Thomas Mott Osborne: “I support H.R. 2143. As the chairman mentioned, I spent most of my life working on a college campus. I can attest to the…”

“I support H.R. 2143. As the chairman mentioned, I spent most of my life working on a college campus. I can attest to the fact that Internet gambling is really hitting our college campuses very hard, because all you have to do is have a computer and a credit card and you are in business. Almost all students have this, so we see an explosion of gambling on the college campuses. Many student athletes are becoming heavily involved. The reason that the NCAA, the NBA, major league baseball, all of these organizations are against it, is that once a student athlete becomes heavily indebted, there are really only a couple avenues he can take to get out of the problem. One is to cooperate with gamblers. Another is to shave points. So it tremendously compromises the athletic scene. According to a 1997 study by Harvard Medical School, students show the highest percentage of pathological gambling. To say that students are not involved is simply inaccurate. For some, gambling releases endorphins, much like crack cocaine, so this is a highly addictive activity. Our society is becoming increasingly dependent on gambling.”