By ADRIENNE MOTLEY

Shabazz Napier, a University of Connecticut men’s basketball star, recently told sports reporters during the NCAA tournament that sometimes he “goes to bed starving because he can’t afford food.”

Following Napier’s comments and all the media attention that they drew, the NCAA proposed a rule that college athletes can receive unlimited meals and snacks. Division I schools could provide athletes additional meals covered in a student-athlete’s scholarship if approved. The new rule would apply to scholarship and non-scholarship athletes.

The current rule is that NCAA athletes may be provided three meals a day or a food stipend.

I believe that it is ridiculous that an athlete had to step up and say that he sometimes starves just for the NCAA to propose a rule that athletes should get unlimited meals.

Student-athletes should have already been given the opportunity to have unlimited meals. The way their schedule is set up we don’t have the opportunity that regular students do to get food we want, so having unlimited meals when we can eat would be very helpful.

A lot of athletes come from poor families, with them being the only person in the family that has been to college. When the athlete runs out of the monthly food revenue, they start wondering how they are going to eat. The new rule would be useful in that the student athlete would only have to worry about school and their particular sport; not their next meal.

By ADRIENNE MOTLEY

On Feb. 21, 2014, the women’s basketball community lost one of the greatest pioneers of all time, Betty Jaynes. Jaynes was the first executive director of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame honored her with its John Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. She was also inducted in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000.

While we seldom heard of her work through the sports news media, she helped women’s basketball evolve by developing an organization in which women were able to compete in collegiate sports, just like men.

I believe that if it weren’t for Jaynes, women wouldn’t be allowed to compete in college like men. She is the reason that female coaches are allowed to get the salary they can get now.

She made a big impact in not just college but professional sports, by creating opportunities for women to be successful.

By ADRIENNE MOTLEY

Recently Michael Sam, a former defensive end for the University of Missouri has admitted to being gay. This year, Sam was named SEC co-Defensive Player of the Year, first team all-SEC selection and a first team All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation. Analysts noted that if he were to get signed by a NFL team, he would be the first NFL player to be openly gay.

The question is, is the NFL ready for an openly gay football player. Are players and coaches going to treat him the same and with the same respect as they do “straight” players?

Sam admits that his teammates knew of his sexuality in August, and neither of them have said anything. I think this shows a great respect to his teammates, that they had enough respect for him not only as a teammate, but a brother not to say anything.

Of course, there is no way around it. He will, in fact, be treated differently. But I think during this day and age that anybody should be able to play a sport and have their own sexuality without it being a problem.

By ADRIENNE MOTLEY

This is one of the biggest discussions involving college athletes today. The average athletic scholarship over the course of four years is valued at more than $100,000.  But the scholarship doesn’t put money in athlete’s pockets for food and clothing.

Being a student-athlete is a full time job. You have workouts or practice before classes begin, and are expected to pay attention through three and sometimes four classes in a row. Then after we have to lift weights and go to mandatory study hall. Our day starts at the crack of dawn and usually ends when it’s dark. We give up going home for holidays and summer break for competition and practices.

A student athlete gets exploited to bring money to the school by playing games. Athletes can’t earn money by signing autographs, but NCAA executives make millions of dollars. The NCAA and CBS signed a $10.8 billion television agreement over 14 years.

I believe student athletes should profit off of being a member of a collegiate athletic team. The little money we would profit would be nowhere near what executives make, but it would help us with extra expenses not detailed in an athletic scholarship.