I was infuriated by with the cover page of the Collegian this past Monday. It is quite unfortunate that the cover story explained the big problem with drug use and trafficking in the State College area. However, none of the people who were accused of their actions have been found guilty of any of their accusations. There is a chance that one or more of these individuals have been falsely accused of their crimes.
I write to you about this because directly below the article explaining what happened with the arrests on Friday morning there was an article titled "Student Finds Enjoyment from Lighting Up."
It spoke about a boy named George and his daily use of his illegal drug of choice: marijuana.
It explained how often he smokes, where he likes to smoke and how, and that although he does not plan to stop smoking anytime soon, it has several negative effects on his activity. Maybe I am dreadfully uninformed, but why is this boy allowed to flaunt his illegal drug habit when the lives of at least eleven Penn State students are being ruined for similar, if not much smaller, offenses?
The placement of this article sends an incredibly contradictory message to its readers about Penn State and the Collegian's stance on drug abuse.
In addition, it was extremely insensitive and tactless toward those who may have been falsely accused or unfairly implicated in the incidents that have recently occurred.
I for one would appreciate some decency on the part of those who decide what gets printed in this paper.