Unions for college athletes? Come on Man!

I have been following the Northwestern Athletes and their quest to form a union.  While their arguments are sound, I believe their approach is misguided.  It makes perfect sense to me for athletes to participate in some of the financial upside in college sports and to have greater flexibility to switch schools without penalty, much like coaches do.  But do they really need to unionize to make their points heard?  And do they really need a pot of gold?  Seems to me athletes on scholarship should receive a monthly stipend, each person gets the same amount, to make college life a bit easier.  After all these guys and gals work hard and represent their schools well.  And athletes should be allowed to switch schools, maybe once in their career without sitting out a full season.  But a union?  Come on man!  Make your case, leverage social media to get support, and harass the NCAA into doing the right thing, finally. 
http://espn.go.com/chicago/college-football/story/_/id/10476031/northwestern-qb-kain-colter-testifies-bid-form-college-athlete-union