The Athlete's Bill Of Rights

Article One
All athletes shall have the right to transfer once after their sophomore year and be eligible to play immediately.

The current rule requiring a sit-out year is a vestige of the crusade to eliminate the "tramp athletes" who migrated from school to school in the early 20th century. Sure, rescinding that rule might cause some initial chaos. But scholarship limits could be tweaked to offset an increase in defections; moves could be limited to a defined off-season period; and protections could be put in place for existing scholarship players so coaches wouldn't wantonly run off players to "trade up." As it is, coaches "transfer" all the time--and no one makes them sit out a season.

Article Two
Scholarships shall be ironclad, five-year deals with full medical coverage and adequate stipends.

Because she ran poorly, a cross-country runner doesn't get her grant-in-aid renewed (scholarships are only one-year agreements). A football player tears his ACL in a summer workout, and because the session was "voluntary" (wink, wink), his medical treatment might not be covered. A guaranteed five years with full medical coverage and more money for incidentals would protect athletes, boost graduation rates and decrease the risk that players would seek money through boosters and other illicit means.

Article Three
Colleges shall not limit the right of athletes to profit from a sport in ancillary ways or to pursue professionally a sport they aren't playing collegiately.

NCAA rules in this area make little sense: Colorado kick returner Jeremy Bloom couldn't accept endorsement money he earned as a moguls skier, but Notre Dame wide receiver Jeff Samardzija could collect a salary as a minor league pitcher. Yes, college stars' cashing in would mock Etonian notions of amateurism, but where's the amateur spirit on campuses awash in naming-rights deals?

Article Four
Colleges shall actively protect their athletes from performance-enhancing drugs and the pressure to use them.

For every just-say-no PSA aired on a Saturday afternoon, there's a strength coach who sends a signal to a redshirt freshman lineman to get stronger by any means necessary. "Actively protect" means to test even more extensively than the NCAA does now and punish enablers as harshly as users.

Article Five
Colleges shall make every effort to ameliorate the disruptive effect that athletics have on academics.

This means not steering athletes into classes simply to accommodate practice schedules, and thinking of academics when making game schedules. Big Monday may be an ESPN -stitution, but it can cause a basketball player to miss a full day of classes. Whatever it takes, colleges should provide: from tutors on planes and rescheduled exams, to makeup classes and a reduced course load in-season.