At the risk of inviting the vigilante bite of the Nittany kin, I feel personally let down and greatly disappointed in the recent Penn State University (PSU) sex abuse scandal and resulting riots. I am not a huge fan of throwing out my opinion online whenever scandals break for fear that my words may fall on misunderstanding ears or not carry the legitimacy of someone actually involved in the incident. With that being said, I feel that the PSU issue is different. As college students, it is our duty, among others, to not only represent our school but to act according to the standards by which our respective universities operate. After the board’s decision to oust both President Graham Spanier and football coach Joe Paterno, the student body reacted in a most peculiar way. There were candlelight vigils, memorials and prayer circles for the young victims of the sexual abuse, but that’s not the peculiarity to which I am referring.I am talking about the hoards of students who took to Beaver Avenue and Old Main to protest the firing of “our coach.” Students and residents of State College clogged the streets of Downtown littering the area with their violence and disapproval; a WTAJ News media truck was flipped. Not dented, not spray painted, but literally flipped on its side by the deafening crowd. Buildings, storefronts and offices alike were vandalized, damaged and left ruined by a crowd of people more concerned with being a fan than a human being.I cannot adequately express the broken spirit that I have for many of my former classmates. Facebook and Twitter were abuzz after the board’s decision was announced late Wednesday night. Statuses, many strewn with expletives, claimed “WE ARE STILL PENN STATE,” “WHAT IS PSU WITHOUT JOEPA?,” “YOU’RE GOING TO FIRE A LIVING LEGEND?”… I think you get the point.Why are we excusing someone just because he’s a “living legend, an icon that put PSU on the map”? Does this mean icons are above the law and not subject to the same rules and regulations with which the rest of us must comply? The allegations that a sexual predator was allowed continued access to young boys on PSU’s campus over a period of more than a decade after numerous instances of abuse were noted. These instances were never legally pursued but rather reported to fellow coaches, athletic directors and others on staff. Paterno, albeit a great coach, failed to follow through. I think we all need to make a parallel. Let’s take a car vandal whom you witness damage a neighbor’s car. Instead of contacting police or proper authorities, you tell your aunt, your other neighbor and a friend. Yes, you “reported” it, but did you really do as much as you could?While the PSU issue is obviously much more severe and pressing than vandalizing a car, I think it is important to remember that “Joe Pa” was fired because he obtained criminal knowledge that he brushed off for over a decade. He knew Sandusky was abusing boys and continued to allow him to coach. I don’t care how many championships you’ve won, I don’t care how personable and likable you are, and I don’t care that Penn State “will never be the same.” No legend, icon, or institution is above the moral code to which we are all held.To revisit the issue of peers and colleagues for a second, I was truly sickened by a lot of online blogs that excused Paterno because “he wasn’t the one who sexually abused the kids.” Let me propose a counter argument: if you witness a friend shoot and kill an unarmed person, are you morally obligated to do something? Or are you excused because you didn’t pull the trigger?Students at PSU cried foul because of the unity Paterno brings to the campus; I will grant them that his presence was a unifying element as I am sure Steve Jobs might have been at Apple before his untimely death.  But, regardless of one’s unifying capabilities, if one acts solely within the confines of their best interests while enabling a defensive coordinator to sexually abuse boys, they’re done. Paterno and Spanier both received exactly what they deserved.I have to admit that I would be irritated with non-Pioneers commenting on a Point Park University scandal if one were to ever occur but, at the same time, I feel it necessary to put to paper what so many are not saying. People are socially afraid to oppose Paterno because his popularity truly is that far reaching. I, for one, am not a college football fan but if I were to follow a team, they might be at the top of my list. Despite the school’s athletic program, I can’t excuse such apathy in the hands of a man who is expected to behave as a “legend and icon.”In order to combat the already tarnished image that is Penn State, rioting in the streets as thousands of students did was not the proper solution. Why not show the world that you are not ignorant, unruly and dishonest students like several staff turned out to be? Why would you not do everything in your power to divert any negative attention by peacefully protesting the firings or assembling as one against the board’s decision? The students had to have known the media would only fixate on the negative so why give them more dirt and scandal to broadcast?