Should Paterno statue be removed?

Amid calls for the removal of football coach Joe Paterno's statue from the Penn State campus, some students have started a vigil to protect it from vandals. Seniors Mike Elliot and Kevin Berkon organized a gathering at the statue after a plane flew over the campus Tuesday with a banner that read: "Take the statue down or we will." The statue of Joe Paterno, once a rallying point for support of the late coach, has become a lightning rod for critics of the school and its football program. The students said they would be at the statue again Wednesday night, but weren't sure how long they would keep the vigil. The Paterno statue outside Beaver Stadium has been a point of much contention since the results from a scathing report by former FBI director Louis Freeh were made public and greatly tarnished the reputation of a man once known as "JoePa." Critics have called for the statue to be taken down after the Freeh report concluded that Paterno was aware of allegations levied against convicted pedophile Jerry Sandusky in 1998 -- in contrast to his grand jury testimony and an interview given after his firing -- and that he was involved in the decision to not report a 2001 incident to the authorities even after his superiors had decided to. For me, there is no question that the statue should be removed. Paterno knew was made aware of what was happening and did not do what he should have done to protect those kids. He was Penn State. By all accounts, he fully ran the football program and he had a monster right under his nose doing horrific things to kids inside of his own building. Shame on him for not doing more. He would rather protect the program and his save his reputation and not risk embarrassment to himself or the school rather do the right thing and protect those kids. The statue should come down immediately. As far as these idiot students trying to keep the statue up, I bet they wouldn't have the same opinion if it was one of them or one of their friends/relatives that was abused by Sandusky. Those kids are young and silly. I'm sure Paterno did many great things in his 46 years of coaching and he helped many of his players become successful in life. However, all of that means nothing if he allowed even one child to suffer the kind of abuse described in reports at the hands of Sandusky. Tear the statue down.