Expose hurts Penn State, Paterno

STATE COLLEGE, Pa., July 30 (UPI) -- ESPN's expose of arrest records involving Penn State football players included statistics that some school officials call embarrassing.

The "Outside The Lines" program found that since 2002, 46 Penn State players have been charged with a total of 163 criminal complaints. Of the 46 players charged, 27 pleaded guilty or were convicted. The results have clearly embarrassed some Penn State leaders, if not head football coach Joe Paterno, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Wednesday.

University President Graham Spanier expressed remorse.

"They're staggering numbers," he said. "They're very high and they shouldn't be that way. . . It's embarrassing to the university."

Professor Paul Clarke, vice chairman of the Faculty Senate athletics committee, also was concerned.

"This is really a black mark. It diminishes all of us," he told the Post-Gazette.

But Paterno, 81, whom some have called on to retire, remained defiant -- insisting that he remained in touch and control of his athletic team.

"I have the same hands on that I've always had," he told the newspaper, referring to the ESPN program as a "witch hunt."