Should College Athletes Be Paid?

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/184556/should_college_athletes_be_paid.html?cat=14

The above is an article written by Lee Andrew Henderson regarding the issue of paying college athletes a salary for playing sports for there respective school. The argument proposed by Henderson in the article is that of they are putting in a lot of extra work and more responsibility than typical college students. She proposes that these athletes, at the very least, should be given a weekly allowance or some sort of small wage to help pay for transportation, food, books, etc..

Her second argument, which I find to be quite strong and compelling is her introduction of the case of the Texas Longhorn football program. In 2005, the Longhorns won the National Championship in which they gained $3.5 million. Another $14.9 million went to the rest of the Big 12 teams. All of this is possible because of the players on the field, yet they do not see any of that money.

It seems to me that a case can be made that giving these student athletes a monetary reward for their effort. Since many of these programs make millions of dollars for their respective universities, it seems fair to me that the athletes should receive some compensation for their contribution. I can also see the counter-argument that the money should be pumped into programs other than the athletic department for the betterment of the education of the student at these universities. I'm sure there are a lot of different information opinions and views on this topic. I'd like to see what all of you think about the matter.