Athletic $cholar$hip$

This is kind of random, but I was watching a show about why colleges and universities should pay collegiate athletes. The people on the show were arguing that athletes bring in huge amounts of revenue through merchandise and their performances on the field/court and that they should be paid for their efforts. I have several football jersies and I have been to numerous college athletic events and I probably would not have have jersies or gone to these events if the athletes did not perform as well as they do. 

However, I think the athletes are already getting "paid." 

First, these athletes are already getting full-ride scholarships. This includes tuition and room and board. So a free education, a free place to live and free food. 

Second, in addition to what was previously stated, these athletes get free tutoring and free school merchandise. So, they also get free clothes and the "tutoring" is a pretty nice deal. I had a big lecture-type class with about 50 athletes. However, I rarely saw the athletes in class. Funny thing... I guess if an athlete has a "learning disorder" they can get someone who gets paid to take notes for them in class. (I had a friend who did this. Apparently it was a pretty easy job.)  

Finally, these athletes get first crack at all the good classes and "easy" electives. I understand they need to schedule classes around practice, but come on.... I wanted to take Geology 1003 (AKA Rocks for Jocks).

I'll guestimate that an average college costs about $25,000 a year to attend. So, that is $100,000 the athletes are getting "paid" right there. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Plus the clothes, "tutoring," food, rent, etc. 

I understand that these athletes work hard and practice daily, but additional payment would be too much. If colleges were allowed to pay athletes, collegiate athletics would turn into which school pays the most. The top recruits would all go to the highest paying schools and all smaller schools would likely lose their programs because they wouldn't be able to pay enough money to get decent athletes. 

I think what collegiate athletes are already receiving is payment enough.

IllinoiSSS

I am from the great state of Illinois. Although I am from the IL, I attended the University of Oklahoma for undergrad. I loved almost everything about OU. BUT, there are 2 things will always extremely annoy me when I think about all the Okies I met. 

#2: From the moment I stepped foot on OU's campus, when told I was from Illinois, EVERY single person replied, "Oh, Chicago?" I don't mean this to be disrespectful of Chicago. I love Chicago, it is one of my favorite cities, but come on. It's not that big of a deal, but it can get annoying explaining that I'm from a small town around Springfield. Oh, nevermind, you've never heard of Springfield either. Okay, It's closer to St. Louis than Chicago... How's that?

I want to preface this by saying this annoyed me WAY more than #2.

#1. I always assumed that it was common knowledge that the S in Illinois is silent.... Apparently not. I literally heard IllinoiSSS once a week. I cannot understand this. Are you not taught United States Geography in Elementary School? I always think of the "50 Nifty United States" song. I'm pretty sure I knew all of the proper pronunciations of all 50 states and their capitals (I was in the Geography Bowl) by the time I was in 3rd or 4th grade. 

How uneducated do you have to be? A scarier thought.... Are elementary teachers in Oklahoma and Texas (OU is 60% Texans) actually teaching IllinoiSSS as the actual pronunciation of Illinois? That can't be good.

Record Setting Voter Turnout

Various news outlets have reported a record setting voter turnout for this election in almost every state. This is a good thing... right?

The increased voter turnout can largely be attributed to the "youth vote." "Get out the Vote" and "Vote or Die" pro-voting slogans have been used to entice young voters to hit the polls and voice their opinions. The problem is... how many of these voters know the issues and are basing their votes off of them? 

How many people do you know that claim they are a Republican or a Democrat? Now, how many of those people do you think actually know why they are a Republican or Democrat? I don't think there are very many.  

My fear is that many of these young voters are merely regurgitating their parent's beliefs. "My parent's are voting for X and so am I!"

I was guilty of his myself. I turned 18 just in time for the 2004 primary elections. I proudly performed my civic duty and voted! I thought I knew what and whom I was voting for, but I was simply  voting like my parents. I knew who they supported so I also supported them too, but why? 

I worry that the increased voter turnout is merely a bunch of people who don't know the issues and are just voting to vote. 

So, is it a good thing that voter turnout is up? 

Hopefully! But I don't think so.

 

$1,000,000,000+

Today is election day and all I can think about is campaign financing and fundraising.

McCain has raised over $360 million and Obama has raised over $639 million for their respective presidential campaigns. Other candidates still in the race (who have no shot) have raised over $4 million. That is over $1 billion for political campaigning. (This does not include other major candidates like Clinton, Huckabee, Romney, Edwards, etc. who are no longer in the running.)

Over $1,000,000,000...

Used to spread their word, share their ideals, showcase their platforms, promote an opportunity for change, and most importantly, "mudslinging." 

I would bet that over 50% of this $1 billion is used for "mudslinging." (Attempting to discredit opposing candidates by drawing negative attention to them.) "Mudslinging" has been around forever and will always be an integral part of U.S. campaign strategies. However, I can't help but ask if this is money well spent?

Our economy isn't in the best shape, our national debt climbs by the second, people's homes are being foreclosed, jobs are being lost, and two men have raised over $1 billion to talk trash. I'm not suggesting that the candidates don't need some money to supplement their campaigns, but $1 billion? 

I can think of one billion other ways to spend $1 billion... starting with my tuition.