page 6 theloquitur.com Thursday, Sept.

30, 2010

Perspectives
Calling foul on paying college athletes
By Ariel Crawford second. While they represent their school, paid, how much and why, would all have
Staff Writer they are not employed by them and, there- to be addressed.
fore, not entitled to payment. There is no fair way to gauge these
Every year a whole On a legal level, if we pay college ath- questions. Should players on the same
myriad of controver- letes for their efforts, we should then re- team all be paid the same wages? Should
sies come to surround define what it means to be a professional. different sports be paid different amounts?
college sports. One Athletes are not employed by a profession- Do we pay men more than women because
of the biggest ques- al sporting organization. So, if you want to mens sports tend to bring in more revenue?
tions continues to be pay college athletes today do you also wish Should athletes in lower divisions of play
whether or not college athletes should be to pay an up-and-coming little league tee be paid less than Division I players?
paid for playing. This is a notion that, just ball star tomorrow because he brings in a Are institutions ready to defend them-
like communism did, looks good on paper lot of money for a local league? selves if they are sued for racial discrimi-
but would not work out so well in reality. If one wishes to pay student-athletes for nation if they pay a white player more
I understand why people wish to pay the prestige, press and money they bring to than a black player? Do they have enough
college athletes for their efforts and I don’t the school, then every student who brings public relations people to handle accusa-
think that they’re the problem in this equa- their school positive attention through their tions of sexism for paying a male player
tion so much as they are caught in the mid- chosen medium would be entitled to a pay- more than a female one? Can they handle
dle between the NCAA’s outdated system check. Every editor at an award-winning the backlash they will receive for paying a
and their own schools. publication, every fellowship recipient, the player who is on academic probation or in
I’m not saying that student-athletes cast of every critically well-received drama trouble with the law? These are questions
don’t need money. All college students production, the artist behind every success- schools need to ask themselves. mct
are in desperate need of money. My point ful gallery show and so on. Do institutions Lastly, there is the issue, which is truly College football stars like Auburn
- is that these students should be allowed to really wish to put out that kind of money? at the heart of this matter. College athletes quarterback Cameron Newton, seen
n work jobs and be paid at those jobs, not Paying athletes is also wrong because it do not deserve to be paid because the insti- here, mean high spirits and big bucks.
e for their extra-curricular activities. When denies the student not only the chance to tutions they represent are places of higher But how much is that worth?
you strip away the bright lights, pageantry earn a wage but also to gain the full col- learning and sports do not, have never and hold jobs. Coaches and other team leaders
and screaming fans, sports really are extra- lege experience and prepare better for life never will have anything to do with learn- need to be paid a reasonable salary. There’s
curricular activities no matter how large an after graduation. Let’s face it. When a re- ing. just no amount of locker room pep talks in
audience they draw. cent college grad goes into an interview for Five and 6-year-old children learn fun- this world that are worth six figures a year.
When we consider that some athletes, their first job it might make them feel good damental social skills like teamwork and Institutions need to be held accountable for
especially at Division I schools, are given that their interviewer can rattle off their problem solving from sports. A 21 or 22 keeping their programs in check and the
free rides in the way of tuition, room and batting average or number of total rushing year old does not. So, all we are left with is NCAA should ease up on the limitations
board, it is clear that student-athletes are yards but that will do little, if anything at entertainment. they put on players.
financially better off than many of their all, to help them land the position. We go to see a game and we feel happy, So, institutions of higher learning,
peers and perhaps aren’t in as dire a need After all, according to the NCAA, only excited, angry or sad for a couple of hours. please do not begin to pay your student
of payment as some say. about one percent of all college athletes It takes our mind away from stress and athletes. There are so many more produc-
It is not outright stated anywhere in the will go on to play professionally. So re- lifts our mood but at the end, we haven’t tive things that could be done with those
NCAA’s rules and regulations that student- ally it would be almost cruel to pay them. learned anything. funds. Revamp an old residence hall; buy
athletes can’t have jobs. However, there are It would mean misleading 99 percent of At the end of the day, college athletes instruments for the music departments,
often so many restrictions put on them by these students into believing they have a are entertainers and college students who purchase new computers, buy the chemis-
their institutions and the NCAA that play- future in their sport when in reality all you entertain us with their music, drama and try department a new lab, sponsor cultural
ers find their hands bound up in red tape would be doing is denying them the chance art are not paid for their efforts so, why and artistic trips and events, build a new
and unable to hold jobs due to grueling to work jobs and internships in their cho- should student athletes be paid? Why are parking garage. There are so many better
practice schedules and other team-related sen fields. they more special than their peers? places to spend the money and it is high
commitments. Paying student-athletes opens a Pan- The three-ring circus that is college ath- time coaches and administrators stopped
The clearest reason to not pay athletes is dora’s box of trouble for schools for other letics needs to be shut down. Out-of-control feigning ignorance to that fact.
simply because, as the NCAA states on its reasons too. A pay scale would have to be star players need to stop being worshiped
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website, they are students first and athletes developed. Questions like, who would be and start being made to attend classes and

A major decision: By Chelbi Mims

coach or any person in your life.
Shaping your
future now
Analyze your talents, aspirations and goals and from
Staff Writer
there, determine a major. When thinking about your

The Loquitur
Progressing through my sopho- strengths and goals in life this will make picking a major
more year in high school I came into
college knowing that I wanted to ma-
“If it wouldn’t have been for my parents Yo u s p e a k , w e l i s t e n
jor in communication. I was one of
the few people that came into fresh- and my previous boss, my eyes wouldn’t
man year and knew exactly what I have been open to the vast possibilities of
wanted to major in. It may have been because while ap- a communication degree.”
plying for schools my mother made me decide on a major
to ensure that I choose the best school for myself.
I choose communication not only because I love to talk easier and not so forced into a particular field.
and am a people person but also because the summer of It is also best to not jump into a major until you are
my junior year I interned at a local theater company in completely positive. You will spend the rest of your years
Houston, Texas. During my internship, my boss asked me in college studying this subject matter and your adult life
constantly what I wanted to major in college. I always doing something in this field. Don’t randomly pick a major
blew her off because I figured I would just major in theater just because you do not want to be undecided anymore.
because I was talented and I loved it. Many people ask why I traveled from Texas to go to
My last day of work she called me into her office and school in Radnor, Pa. I give them all the same answer:
told me communication was the best major for me. I because the Cabrini communication department gives you
looked at her with a blank stare on my face because I knew a hands-on experience of all venues of communication.
I didn’t want to be a news anchor. She told me that all I visited nine schools my senior year of high school and
major companies had communication departments. None- although those schools offer an immense amount of party-
theless I can do a lot more with a communication degree ing and sororities none of their communication programs
than a theater degree and that would be a great major to fit stood out to my parents and I. I knew I wanted to pursue
my personality. communication in college and I needed to be at the best
We want your perspective.
When determining a major it is best to have a mentor place. Tell us online at
or someone helping you through the process. If it wouldn’t
have been for my parents and my previous boss my eyes [email protected] www.theloquitur.com
wouldn’t have been open to the vast possibilities of a com-
munication degree. It can be a teacher, family member,
Thursday, Sept. 30, 2010 theloquitur.com page 7

Perspectives
Business on the other side of the border
Until you meet the person behind Fair Trade can help farmers attain, he still believes there
your steaming, aromatic morning are areas of Fair Trade that still need improvement.
cup of Fair Trade coffee, it is nearly “To cut the distance between the producer and consum-
impossible to envision the day-to- er, change the process of transforming the material into a
day agenda of those coffee farmers product and creating a better way of treating the crop” are
who work tirelessly to produce a all Díaz’s thoughts on what can be improved within the
single pound of java beans. This was Fair Trade system. But he still feels that there are strengths
the case Thursday, Sept. 16, when and good intentions abound in the Fair Trade system.
Rigoberto Contreras Díaz, a repre- “The traders have good intentions, because they know
By Katie Parks sentative from Catholic Relief Ser- how hard everyone works to produce the coffee,” Díaz
Guest Writer vices (CRS), paid a visit to my Ad- said. “Fair Trade is not lucrative but those who make the
vanced Spanish Conversation class. products have the right to obtain the fair price for the prod-
As a Spanish major, former Starbucks barista and an equal uct.”
rights advocate, I was very anxious to hear what Díaz had Díaz also pointed out the danger of big-name corpo-
to say about his job as a coffee farmer in Santa Rosa, a city rations, like Nestlé, invading provinces in Mexico where
located within the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Fair Trade thrives. “You cannot compete with a company
Little did I know, Díaz was about to convey a history like Nestlé. They will ultimately overtake the entire prov-
that only Fair Trade farmers in another corner of the world kelsey kastrava / editor-in-chief ince and everything will become a monopoly,” Diaz said.
could understand. My classmates and I had our questions Rigoberto Contreras Díaz is a living testament to the It is crucial to consider, even as an economy on the re-
for Díaz prepared, but his responses delved into a scope value of Fair Trade for both consumers and farmers. bound of a recession, what Díaz points out about the im-
beyond what we could have ever imagined. portance of Fair Trade on world relations. If America uti-
In many of my classes, I had learned a great deal about lizes the power of Fair Trade instead of opting to purchase
Fair Trade, and the benefits of equal labor on both the pro-
“The traders have good intentions, be- coffee, corn and other products at cheaper rates from plac-
ducer and the consumer. What I did not know is that Fair cause they know how hard everyone works es where the employees are hardly paid for their trouble
Trade also enables the families of these producers, like to produce the coffee. Fair trade is not lu- and work in backbreaking conditions, it seems possible for
Díaz, to stay with their families in their own home coun- crative but those who make the products the U.S. to become a headstrong advocate of Fair Trade.
tries. have the right to obtain the fair price for Furthermore, it would minimize the issue of labor in-
Each year, thousands of immigrants from South Amer- equality in the U.S. and in other countries. As Americans,
ica venture to make the treacherous journey across the
the product.” we give immigrants a rather unfair chance but by advocat-
U.S.-Mexico border but few live to tell their story. What is ing change through Fair Trade, we can enable these strong
even worse is that more and more, it seems like less immi- rights of children, promoting proper environmental aware- individuals to support themselves and their families. Fair
grants receive the respect and dignity they deserve for their ness and procedures, as well as respecting and instilling Trade gives these farmers and employees the tools to be
hard work. Where this part leaves off, Fair Trade comes the integrity of the producer’s cultural identity.” productive—ultimately, a chance to be successful. Isn’t
into play. Fair Trade, or “comercio justo” in Spanish, is Many people do not realize that Fair Trade is still a that what everyone deserves?
a system in which the producer of a product—in Díaz’s growing movement and that many industries still fail in When you drink your next cup of Fair Trade coffee or
case, coffee—is involved with a system that seeks to at- promoting and strengthening these ideals between them tea, hopefully you find yourself saying a quiet “thank you”
tain equality and partnership between international traders and their producers and consumers. to those farmers, like Díaz, who work so hard to bring such
through a system of ideals. Díaz, a founding member of the Yeni Navan coopera- a rich product to you. It is only when you are completely
As defined by the Fair Trade Federation, these ideals tive, has worked for 15 years in formal leadership and now grateful for such small things in life, like coffee, that they
include granting “fair wages, creating opportunities for works as the director of sales and marketing within the co- truly taste so sweet.
economically-deficient producers, ensuring the safety and operative’s program. While Díaz is a fine example of what [email protected]

The thin line between social and stalker

to choose from, you might wonder how to
By Jeny Varughese know when to stop. This really depends on
Staff Writer the individual person and what that per-
son’s view is.
In today’s society, I think it’s safe to say that I myself am
social networking is a part of this growing trend. I have an ac-
a big part of our ev- count on several networking sites including
eryday life. With so Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, LinkedIn,
many different sites hi5 and orkut, a Google powered network-
out there to choose ing site. However, I barely have time to
from, this has become a growing trend check all these sites so I just stick to the
over the past decade. However, has this main two, which for me are Facebook and
huge trend gone too far or is it merely an orkut.
obsession, one which we can’t get our- Also, I know several people who have
selves to back out from? accounts in multiple networking sites but
Many of us run on a busy schedule with don’t really have the time to juggle them
school, work or both. As a result, no one all at once, so to speak. They mainly just
has time to keep in touch with friends and stick to checking one or two sites, which to
family, so the next best thing is social net- them is the most important.
working. I don’t believe anyone has the time of
Social networking sites have made it day to sit down and go through every so-
possible for a person to find someone they cial networking site they own to see what’s
have lost touch with and get reconnected. going on with their friends and families.
It also allows users to connect to people So then what is the reason behind it?
who aren’t in their friend circle. We all feel the need to be a part of the
Social networking sites allow users to new trend so when a new site comes out
connect based on their common interests, we immediately sign up for it. Another rea-
religion and nationality. It is also a place son is because we get invited to join these
to share different views and opinions about different sites so we just accept the invita-
certain issues. Meeting new people and tion and create an account without really
connecting with them through shared simi- thinking it over.
The popularity for social networking immensely popular.
larities and interests has become less awk- Many people don’t realize that the in-
services have doubled over the last year for This trend of social networking is
ward and easier through these websites. formation we put out on these sites are ac-
Americans over 50, according to the New something that cannot be stopped. With
Although it might be less personal, cessible by anyone so it’s very important to
York Times. the immense growth in technology, new
many people today are comfortable mak- be selective when posting personal infor-
If we look at it in a school setting, not sites are sure to pop up all the time. With
ing friends with someone over the internet mation on the web. It’s important to stay
only do the students have accounts in so many different sites out there to choose
even if they haven’t physically seen each cautious and to limit the amount of infor-
MySpace and Facebook, but so do the pro- from every group of people will be able to
other. It’s also a place to share different mation and time spent on these sites.
fessors. find sites which are more suitable for them
views and opinions about certain issues. Social networking sites started as a
It’s no wonder why networking sites to use.
Social networking has created a huge trend for the younger generation but today
such as Facebook and Twitter have become [email protected]
buzz worldwide. Now with so many sites it is also being used by older adults.