Debate
Should College Athletes Be Paid???Student-athletes generate billions of dollars for universities and private companies. Student-athletes earn free tuition, which over the course of four years can exceed $200,000. They are also provided with housing, textbooks, food and academic tutoring. When they travel to road games, they are given per diems for meals.
Should college athletes be paid more? Bill Clinton might say it depends on what the definition of "paid" is. There is a significant and growing gap between the value of a scholarship and what a student-athlete genuinely needs. Many people in college sports have argued that the scholarship model needs to be updated so this gap can be closed.
However, when so many others talk about college athletes getting "paid," they are not talking about merely the cost of attendance. They're talking about giving athletes what they're "worth." It's a convincing argument when cast alongside the mind-boggling dollars that are pouring in. The SEC recently surpassed the $1 billion mark for football receipts. The Big Ten is close behind at $905 million. The football programs at Texas, Florida, Georgia, Michigan and Penn State earn between $40 million and $80 million each year in profits. The NCAA received $771 million from CBS and Turner to broadcast last year's basketball tournament.
The NCAA basketball tournaments, or "March Madness," have become a huge business. As Forbes' Chris Smith wrote, CBS and Turner Broadcasting make more than $1 billion off the games, "thanks in part to a $700,000 ad rate for a 30-second spot during the Final Four." Athletic conferences receive millions of dollars in payouts from the NCAA when their teams advance deep into the tournament. Ditto for the coaches of the final squads standing. The NCAA, as a whole, makes $6 billion annually.
The huge amount of money being made off college sports has led some to question whether student-athletes can be considered amateurs any longer, and whether they should, instead, be paid for their efforts. A group of former players has filed an antitrust lawsuit alleging that student athletes are entitled to some of the money the NCAA makes off of using their names and likenesses on merchandise such as jerseys and video games. But on the flip side, the argument can be made that the opportunity to both receive an education and get the exposure to win a major professional contract more than compensates NCAA athletes for their efforts. "Rather than push college athletics further and further from academics, we need to bring it closer," says NCAA president Mike Emmert.
So should NCAA athletes be paid?
Directions:
The class will be split up into 2 teams; one team that thinks college athletes should be paid and the other that does not think college they should be paid. There are two parts to this assignment.
1. Each individual is responsible for a paper supporting his or her side. This paper is a research paper that has a minimum of 2 pages (not double spaced). Any and every source and piece of researched information needs to be cited to make your paper credible. This part of the project will be done on a Google Drive Word Document. As always, you will need to share it with me @ .
2. Each team needs to choose 3 of their top arguments for a class debate. These 3 arguments will be put into a Google Drive Presentation along with their sources and also shared with me @ . I understand these maybe big groups but you will have2 whole class periods to work on this and get the top 3 points prepped and ready for your debate.As a group and team you need to think of the other sides argument and make sure that you have evidence (FACTS) to help refute their claims. I feel the best way to achieve a team goal here is assign group tasks within the overall group. For example assign a group of individuals to come up with the top three arguments or a group of people to find rebuttals, etc…
3. You will be given 5 days in class to complete this whole assignment. On the 6th day everything is due in my shared file. That means your paper and your groups Google Presentation with arguments and rebuttals. On the 6th day you will also have your class debate.
1st period: Due April 2nd.
2nd period: Due April 2nd
4th period: Due April 2nd
6th period: Due April 2nd
Debate Rules: The classroom debates are exercises designed to allow you to strengthen your skills in the areas of leadership, interpersonal influence, teambuilding, group problem solving, and oral presentation. All group members are expected to participate in the research, development, and presentation of your debate position. Preparation will require substantial computer research.
***Attack the idea not the person. Do not present opinion as facts!!!
Debate Format
First argument:
4 minute Position Presentation – Pro
4 minute Position Presentation – Con
2 minute Work Period
2 minute Rebuttal - Pro
2 minute Rebuttal – Con
Second Argument:
4 minutes - Pro
4 minutes– Con
2 minute Work Period
2 minute Rebuttal-Pro
2 minute Rebuttal- Con
Third Argument:
4 minutes - Pro
4 minutes– Con
2 minute Work Period
2 minute Rebuttal-Pro
2 minute Rebuttal- Con
Closing Remarks:
4 minutes- Pro
4 Minutes- Con
While a team is not required to use all of the time allocated to each debate component, speakers must stop immediately when the allocated time runs out. Team members are prohibited from speaking to the audience or opposing team except at the times specifically allocated to them. Thus, there can be no immediate, reciprocal interchange of comments between the teams.
Debate Grading Rubric
Names______Date______
Team: 1 2
Criteria / 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / Score1. Organization & Clarity
Main arguments and responses are outlined in a clear and orderly way. Enhanced with visuals. / Completely clear and orderly presentation. Used several visuals and props to enhance presentation. / Mostly clear and orderly in all parts. Visuals/props used weren’t explained fully / Clear in some parts but not overall. Limited visuals/props used, not appropriate / Unclear and disorganized throughout. No visuals or props used.
2. Opening Statement
Explained and defined energy source / Excellent explanation of energy source using many definitions and descriptions / Many good facts and definitions were given with only minor gaps / Some decent descriptions but little supporting facts given. / Few or no real definitions or explanations given.
3. Affirmative Statements:
demonstrated knowledge of subject supported by research / Very persuasive arguments are supported by research / Many good arguments given with only minor problems / Some decent arguments, but little research to support it / Few or no real arguments given and no supporting research
4. Negative Rebuttals:
Made specific arguments about the weak points of the opposing team / Excellent rebuttals which focused on the weak points of the opposing team using specific facts and statistics / Many good arguments about the opposing team using some facts and statistics / Arguments showed little knowledge about opposing team / Arguments showed no real knowledge of the opposing team
5. Affirmative Rebuttals:
The team was able to defend itself against attack by extending own position using additional facts to support claim / Used excellent new researched facts to support their side / Many good facts which supported their side / Had some problems coming up with facts to defend their side / Was unable to give any facts to defend its side
6. Closing Statement
Summarized the main points of the debate / Summarized the main points in detail, highlighting the positive points in their argument and the negative details in their opposition’s arguments / Summarized some but not all main points, highlighting the positive points in their argument and the negative details in their opposition’s arguments / Lacked detail in summary. / Did not summarize the main points of both viewpoints.
Total Score _____/30 = ______
Dimension / Sophisticated / Competent / Needs WorkIntroduction / Position and exceptions, if any, are clearly stated. Organization of the argument is completely and clearly outlined and implemented. 5-10 pts / Position is clearly stated. Organization of argument is clear in parts or only partially described and mostly implemented.
3-5 pts / Position is vague. Organization of argument is missing,
vague, or not consistently maintained.
0-3 pts
Research / Research selected is highly relevant to the argument, is presented accurately and completely – the method, results, and implications are all presented accurately; Theory is relevant, accurately described and all relevant components are included; relationship between research and theory is clearly articulated and accurate.
5-10 pts / Research is relevant to the argument and is mostly accurate and complete – there are some unclear components or some
minor errors in the method, results or implications.
Theory is relevant and accurately described, some
components may not be present or are unclear.
Connection to theory is mostly clear and complete,
or has some minor errors. 3-5 pts / Research selected is not relevant to the argument or is
Vagueand incomplete – components are missing or
inaccurate or unclear.
Theory is not relevant or only relevant for some aspects; theory
is not clearly articulated and/or has incorrect or
incomplete components. Relationship between theory
and research is unclear or inaccurate, major errors
in the logic are present.
0-3pts
Conclusions / Conclusion is clearly stated and connections to the research and position are clear and relevant. The underlying logic is explicit.
5-10 pts / Conclusion is clearly stated and connections to research and position are mostly clear, some aspects may not be
connected or minor errors in logic are present. 3-5 pts / Conclusion may not be clear and the connections to the
research are incorrect or unclear or just a repetition of
the findings without explanation. Underlying logic
has major flaws; connection to position is not clear.
0-3pts
Writing / Paper is coherently organized and the logic is easy to follow. There are no spelling or grammatical errors and terminology is clearly defined. Writing is clear and concise and persuasive.
5-10 pts / Paper is generally well organized and most of the argument is easy to follow. There are only a few minor spelling or grammatical errors, or terms are not clearly defined.
Writing is mostly clear but may lack conciseness. 3-5 pts / Paper is poorly organized and difficult to read –
does not flow logically from one part to another.
There are several spelling and/or grammatical errors;
technical terms may not be defined or are poorly defined. Writing lacks clarity and conciseness. 0-3 pts