It's beginning to get out of hand.

A victim's rights group, Security On Campus, Inc. (SOC), has requested that the NCAA investigate whether Anwar Phillips was eligible to play during the Capitol One Bowl.

This is a problem that did not have to go this far; it's an issue that did not have to leave this campus.

Clearly, Phillips should not have been allowed to play in January. Whether it was because of a miscommunication or a gross misjudgment, someone or someones in the athletic department made a mistake.

But once the mistake was made, no one said a word. In fact, it was not until Phillips' court trial came up (months after he was sanctioned by the Office of Judicial Affairs) that the general public even found out an error had been made, and between January and now, nearly nothing has been done about it.

The public has spoken out. Some are questioning Penn State football coach Joe Paterno; some are questioning Penn State President Graham Spanier; some are questioning Judicial Affairs. But weeks after the story broke, Paterno has yet to really comment on the case. Spanier did ask that the athletic department and Judicial Affairs fix their communication problems, but no progress or changes have been announced.

And one issue still remains: Someone sanctioned by the university for sexual assaulting another student -- someone who admitted to the act -- was allowed to play in a Penn State football game, and no apologies or retributions have been made to anyone. Not to the students at this university, nor, more importantly, to the victim.

Now, an outside group is stepping in, the same group that defended the victim in the sexual assault case involving Penn State wrestler Jean Celestin. In that case, the university had failed to act appropriately and then further failed to fix its mistakes. Clearly it hasn't learned, because the same thing is happening again.

The NCAA rule that the SOC is arguing Penn State broke is very open to interpretation. Article 14 of the NCAA bylaws requires that "players be students in good standing" and also "places responsibility on the school to withhold any ineligible student-athlete from competition." Because Phillips' suspension did not technically begin until the spring semester, Penn State could argue that he was still in "good standing" with the university as of January.

Bringing the NCAA into this case should be a last resort. However, we welcome an investigation into this case by the group if Penn State continues its stance of silence and continues to refuse to make meaningful changes.