College football and basketball athletes want to get paid to play the sport, even though they could have a full-ride scholarship, or even a partial scholarship. After the recent March Madness Tournament, the new sports debate is whether college athletes should get paid to play.

Fred Bowen, a Sports Opinion Column Writer for KidsPost, said, “A government official recently ruled that the football players at Northwestern University are employees of the university–not student-athletes, as the colleges and National Collegiate Athletic Association claim.”

My personal opinion is that students shouldn’t be considered employees of the school. The students are getting room and board, food, classes, and more for zero to little money thanks to scholarships. The only employees of a university should be the teachers, the custodial workers, the cafeteria workers and so on.

Tyler Helvin, a CHS senior, agrees. “I feel they shouldn’t. NFL players are playing hard to get paid. If the college athletes are good then they will get paid in the NFL.”

Bowen also said, “Only football and men’s basketball are money-making college sports.”

I tend to agree with this statement, because I go to Shippensburg University almost every weekend to see my sister. The football stadium is always packed, and on days they have field hockey the same day as football, there is almost nobody at the field hockey game.

Jeremy Hafner, a senior said, “Paying college athletes is sort of a good thing.”

The players wanting to get paid are actually following the coaches. John Calipari, a head basketball coach at Kentucky University, gets paid $5.5 million a year just to coach a basketball team.

I think the coaches should get paid what the teachers make, because the coaches are just like teachers except they are coaching. The president of the United States makes way less than the Kentucky University coach. I think soldiers should make more money than football and basketball coaches.

Some schools, like Maryland University, recently left the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) which had some great rivalries like Maryland vs. Virginia. Maryland joined the Big Ten Conference for more money.

Michelle Disbrow, a 12^th grade English teacher, said, “I don’t think they should get paid. They already get scholarships. The NCAA should be doing something with the money for charity.”

The only good thing coming out of student athletes getting paid to play is they will probably play better than they do now.

Disclaimer: Articles designated as “Editorial” represent the views and opinions of the author, not the 2014-2015 Periscope staff, CHS Administration, or the CHS student body.