Jason Iloulian
Professor Labalsamo
Written Expression II
30th March 2015
Critical Analysis of Two Sources
Whether or not to pay college athletes, and whether or not they are being exploited for their work on the field, remains a hot topic of contention in both scholarly and mainstream media. Both mainstream media and scholarly literature address a wide range of topics related to the issue of student-athlete compensation, albeit with the scholarly literature focusing more on financial data and legal analyses too technical for publication in popular magazines. In “Exploitation in College Sports,” for example, Van Rheenen (2013) discusses the ways it may be possible to measure exploitation quantitatively using a calculation based on surplus…show more content… Exploitation has both “philosophical and psychological implications,” as Van Rheenen (2013) points out (p. 550). The definition of exploitation is, according to Van Rheenen (2013), “primarily a moral construct understood as an unfair exchange between two parties,” (p. 550). In the case of student-athletes, the unfair exchanges is the fact that the students have a financial value to the school, but receive nothing beyond the basic tuition, room, and board…show more content… Yet a closer examination of the rhetorical strategies Van Rheenen (2013) uses shows that there are subtle cues used to sway the reader. The word “exploitation” itself is an evocative and potentially inflammatory one. After all, opponents of paying student-athletes do not believe the students are being exploited because they are receiving an education and the opportunity to play sports at the same time. Gregory (2013) also mentions that the scholarships “are a serious meal ticket and for many families are the only way their children can afford to go to a four-year school,” (p. 3). The student-athletes on scholarships receive an education they might not have had access to otherwise. However, because their entry to school is based on athletic ability alone, it can become difficult for these students to succeed off the field (Van Rheenen, 2013). Gregory (2013) agrees, noting “most scholarships are revocable, so if an athlete doesn’t perform well on the field, he can, in a sense, be fired from college,” (p. 3). Again, Gregory’s (2013) language, style, and diction are different from that of Van Rheenen (2013), but their overall message is the