Heidi Alexander: “I think our time is coming toward a close, but we have about 5 minutes left. Then we will be looking forward to the…”

“I think our time is coming toward a close, but we have about 5 minutes left. Then we will be looking forward to the comments of the Senator from Iowa. We thank him for his courtesy in allowing us to go ahead. I guess the message--I particularly enjoyed hearing the Senator from North Carolina. The message today is directed at two groups. One is to the NCAA, which is to say, do not think that the attitude of one Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board reflects the view of the U.S. Government. It does not. The other is to the student athletes. Think about the value of the opportunity you have. Here are two former student athletes of varying talents who benefited enormously from that. There are many others who would say the same. The university does not owe us anything. We owe the university--at least that is the way I feel about it--for the privilege of competing, for the privilege of attending. If I had a scholarship, that would have been even better--just the privilege of participating. To the NCAA, the members of the NCAA have talked about issues such as should we provide more expense money for athletes. I mentioned earlier that 40 percent of them have Pell grants which can go up to $5,600 a year in addition to their $55,000 or $60,000 of football scholarships. So think about that. That was considered by the NCAA and voted down because the small schools said: It will hurt us. Women's programs said: We will have to drop women's programs.…”