Andrew, I agree that pulling it off carries a lot of baggage and would be difficult. I don 't agree that the swim team and volleyball should be paid, or should all the non revenue sports. For those student athletes the scholarship is fair compensation. It is also fair compensation at most schools, including ours. Revenue sports at the upper half of the P5 are the ones where it's out of whack. Check this out:
http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries /
85 football scholarships x $31,388* = $2,667,980
13 basketball scholarships x $31,388* = $408,044
Frank Solich = $488,000
Saul Phillips = $550,000
* = averaged cost of tuition, room and board for in-state and out-of-state students at Ohio.
All for our subsidized entertainment which by the way has nothing to do with the true purpose of a college education. But what the heck, I can do it this year with a Mystic Mama.
The entertainment is more subsidized for some people more than others.
If you don't think that the lessons learned in playing sports is part of the "true purpose" of a college education, you may be missing something. But that's just my opinion. I wonder how you reconcile your statement with the fact that someplace like the US Air Force Academy requires all their students to participate in some form of athletics at least at the intramural level, and they have 30 or so varsity teams. They must figure its part of their "true purpose", but their purpose may be a little different than at Ohio. I think athletics adds value to the college experience, I'm just not wanting college athletes to be professionals, I guess.