Graduate Research Assistants vs Athletes (similar argument or no?)

[horshack.sixpack]

Graduate Research Assistants typically get their tuition waved, buy their own books, meals and housing, work extremely long hours outside of their classes(admittedly for a small stipend) to push research forward for professors (and to give professors warm bodies to bill research hours towards). The university spends ~$100MM in research, the funds coming from grants and other sources that are tied to the work that the student researchers are doing.

Scholarship Athletes typically get tuition, books, meals, housing. They put in extremely long hours outside of their classes to practice, travel, etc. The Athletic department budget at MSU is hovering around $50MM and their revenue is tied to the student athletes, but no more directly than research is tied to the Research Assistants (until the day we have a Manziel where people buy stuff just to have his number).

That being said, where is the outcry? MSU is a top research university and it is riding on the backs of Graduate Research Assistants who carry the load for some stipend that is substantially less than the books, meals and housing that the athletes get. The professors get to pay themselves a disproportionate part of the research money to augment their salary and in fact their promotion within academia is directly related to how much research funding they can bring in. It's not fair for the poor Graduate Research Assistants.

 

[RichPleasac]

Graduate Research Assistants typically get their tuition waved, buy their own books, meals and housing, work extremely long hours outside of their classes(admittedly for a small stipend) to push research forward for professors (and to give professors warm bodies to bill research hours towards). The university spends ~$100MM in research, the funds coming from grants and other sources that are tied to the work that the student researchers are doing.

Scholarship Athletes typically get tuition, books, meals, housing. They put in extremely long hours outside of their classes to practice, travel, etc. The Athletic department budget at MSU is hovering around $50MM and their revenue is tied to the student athletes, but no more directly than research is tied to the Research Assistants (until the day we have a Manziel where people buy stuff just to have his number).

That being said, where is the outcry? MSU is a top research university and it is riding on the backs of Graduate Research Assistants who carry the load for some stipend that is substantially less than the books, meals and housing that the athletes get. The professors get to pay themselves a disproportionate part of the research money to augment their salary and in fact their promotion within academia is directly related to how much research funding they can bring in. It's not fair for the poor Graduate Research Assistants.

It's not entirely similar. Nothing is stopping an outside source NSF, private corporation, or 3rd party scholarships from giving the GRA/GTA extra money. If GRAs and NCAA Athletes were similar, they'd have to shut down an entire department each time an RA received an outside scholarship. I really don't buy into the exploitation argument. I do have a problem when athletes can't even make money from their own name.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

I agree athletes should be allowed to be paid for work, or even for just holding a "job" from an alumnus. In a true free market economy, theoretically, MSU would be at a deficit to other schools with more money, but realistically, we already are. And I think that it would find an equilibrium point. There is no argument from me that the NCAA is stupid and self-serving.

 

[CochiseCowbell]

Are those dollars in MM, K, C, L, or V?**