By: Benjamin E. Lykens (Whetstone Staff Writer)

Wesley College students said that what happened at Penn State was wrong but differ about what should have been done to punish the school after the Sandusky child sex-abuse trial.

Penn State University received unprecedented penalties by the NCAA because of the scandal, including a four-year Bowl ban, fined the program millions of dollars and eliminated the football team’s wins from 1998 to last season.

Junior Chuck Stewart said he was surprised at Sandusky’s behavior.

“It was a big shocker to me,” Stewart said. “Now because of all this both the school and the football program have a bad reputation.”

Sophomore Cassandra Stephens said that the punishments weren’t fair and that people need to remember the good things about the team, not just the bad.

“I don’t think the punishments are fair to the current students or for (former football Head Coach) Joe Paterno,” Stephens said. “They don’t know what they told him. There are a lot of things he did right.”

Paterno died of lung cancer soon after the scandal broke, and was found to be negligent by an independent report conducted by former FBI director Louis Freeh.

Freshman Darius Carroll believes that the NCAA could have handled the situation in a different way.

“I don’t think the (Paterno) statue should’ve been taken down and the incoming students and football players shouldn’t have been punished,” he said.

But the school needs to be more careful, she said.

“They should have more background checks on the staff and coaches.”

Sophomore KylieMay Allen said that Paterno should have faced harsher penalties before his death.

“I believe he should have been punished because he let it go on,” she said.

Junior Kiki Schmitt said she felt sorry for the victims and was sad that the school tried to cover up the scandal.

“It’s sad that so many people can know about it and it is put on the sideline so the school and the team is protected,” she said.

Sophomore Leigh Ann Ingram also said she was disappointed in the school.

“I think it’s sad that so many people would cover up this for somebody,” she said.

College President Dr. William Johnston said he felt sorry for the victims and that he could relate to former Penn State President Graham Spanier’s predicament.

“The young men and their families are the ones who have been most affected and my heart goes out to them,” Johnston said.

“I can relate to former President Spanier because there are dozens of items that go through the president’s office and it’s impossible to see every item. However, I also understand and realize the president still has the responsibility.”