There has been a lot of discussion since Athens about foreign swimmers training in the United States. Most of them attend U.S. Universities, receive athletic scholarships, and compete at NCAA's. Some notable examples include Duje Draganja (Cal), Fred Bousquet and Kirsty Coventry (Auburn), Markus Rogan (Stanford), and the South African sprinters (Arizona). Some train in the U.S., but don't compete for a university (Inge de Bruijn). All of these athletes benefit from U.S. coaching, from training with U.S. swimmers, and in some cases, from financial support provided by U.S. entities (athletic scholarships). They all turn around and then win medals for other countries.
A couple questions: 1) What do you think about this arrangement generally? 2) Is it of benefit or detriment to U.S. swimming to have these foreign athletes training and competing here? 3) Should we be giving athletic scholarships, which are a scarce resource in swimming, to foreign athletes who will represent their own countries internationally instead of U.S.-born swimmers who will represent us internationally?
I'm sure there are other issues, but these come directly to mind.
Parents
Former Member
Oh boy, I can't believe I'm getting involved in this.....
Maybe its the rampant conservative in me, but I believe that people need to help themselves. If someone is working a minimum wage job..... look for another job. If you don't like your standard of living..... do something about it. And I don't mean whine to the government that you need a handout.
I believe that the worst thing that has happened to this country was the creation of the entitlement attitude... mostly as a result of government programs.... and compounded day in and day out by the lawsuit happy court system, continued handouts and probably other influences that I am not aware of. Everyone thinks they are entitled to a handout. What I think is that people are entitled to one thing... opportunity. And opportunity does existing in this country. Period.
I grew up in a house where hard work happened all the time. Unfortunately, many children grow up in a house where the only form of income is the government. These children grow up learning that the way to survive is to have your hand out. It's an evil cycle that gets those family's nowhere over time. But somehow I think many of our government leaders like it that way. If you have a large group of people that is beholden to you - needs you to keep giving them money - you have a steady stream of votes as long as you keep their cash flow going.
OK Libs.... blast away!
Originally posted by Kae1
Maybe it's the rampant liberal in me, but all this means to me is that perhaps, as a country, we should do something to make sure that if ARE working, you can afford to provide for yourself and your family. This doesn't mean subsistence living, either - it means decent food, permanent shelter, clothing, health care (preventative and curative), reliable transportation (maybe not a car, but public transport costs money, too), and the ability to save something in case of emergency. I know in my current state of residence as well as in my home state of Missouri, making minimum wage does not cover these things and yet is considered too high of an income to qualify for state aid. I heard a report not too long ago that in Missouri you have to be making less than somthing like $8,000/ year to qualify for public assistance. How many of you could afford a place to live, food to eat and feed your kids, costs for education, transportation, health insurance, etc. on that?
To get this back to swimming scholarships, my theory is that if you're good enough to get 'em, you should get 'em, regardless of where you were born. After all, aren't foreigners educated in the US more likely to stay in the US after graduation? And therefore contribute to our country? What REALLY sticks in my craw is the schools that lower their ACADEMIC standards to get athletes.
That should be enough to get me lynched if I ever get to one of the big meets :D
Kae
Oh boy, I can't believe I'm getting involved in this.....
Maybe its the rampant conservative in me, but I believe that people need to help themselves. If someone is working a minimum wage job..... look for another job. If you don't like your standard of living..... do something about it. And I don't mean whine to the government that you need a handout.
I believe that the worst thing that has happened to this country was the creation of the entitlement attitude... mostly as a result of government programs.... and compounded day in and day out by the lawsuit happy court system, continued handouts and probably other influences that I am not aware of. Everyone thinks they are entitled to a handout. What I think is that people are entitled to one thing... opportunity. And opportunity does existing in this country. Period.
I grew up in a house where hard work happened all the time. Unfortunately, many children grow up in a house where the only form of income is the government. These children grow up learning that the way to survive is to have your hand out. It's an evil cycle that gets those family's nowhere over time. But somehow I think many of our government leaders like it that way. If you have a large group of people that is beholden to you - needs you to keep giving them money - you have a steady stream of votes as long as you keep their cash flow going.
OK Libs.... blast away!
Originally posted by Kae1
Maybe it's the rampant liberal in me, but all this means to me is that perhaps, as a country, we should do something to make sure that if ARE working, you can afford to provide for yourself and your family. This doesn't mean subsistence living, either - it means decent food, permanent shelter, clothing, health care (preventative and curative), reliable transportation (maybe not a car, but public transport costs money, too), and the ability to save something in case of emergency. I know in my current state of residence as well as in my home state of Missouri, making minimum wage does not cover these things and yet is considered too high of an income to qualify for state aid. I heard a report not too long ago that in Missouri you have to be making less than somthing like $8,000/ year to qualify for public assistance. How many of you could afford a place to live, food to eat and feed your kids, costs for education, transportation, health insurance, etc. on that?
To get this back to swimming scholarships, my theory is that if you're good enough to get 'em, you should get 'em, regardless of where you were born. After all, aren't foreigners educated in the US more likely to stay in the US after graduation? And therefore contribute to our country? What REALLY sticks in my craw is the schools that lower their ACADEMIC standards to get athletes.
That should be enough to get me lynched if I ever get to one of the big meets :D
Kae
