NCAA can
claim victory after losing federal antitrust case
Plaintiffs
touted the ruling as 'monumental'
March 9,
2019, 7:34 AM PST / Source: Associated
Press
The NCAA
was able to claim victory Friday night after a judge ruled against the
governing body for college sports in a federal antitrust lawsuit.
U.S.
District Judge Claudia Wilken in Oakland, California, said college football and
men's and women's basketball players competing at the NCAA's highest level
should be permitted to receive compensation from schools beyond the current
athletic scholarship, but only if the benefits are tied to education.
The NCAA
cannot "limit compensation or benefits related to education," Wilken
wrote. That opens the door to athletes receiving more scholarship money to
pursue postgraduate degrees, finish undergraduate degrees or study abroad. The
NCAA could not, under the court's injunction, limit schools if they choose to
provide athletes items that could be considered school supplies such as
computers, science equipment or musical instruments.
"Technically
the plaintiffs won the case and the NCAA will not be happy that they were found
to be in violation of antitrust law, but ultimately this allows the NCAA to
keep the bulk of their amateurism rules in place," said Gabe Feldman
director of the Tulane University sports law program.
The
plaintiffs in the so-called Alston cases were seeking much more.
Plaintiffs
had asked the judge to lift all NCAA caps on compensation and strike down all
rules prohibiting schools from giving athletes in revenue-generating sports
more financial incentives for competing. The goal was to create a free market,
where conferences set rules for compensating athletes, but this ruling still
allows the NCAA to prohibit cash compensation untethered to education-related
expenses.
The claim
against the NCAA and the 11 conferences that have participated in the Football
Bowl Subdivision was originally brought by former West Virginia football player
Shawne Alston. It was later merged with similar lawsuits, including a notable
case brought by former Clemson football player Martin Jenkins.
Plaintiffs
argued the NCAA illegally restricts schools from compensating football and
men's and women's basketball players beyond what is traditionally covered by a
scholarship. That includes tuition, room and board and books, plus a cost-of-attendance
stipend to cover incidentals such as travel.
Plaintiffs
touted the ruling as "monumental."
"We
have proven to the court that the NCAA's weak justifications for this unfair
system are based on a self-serving mythology that does not match the
facts," said Steve Berman, the Seattle-based lead attorney for the
plaintiffs. "Today's ruling will change college sports as we know it,
forever."
Feldman,
though, said: "The remedy is relatively narrow and this is certainly not
the sea change that the plaintiffs were looking for in college sports."
The NCAA
argued altering amateurism rules would lead to pay-for-play, fundamentally
damaging college sports and harming academic integration of athletes.
"The
court's decision recognizes that college sports should be played by
student-athletes, not by paid professionals," NCAA chief legal counsel
Donald Remy said in a statement. "The decision acknowledges that the
popularity of college sports stems in part from the fact that these athletes
are indeed students, who must not be paid unlimited cash sums unrelated to
education. NCAA rules actively provide a pathway for tens of thousands of
student-athletes each year to receive a college education debt-free.
The Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals has already said it expects to take the case. It is
possible the injunction will be stayed until the Ninth Circuit rules. Feldman
said both sides could have incentive to appeal the ruling.
"We
believe the ruling is inconsistent with the decision by the 9th Circuit Court
of Appeals in O'Bannon," Remy said. "That decision held that the
rules governing college athletics would be better developed outside the
courtroom, including rules around the education-related support that schools
provide."
Wilken is
the same judge who ruled on the so-called O'Bannon case, which challenged the
NCAA's right to use athletes' names, images and likenesses without
compensation. The case also produced a mixed ruling that eventually went to the
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
In
O'Bannon, Wilken ruled schools should be permitted, but not required, to
compensate athletes for use of their name, image and likeness, with payments
capped at $5,000 per year. The appeals court overturned that and said payments
"untethered" to education were not required by schools."
Ex-Adidas
officials sentenced to prison in NCAA recruiting scandal
Wilken
also ruled the NCAA was required to allow schools to factor in their federally
determined cost of attendance into the value of an athletic scholarship. That
is now common practice in major college sports, though schools were already
moving toward NCAA legislation allowing for cost of attendance when Wilken made
her ruling.
The
plaintiffs argued in the Alston case that implementation of cost-of-attendance
stipends prove paying athletes even more would not hurt college sports.
::::::::::::::::
Poetry
book by two WSU students goes viral
Sat.,
March 9, 2019, 5 a.m.
By Jasmine
Darakjy for The Spokesman-Review
Some
people pay their way through college by taking out loans or receiving
scholarships. Others work multiple jobs.
Makenzie
Campbell is paying for it with poetry.
The
19-year-old Washington State University student has sold more than 25,000
copies of her book, “2 AM Thoughts.” The book is currently sold at Barnes and
Noble, Target and on Amazon for $14.99.
Campbell
and the illustrator, 19-year-old Hailey Chamberlain, started creating the book
when they were juniors at Sumner High School.
“I’ve
always kept a journal and write things down whenever I feel like I need to
because that’s how I express myself, so the actual idea for the book came way
after I had written everything down and then I kind of just put it together,”
said Campbell, a psychology major.
The
collection of poems takes the reader through a journey of emotions including
finding love, heartbreak and overcoming life’s adversities. Each poem is
accompanied with a time stamp of when it was written.
Campbell
discovered her passion for writing poetry in eighth grade. After seeking out
help from a student who also self-published a book on Amazon, Campbell learned
how to do it herself. That’s when she approached Chamberlain, her best friend,
to create the art.
The two
worked on the book for about a year before taking a leap of faith and putting
it on Amazon. By the end of 2018, they sold about 11,000 copies for $9.95 each.
Soon after
that, a literary agent picked up on the book’s success and paired Campbell with
her current publishing agency, Central Avenue Publishing in Canada.
Last year,
Campbell’s book made her just under $40,000. She makes 20 percent of the book’s
revenue.
For poetry
books, the artist typically gets a lower percentage. In Chamberlain’s case,
it’s two percent. But she says that for her, it’s not about the money. She uses
what she makes to pay dues for her campus sorority, Alpha Delta Pi. So far, she
has made approximately $900.
“I was
just amazed. I didn’t really understand how it happened. And I just kept saying
we never saw this coming. I still am so baffled by all of it,” Chamberlain
said.
Social
media has also played a role in the book’s success. Its Instagram account,
“@2amthoughtsbook,” has more than 38,000 followers. Campbell posts pictures
with excerpts from the book two to three times a day.
“It
doesn’t feel like a job at all, ever,” Campbell said. “I mean, technically it
is a job but it doesn’t feel like one. And I love doing it. I’m thinking about
minoring in creative writing here too now, but I’m not sure. I’m definitely
thinking more seriously about it.”
“To me,
this is Makenzie’s journey because it was all her idea and it’s her words,”
Chamberlain said. “I was just super-honored to be a part of her journey because
I don’t think this is where it ends.”
As a
bioengineering major, Chamberlain uses art to deal with the stress of school.
Even though Chamberlain is not pursuing an art degree, she said it will always
be a part of her life.
The images
she created in “2 AM Thoughts” depict the objects Campbell uses in her poetry.
For example, one line of a poem reads, “I looked out the window and thought of
what a good day it was going to be rather than how broken I still am since you
left.” Chamberlain drew a window with a view of a sunrise.
“It’s just
a nice outlet. I did it all throughout high school and did a bunch of art
shows,” she said.
Chamberlain
and Campbell agree that creating the book has been a rewarding experience for
both of them.
“I would
call it an unwavering friendship. I always know I’m going to have her and I
hope she knows she’ll always have me and I think doing this has brought us
closer together,” Chamberlain said.
Campbell
has already written a second poetry book and plans to send it to her publisher
soon. She said she plans to release it next year.
::::::::
WSU men basketball
Washington
State-Oregon State: Cougars look to end streak vs. Beavers
UPDATED:
Fri., March 8, 2019, 7:03 p.m. Spokane S-R
Where/when:
Beasley Coliseum, Pullman; Saturday , noon (Pac-12 Network)
Bottom
line: Oregon State looks to extend Washington State’s conference losing streak
to five games. Washington State’s last Pac-12 win (76-74) came against the
Colorado Buffaloes on Feb. 20. Oregon State fell 81-76 in overtime at
Washington in its last outing.
Team
leadership: Washington State’s Robert Franks has averaged 21.5 points and 7.3
rebounds, and CJ Elleby has added 15.2 points and 6.9 rebounds. For the
Beavers, Tres Tinkle has averaged 20.5 points, eight rebounds and four assists,
and Stephen Thompson Jr. has added 15.9 points and 4.3 rebounds.
Key
contributions: Ethan Thompson has either made or assisted on 47 percent of all
Oregon State field goals over the last three games. The sophomore guard has
accounted for 13 field goals and 19 assists in those games.
Winless
when: Washington State is 0-8 this year when it scores 67 points or fewer and
11-11 when it scores at least 68.
Assist
ratios: The Beavers have recently created buckets via assists more often than
the Cougars. Washington State has an assist on 37 of 66 field goals (56.1
percent) over its past three outings, while Oregon State has assists on 41 of
68 field goals (60.3 percent) during its past three games.
Did you
know: Washington State has made 9.4 3-pointers per game this season, second
best among Pac-12 teams.
#
