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Source: Tulsa World, Okla.迷你倉Sept. 22--It's a yes or no question: should college athletes receive money beyond what their scholarship already pays?But the answer is infinitely more complex than yes or no."If you would have asked me that when I was at Nebraska, I'd say yeah. Sure," says University of Tulsa quarterback Cody Green, who spent his first two years in college as a Cornhusker before transferring to TU. "Just because those big schools have the money to be able to do it. They can find ways to do it. But here at Tulsa, the small schools, even intermediate schools, they're losing money every day."Clearly, some schools' athletic departments generate more money than others. Texas' 2011-12 revenue was $163 million, Ohio State's was $142 million. Tulsa's, on the other hand, was $31 million, according to the Department of Education's Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act. Many schools bring in far less.In 2012, the NCAA passed legislation for student-athletes on full scholarship to receive an additional $2,000 annual stipend, but the implementation of that legislation was tabled indefinitely until it can be studied further (see sidebar).The big issue on the stipend is how small schools will pay for it. At TU, for example, sources estimate it will cost an additional $500,000 to pay its 425 student-athletes, though if the NCAA determines that everyone on scholarship must get the full $2,000, that's $850,000.For an athletic department that returns every dollar of revenue back to its expenditures and operates with zero profit, that's a problem.How scholarships workCollege students who are on full athletic scholarship get a monthly payment from the university. It's what's left after tuition and fees are deducted -- typically the cost of books, room and board -- divided into scheduled monthly installments during the semester.But most college athletes get only partial scholarships. These "equivalency sports" divide a set number of scholarships among the athletes needed to field a team (see sidebar). Percentages are agreed upon between the coach and the student-athlete.Tuition rates vary from school to school, and equivalency sport scholarship agreements vary from athlete to athlete. So each athlete's remuneration is different. Some get a monthly check to cover food and rent, others simply get free books at the beginning of the semester.Football, basketball, women's tennis and women's gymnastics are full-scholarship sports. A few prized athletes in equivalency sports also get a full ride, but the rest are parsed out (no one gets less than 25 percent).The Tulsa World interviewed 16 student-athletes at the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University and the University of Tulsa, and found that experiences and opinions about money vary greatly.Some say student-athletes simply need more. Some say an additional stipend would be helpful toward making ends meet. Some say flat out that the stipend is not needed and actually might do more harm than good."I think we get paid pretty well," said Trevor Horstmann, a senior on the OSU tennis team. "We go to school, we get paid room and board and food, and if you choose not to take advantage of that, then that's just something you're giving up."Football versus everyone elseSome student-athletes say that after paying rent and buying food, they don't have enough money left at the end of each month for necessary living expenses like a cell phone bill, car insurance or transportation. Some even say they run out before buying food."You've got to ration and be smart with your money throughout the whole month," said Brennan Clay, a senior on the OU football team. "That first of the month, that's always the best."College students running low on funds is nothing new.But the topic of student-athletes' desire for more cash, which has long smoldered in newspaper headlines, has begun to boil over -- particularly in football.From allegations of illicit payments at Miami, to players selling jerseys, rings and other gear at Ohio State, to stars living large at USC, to Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel allegedly selling his autograph, to last week's scathing (if not entirely documented) Sports Illustrated report on Oklahoma State football, it's become chic to question the actual amateurism of college football and college sports in general.To clarify, these are two vastly different subjects.The first: should football players, who play the game that sells the tickets and the merchandise and the television rights that allow athletic departments to subsidize every other sport on campus and makes coaches and athletic directors rich, be paid a salary?That begets more questions. Who pays it? How much? Do starters get more than backups? Do stars get more than role players? Do seniors get more than sophomores?It becomes more philosophical than practical.A more relevant question: when can all Division I student-athletes, from football to cross country to golf, expect the NCAA to begin delivery that $2,000 miscellaneous expense allowance?Smart spending, smart savingCody Wilson is a graduate student on the TU football team. Now married, he said he cut corners -- buying off-brand groceries in bulk, for starters, "maybe lower-costing food that didn't taste as good," he said -- and lived off $175-200 a month."I was not going and getting an iTunes card, or 'Oh, I need a new pair of headphones,' " Wilson said. "Like, I could use it, but I don't really need it. Just cutting out that nonessential stuff."The reward: Wilson saved enough money over a year-and-a-half for an engagement ring and a honeymoon to St. Lucia."Looking back on it, it was a really good opportunity to learn about money," Wilson said. "But, if I would have had a couple thousand dollars like they're talking about, like a stipend, that would have been awesome."When Tyler Neal, a senior on the OU basketball team, moved off campus, he chose an apartment complex within his budget."There could be an argument made that we need more, and there's definitely times that I felt that way," Neal said. "But those people that are running out, those are decisions that they've made -- spending $700 of your $800 or whatever you get on rent. That's not very smart."Will it really help?Abe' Matamoros is a senior on the TU soccer team. He's also a 4.0 student in economics, and he has a perspective that other student-athletes might consider radical: Yes, pay the football players, but not athletes in the non-revenue sports. Yes, pay the starting quarterback more than the left tackle. It's the simple American ideal of supply and demand, he said."You have this weird area of college football in athletics that doesn't abide by what other industries abide by, and it kind of throws people off," Matamoros said. "They don't know what to do."Matamoros isn't worried about his own future迷你倉 but is skeptical of the "priceless" value of a college education for student-athletes who don't carry a good GPA and expect to land a lucrative job when they graduate. And while he would be in favor of a stipend to help student-athletes with the necessities -- "Some of my teammates, for example, I see them wearing the same clothes all the time," he said -- he fears it would be grossly misused."How much of that is gonna go to alcohol and drugs and tattoos and partying?" he asks. "So how much is that gonna help?"Teach your children wellMany of the student-athletes interviewed share similar themes: the miscellaneous expense allowance (previously proposed as a cost-of-attendance stipend) will be welcome, but it isn't needed. In fact, most say, it would be more practical if schools made student-athletes take a course in basic money management.Think about it: very few college freshmen previously managed their own money and simply don't know how to do it. They suddenly have a check in their hands for $800. What are they expected to do with it if not spend it?"Their parents took care of most of it," said former OU shot putter Tia Brooks, a two-time national champion. "So it's a money management issue more than it is being underpaid."College athletes get their scholarship money at the beginning of the month (some may get a meal stipend or other allowance depending on their scholarship agreement) and have to stretch it 30 days. Most student-athletes said what they get is plenty, but also acknowledge they've too often seen poor spending habits.The biggest culprits for bad discretionary spending: video games, tattoos, shoes, mobile phones, headphones or other electronics."I know a couple good buddies, and they'd get behind on their rent check and they're $200-300 short, and they can't pay it and their power gets shut off," said Darnell Bortz, a junior on the OSU wrestling team. "This is the middle of winter. During the season. Power gets shut off and coach won't find out about it for a week."They'll wear sweaters indoors or hang out at a friend's house until they get the money to pay the electric company -- which, of course, includes a reconnect fee.A number of athletes decry having to eat too much ramen noodles (realistically, a staple for any college student of the last few decades), but said just giving people more money isn't going to solve the problem."Throwing money around without an education or maybe limits on exactly what you can spend it on," said TU volleyball junior Carly Boatright, "can be dangerous."Boatright is the rarest of student-athletes: she thrives on the court and also works offseason jobs (at the TU rec center and a promotions gig with the Tulsa Drillers). Bortz has worked previously as a tutor. But while the money is nice, it's a time-management nightmare -- an impossibility for most.Still, the real concern most college athletes face is not about saving. It's about spending."At the end of the day," said Brooks, "the people who have problems handling their money are still gonna have the same problems whether you increase their scholarship or not."Student-athletes speak outThe Tulsa World interviewed more than a dozen student-athletes from eight different sports at the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University and the University of Tulsa on the subject of pay-for-play, cost-of-attendance stipends and how far their current scholarship dollars go.TULSA -- Abe Matamoros -- Soccer, junior, from Houston, majoring in Economics"I don't think I should be getting paid. ... We live in the United States, it's a capitalist free market and the price is set by the demand and the supply. There's no demand to watch soccer."OKLAHOMA -- Tia Brooks -- Track and field, senior, from Grand Rapids, Mich., completed degree in sociology"Sometimes I had to go without stuff that I wanted in order to get stuff I needed."OSU -- Parker Graham, Football, senior, from Webb City, Mo., majoring in Business"Our scholarship covers our tuition, which at a university like this is very, very expensive. I wouldn't be able to attend here without that scholarship."TULSA -- Carly Boatright -- Volleyball, junior, Parker, Colo., Communications"Keeping the focus of college athletics on the fact that it's a college, that your academics are important, I think it's really important to keep college athletics an amateur thing."TULSA -- Cody Green -- Football, senior, Dayton, Texas, Business management"Everybody's the same. It's equality or nothing. Because rowers put in the same work that we put in."TULSA -- Cody Wilson -- Football, senior, Broken Arrow (Lincoln Christian), Degree in communications, pursuing graduate degree in education, Married"I lived, basically for everything, off my food stipend. It's a pretty generous stipend. It really is a blessing."OSU -- Darnell Bortz -- Wrestling, junior, Preston, Kan., Industrial engineering and agricultural economics"You figure in all the hours we put in as athletes and divide out by how much we're getting paid through scholarships, tuition, we're getting paid less than minimum wage."OSU -- Caileigh Glenn -- Cross country, junior, Ontario, Canada, Political science and economics"We just got a new track facility, and really nice new locker rooms and training rooms and ice baths -- and I feel really spoiled."OSU -- Trevor Horstmann -- Tennis, senior, Tulsa (Union), Degree in accounting, pursuing master's in accounting"We already have two jobs: We're students and we're athletes. And after college, I'm not gonna go on the tour, so I'll get a job."OSU -- Charlie Moore -- Football, senior, Bullard, Texas, General business"Do I think it's right that these guys sell their jerseys and don't see a penny of it? No, I think there should be some compensation."OSU -- Malika Rose -- Tennis, senior, Miami, Fla., General business"My check pays for my rent and gives me like $700 to spare. So if I'm complaining, there's clearly something I'm not doing right with my money."OKLAHOMA -- Brennan Clay -- Football, senior, San Diego, Communications"Hit up the family. Hopefully they'll send you a little care package. But you've got to find a way to make ends meet. Everybody's struggling. It's not just you."OKLAHOMA -- Gabe Lynn -- Football, senior, Jenks, Degree in human relations, pursuing master's"I think we've got a great opportunity as far as our scholarship and a chance to get a free education. I took advantage of that, so I graduated early and now I'm trying to get my master's."OKLAHOMA -- Tyler Neal -- Basketball, senior, Oklahoma City, Communications"I think just like anyone else that has a job and is making money, it's what you do with the money you do get."Copyright: ___ (c)2013 Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) Visit Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) at .tulsaworld.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存倉