was $101.5 million (Gaines).  Some argue that much of this money being generated by the athletic departments should be given back to the people who are primarily responsible for bringing in the money:  the athletes.  Others claim that scholarship athletes are given enough already, as much, if not most, of their college tuition is paid for by athletic scholarships.  

Assignment

Read the following sources (including the introductory information) carefully. Then, in an essay that synthesizes at least three of the sources, develop a position on whether or not college athletes participating at the NCAA’s Division I level should be paid for their participation at their respective schools. Your position should be that the cons of paying these athletes would outweigh the pros, or vice versa.

You may refer to the sources by their titles (Source A, Source B, etc.) or by the descriptions in parentheses.

Source A (Edelman, Marc)

Source B (Mitchell, Horace)

Source C (McKee, Rick)

Source D (Darko, John)

Source E (Nocera, Joe)

Source F (Dabad, Jane)

Work Cited in Introduction

Gaines, Cork.  “The 25 Schools That Make The Most Money In College Football.”  The Business Insider.

16 January 2013.  Web.  18 November 2014.

Practice Source A

The following source is NOT a source you will find in your actual synthesis packet; however, it is a source that is related to the packet's topic of Hip Hop in some way. Please read the source and then answer the following questions in a comment to this post:

1. What is the source's SOAPSTone?
2. What type of source is this?
3. How does the information from this source relate to the prompt?
4. How could the information from this source be used in your synthesis (if you were to go with the main claim you drafted in a previous post)?

(Excerpt from "4 Ways the NCAA is Like Fast Food Resteraunts" by Seamus McKiernan)

Until last week, I hadn't thought how much fast food and college sports have in common. That's when I saw the Burger King March Madness ad blitz and learned that BK boasted the "official burger of the NCAA." The real shocker was the company's TV commercial featuring a former college hoops star who was once sanctioned by the NCAA for illegally accepting money from a booster. Then I saw that the Home of the Whopper, where adults with families to feed work for $8-9 an hour, had assembled a whopping 30-person social media team to spread the news of its flame-broiled burger. You can bet that BK pays those tweet-writers more than the minimum wage workers on the bottom of the food chain.

As a former NCAA college athlete, I would never bad-mouth college athletes. They're not the ones causing this problem. They're the 18-22-year-olds balancing a schedule of practices and games in between classes and tests. What gets under my skin is the creeping sense that college students are being exploited so that NCAA executives, TV studios and college coaches can make their bloated salaries. In that sense, college athletes are akin to another group of exploited workers: fast food employees. 

Practice Source B

The following source is NOT a source you will find in your actual synthesis packet; however, it is a source that is related to the packet's topic of Hip Hop in some way. Please read the source and then answer the following questions in a comment to this post:

1. What is the source's SOAPSTone?
2. What type of source is this?
3. How does the information from this source relate to the prompt?
4. How could the information from this source be used in your synthesis (if you were to go with the main claim you drafted in a previous post)?

This is an image from a New York Times article called "College Athletes Deserve Some Cash"

Practice Source C

The following source is NOT a source you will find in your actual synthesis packet; however, it is a source that is related to the packet's topic of Hip Hop in some way. Please read the source and then answer the following questions in a comment to this post:

1. What is the source's SOAPSTone?
2. What type of source is this?
3. How does the information from this source relate to the prompt?
4. How could the information from this source be used in your synthesis (if you were to go with the main claim you drafted in a previous post)?

(Excerpt from "College Athletes Should Not be Paid" by Molly Block)

College athletes who already receive scholarship money should not be paid by the university to play sports.

It would be unfair to other students if the university paid athletes to play college sports, although many may disagree. Scholarships granted to student athletes cover tuition, fees, room, board and textbooks, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association website. Some athletes receive scholarships that cover only a portion of these expenses, but many still receive exceedingly more aid than the average student.

The average value of a full, in-state public school scholarship is $15,000 a year, according to the website. The scholarships awarded to outstanding student athletes are valuable in countless ways. Without them, many would not be able to pursue their academic or athletic goals. The individuals who receive these scholarships are exceptionally talented and work very hard to earn the money awarded to them.

Despite this, the fact still remains many student athletes have everything provided for them in college, giving them a distinct advantage over their peers. The experience of playing on a college team itself is valuable, working much like an unpaid internship for other students. For non-athlete students, however, the experiences of unpaid internships do not come along with a full-ride scholarship. In a way, college athletes are already getting paid. Universities should never have to shell out even more finances just to satisfy their athletes.