Sadness, Then Madness

November 9

When the news came down that Penn State President Graham Spanier and football coach Joe Paterno were fired in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky case, I tweeted “Someone finally came to their senses in Happy Valley.” Little did I know …

Students took to the streets in protest. Police in riot gear had to be called out. Someone overturned a news van. Rocks were thrown. Police used mace.

All because a FOOTBALL COACH was fired. Student protests have definitely changed since my days at school.

The Board of Trustees did what they had to do, although they bungled one thing: by firing Paterno by phone, they continued the pattern of lilly-livered behavior that dates back to 1998, and is the reason for the current crisis. They also gave protesters another thing to be angry about.

Maybe some students were legitimately outraged, while others were just trying to be part of the scene. Whatever, they made themselves look like damned fools. Utter and complete myopia. Just plain ugly.

Penn State has a lot of cleaning up to do, literally and figuratively, that much is clear. It starts with students opening their eyes to the world outside Happy Valley.

Across town, however, a vigil was being held for the child victims. Sanity survives, somewhere. The victims. And there may be more than just eight.

This story will not go away and in fact, in the coming days, it might get uglier and sadder. Madness has no place in this conversation. Let sanity in.