STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — The Joe Paterno statue bothers Jerry Maglio, a Scranton, Pa.-area sales manager who was in State College for business.

But he’s more alarmed at the quotation behind it: “They ask me what I’d like written about me when I’m gone. I hope they write I made Penn State a better place, not just that I was a good football coach.”

Maglio was among the scores of people who stopped by the statue throughout the day Thursday as the clock ticks down toward the university’s decision on what to do with it. Some think it should go while others think removing it would be disrespectful to Paterno’s contributions to the university.




Also Thursday, the plane carrying a banner demanding the statue be removed returned, making it the third day it has circled overhead.

For Maglio, there’s no question the statue should come down.

“If you are a victim and you were to walk by here, how could you say the university had done justice by having the statue remain?” he said.

Penn State student Eric Dottle, a junior from the Scranton area, said the decision is “very touchy.” Ultimately, he thinks it needs to be out of sight but preserved in the All-Sports Museum inside Beaver Stadium.

“If that’s what’s going to have to happen for healing to start here, then yeah, take it down,” he said.

Kim Wilson and her husband, Mike, of State College, brought their 5-year-old son Reese to get a picture at the statute.

“He’s a big football fan,” Kim Wilson said.

She’s not sure what the right decision is about the statue.

“So much of it is so disheartening to hear, I don’t even know,” she said.

Penn State President Rodney Erickson said this week that the decision on the statue would come after a week or so. He also has said he’ll discuss the statue with the president’s council and the board of trustees.

Students will get a chance to give feedback and let the administration know what they think.

Courtney Lennartz, president of the University Park Undergraduate Association, said she and other student leaders sent a survey to leaders of about 60 student groups. Those groups were asked to reach a consensus and then submit the survey, choosing from options including whether they favor keeping the statue where it is, moving it to a different location or getting rid of it. There is also a comment box.

“We were looking for a general consensus and any really good ideas that people have,” Lennartz said.