This worth 100 points please help

Write the thesis statement for your argument using the combined counterclaim / claim pattern you learned.

The argument is: Should college athletes be paid to play?

College athletes are undoubtedly some of the hardest working people in the world.  Not only are they living the life of an average student, they also have a strenuous schedule with their specific sport.  One of the most discussed topics in the world of college athletics is whether or not student-athletes should be paid money for playing sports.  The people who disagree with the idea have some good arguments to make.  Primarily that the athletes get to go to school for free for playing sports.  Another argument is that if student-athletes were to get paid then it would ruin the amateurism of college sports.  People who are against paying the athletes do not want to see the young people become focused on money.

For instance, In 1950 Bud Wilkinson earned $15,000 a season as the head football coach of the Oklahoma Sooners. During that same time period the football players were only given scholarships. This year Bob Stoops, who is the current coach of the Oklahoma football team, will earn $4.55 million (Doyel). That is three hundred times more money a season than just sixty years ago. “College football and men's basketball generate revenues of more than $6 billion every year. Yet not one penny goes toward paying the people who make the sports possible: the student athletes. It is only reasonable that student athletes have a share in the millions of dollars that their sports businesses bring in. If it weren't for them, college athletics would not even exist” (Birkenes and Bagaria). The universities, coaches, and sports companies are getting rich off these athletes and it is time for a change. It isn’t necessary that colleges begin to pay players thousands of dollars each week but just enough money so they do not struggle with finances. If someone was looking for another term for slave labor they could easily say college athlete. If universities truly care about the well-being of the student athletes then pay them what they deserve. Colleges should start reimbursing athletes for the millions of dollars the school makes off of their athletic abilities.

the civil rights act was passed on april 9, 1866 by a republican dominated congress. it was passed over president johnson's veto, in an effort to push back against discrimination of african americans.