Identify whether the technique used in writing the following passage is Classification, Cause and Effect, Comparison and Contrast, Analogy, Definition, Persuasion, Process Description, or Interpretation.
Should We Pay?
Many issues have been plaguing the sports world recently, especially the question of paying college athletes. Are athletics so important that colleges need to put out millions of dollars per year just to pay for students to play for them? Paying college athletes is like throwing a lit match into a haystack: once the fire is started, it just keeps burning, making a bad situation worse. There are several differences between the haystack and paying athletes. To start, throwing a needle in a haystack is a totally negative concept; everything will burn. However, with paying college athletes, some people can find reasons why this could be a positive thing. For instance, some believe paying athletes will bring more competition to the table and make some colleges much more prestigious than others. Others say this will bring in more money and more revenue. A second difference is the end of the situation. At the end of the fire, there is smoke and it will eventually put itself out. However, this is an issue that cannot extinguish itself. No matter what the verdict, someone is going to be unhappy and the “fire” will keep burning. Despite these differences there are many similarities between the two. One similarity is the haystack going up in flames and the whole educational system going up. If we pay our college athletes the focus will be more on the money than on learning. College is supposed to prepare a student for life’s work through learning, not be life’s work. College sports will also become more like professional sports- all about the money and less about the love of the sport. Related to this is the issue of scholarships. Are scholarships not enough pay for the student? And who decides how much money each player receives? Will it depend on how good the player is, what sport they play, what position they are? Another similarity has to deal with going up in flames. By throwing one little lit match into that haystack, the whole thing goes up. Just by paying college athletes many other issues arise. Yes, paying athletes may bring in more revenue, but how much of that will actually go back to the college or institution? Another issue that comes up is the fairness to other students. Young athletes already receive many things that non- athletes do not. Not only do they have the opportunity to travel and stay overnight in the best hotels, they also get special treatments away from the sport. Some athletes may receive special attention from certain professors or even people throughout the town in which the college is located. A third similarity between the burning haystack and paying athletes is the rate at which things will “burn”. The haystack will burn fast, leaving nothing behind, and getting bigger and bigger as it goes. The same goes for this issue. Everyone wants to voice their own opinion about it, snowballing into a bigger and bigger issue. People will quickly become angry and quick to defend their side. Paying college athletes is like throwing a lit match into a haystack: the educational system and other issues go up in flames and they will occur very quickly. I believe there are more problems with this idea than there are good things about it. I find nothing about it to be worth spending millions of dollars to pay students to play a game. They need to be worrying more about their studies. This issue will be burning for a long time.
Answer: ?
Comparison and Contrast
