College Sports

Over the past decade, a reform movement has reshaped the image of big-time college sports. At the insistence of college presidents, members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) have voted to raise academic standards for student athletes, reduce the number of sports scholarships, limit practice time and phase out separate dormitories for players. Despite all this, major college revenue sports -- chiefly football and basketball -- remain under constant threat of commercialism and corruption. Some say the best way of defusing the threat is to acknowledge that college football and basketball players are professionals and pay them accordingly. NCAA reform leaders reject this approach, arguing that constant vigilance is the best way to protect the integrity of both college education and college sports.