This post marks the first of what will be a recurring series on Onward State. In an attempt to present a broader perspective, we have networked with a person of interest in the State College area who has agreed to write a column for OS. The views presented are not the views of Onward State.

Apparently, yesterday’s front page vilification of the man behind the mascot wasn’t satisfactory. Today, the Collegian ingeniously decided to take poor James Sheep’s DUI to the next level by planting this above-the-fold story featuring reaction to the crime from Jackie Esposito and Steven Herb, co-authors of The Nittany Lion.

Talk about making mountains out of molehills.

Are you sure you don’t want to ask the janitor who cleans the stadium locker rooms how he feels about this? What about Paterno? Spanier? You could make a series out of it.

“Any time there is an alcohol-related violation with a student it’s disappointing, but it wouldn’t be fair for me to single out one person,” University spokesman Geoff Rushton told the Collegian.

I couldn’t agree more. Even if Sheep gets the ARD program to wipe the charge off his record, the thoughtless spectacle the Collegian made of his offense could inevitably haunt him for life.

Sheep wasn’t wearing the costume at the time of his DUI. He wasn’t representing Penn State.

In case you were wondering, the authors said they hope fans forgive Sheep.

Sure, we should forgive him. But we shouldn’t forgive the Collegian for yet another remarkable display of sensationalism.