As a member of the student media at UW-Eau Claire, I would just like to voice my dismay at the way some of the journalists at the Penn State Board of Trustees press conference acted.

I watched the entire press conference and have re-watched bits of it since then. The conduct by some of those in the room was absolutely out of line and completely unprofessional.

At one point a cameraman told John Surma, a member of the Penn State Board of Trustees, that the campus would burn. Another reporter continually asked in an ever-angrier tone why Joe Paterno had to be fired. Those are two that stuck out to me, but there were plenty of other things shouted by media members in the room that were out of line. The tone and attitude shown by some of the reporters in the room is unbelievable.

I understand that this is arguably the biggest story to ever break in college football, but there is no reason to act the way they did. I can only assume that these reporters were student media that love their university and their football team, but those feelings cannot overpower you and turn the press conference into a circus.

Surma did a masterful job of keeping his cool while questions where shot at him like bullets in “The Matrix” and never once showed any sign of anger or frustration with the situation.  Sure, he gave simplistic answers and didn’t go into detail, but that is difficult to do when a criminal investigation is still ongoing. Whoever did his PR coaching probably deserves some sort of award.

I just hope that those who acted in this manner don’t give the rest of student journalists and journalists in general a bad rap. There are many of us out there who are passionate about the subjects and people we cover, but we have to be able to separate ourselves from those feelings and keep a level head. Especially in times like these at Penn State.

In stark contrast to the Board of Trustees’ press conference was Bob Costas’s interview with Jerry Sandusky, the man accused of a number of crimes related to the sexual abuse of children. During his exclusive interview Monday night, Costas showed exactly how a journalist tackles a story of this magnitude. Costas asked tough questions and pushed Sandusky for answers while never attacking him. Costas’s approach was essentially a textbook example of how to act, and the journalists in the room at the Penn State press conference would do well to take notes while watching it.

I don’t even want to go into the actions by the students rioting after the press conference. The situation after the press conference was shocking and appalling. The students’ actions are even worse than those who were in the room and have reflected very poorly on Penn State. I hope nothing like this ever happens to any school ever again, but if it does, I hope students and the media at that university handle it better than those at Penn State.

I have been following this story since Sandusky was arrested. It gets more and more disturbing every day, and will likely continue to get more disturbing as the weeks go on and more information is learned.

Sandusky is, of course, presumed innocent until he is tried and convicted in the court of law, but the grand jury report and information that has come out is very damaging. If the allegations are proven to be false the media and the nation owe Sandusky a huge apology. The legal battle will start on Dec. 7, with a preliminary hearing will likely head to trial early in the new year.

This is a story that has engulfed a university, a city, a state and a nation.  The allegations have brought down the university’s administration and the winningest head coach in college football. It is a story that won’t go away anytime soon and will continue to be in the news for months. It is my sincere hope that every member of the media handles this story with the integrity and professionalism that Bob Costas did.

It is hard to keep a level head in a situation like this when the allegations are so disturbing and shocking, but it is the only way to keep an already volatile situation from getting even worse. I hope that what we have learned so far over the course of the past week is the entire story but this is probably just the tip of the iceberg.

Jackson Schmidtke is a senior broadcast journalism major and freelancer for The Spectator.