1. Set Focus
Frame the inquiry with these essential questions: What benefits do sports provide to colleges? What value do college sports provide to athletes?
2. Read and Discuss
Have students read the debate and then answer the following questions:
- What is the issue being debated? How does it relate to current events? (The issue is whether college athletes should be paid. This issue is timely because colleges and the N.C.A.A. make a lot of money from college sports and, although athletes can now make some money from their likenesses, some wonder if they should be paid to play.)
- Evaluate why these two authors might be interested in and qualified to comment on this issue. (Joe Nocera is a sports columnist who wrote a book about the issue. Madeleine McKenna represents the N.C.A.A., which is the organization that regulates college sports.)