College kids already get stipends.  I went to Vandy so I follow them pretty closely.  Colleges these days give out ID cards to all students.  These ID cards are used not only as identification but are used as a card swipe to enter certain buildings as well as basically a debit card.  Normal students have to put their own money(or their parents money) on these cards.  Not the football players, at least not at Vandy.  Every week they start with 500 bucks.  At the end of the week, whatever is left, that number refreshes to 500 bucks.  Where can you use that student card?  Obviously anywhere on campus.  Vandy's campus has a number of foodmarts that sell basic necessities.  Milk, cereal, ramen noodles, etc..  Campus also has a chick-fil-a among other fast food spots.  You can use it at the bookstore of course.  So like any college bookstore you can buy clothes, computer games, music, etc.... But you can also use those ID cards at local spots near campus.  Certain restaurants.  Certain clothing stores.  Movie theatres.  Gas stations.  etc, etc, etc...  And of course that doesnt even consider the fact that they get their main meals for free at the athletic cafeteria!  So the idea that these poor kids are starving and dont have money and blah blah seems so laughable to me. 

 

This argument always turns into some Karl Marx wannabe bashing rich people.  The funny thing is, the majority of college athletic departments out there lose money. Everybody sees Oregon's new football facility and they hear about how much Saban makes and dont realize that the overwhelming majority of athletic departments arent profitable. 

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