Do you have a better chance of being a pro athlete or a pro writer?

[David Stringer]

I often hear that a small percentage (probably less than 1%) of high school athletes in sports like football and basketball are able to obtain an athletic scholarship. Then, an equally small percentage of college athletes are able to get a pro contract.

This got me to thinking. What percentage of people who like to write can actually put together a story and keep the characters together, develop storylines, and then wrap everything up in a nice bow? Then, of that percentage, who can be published? Taking it one more step, how many of those published can actually make a living of it?

Thoughts?

[Tony Walker]

So long as American colleges reward people for being able to bounce a ball, rather than reward true intellectual achievement, this country will never achieve true greatness.

How many bright young people will never go to college because they either can't afford it, or because they don't play sports well enough to get a sports grant?

Crazy, ain't it? Give the big bucks to those whose skills will only last a few years, yet deny those whose only skill lies in having a brain capable of reading Shakespeare without having their nose bleed, or who can understand Quantum Mechanics.

My answer? Make college education free, just like schools, but only open college places to those who can pass the necessary entrance examinations, which would, of course, be intellectually challenging. For those who claim not to do well in exams, let the colleges take into account the last three years results at their schools.

While colleges act like corporations (which they are), and try for more paying 'customers', they'll still allow any old numb-nuts who can scrape together the funds to pay the fees, and keep more deserving people out.

[David Stringer]

Actually, Tony, at the University of Kentucky, where I went to graduate school, the athletics department is not only self-sufficient, but also transfers $1 million per year to the school for academic scholarships.

There are only 100-200 Division 1 schools and, for the most part, even a large percentage of those kids know they won't play professionally. So, there are a number of kids who, through athletic scholarships, get a degree that they might not have had otherwise.

I remember when Joe Paterno and Tom Osborne were winning national championships in football, they were also graduating 90% of their kids, so I think it can be done.

I'm not sure how "bright" of a student you are talking about. I actually went to school on an academic scholarship, so they are out there. Many states also reward kids for getting good grades by putting money aside for them for college. Now, whether the kids you are talking about can get into private school free is another question. But you will have to take that up with them.

There are actually two private schools in Kentucky where the tuition is free - Berea College and Alice Lloyd College.