Penn State Sex Scandal: University Will Benefit from New Week, Bored Media

Penn State has endured its worst week ever, which is saying a lot since the school was founded in 1855. Now everybody in the community is ready to turn the page to a new week with hope there is a steady recovery underway.

The good news for Penn State is that in today's modern world of breaking news and instant analysis, the mainstream media will quickly engage itself in new stories and fresher headlines, leaving the university to continue its investigation without every move having a forced feel due to media pressure.

There is still a big mess to clean up and more problems will likely arise as the committee digs deeper into the allegations. However, the school is off to a good start in what's going to be a long-term process.

It's a process that began in earnest on Saturday with the Nittany Lions' Senior Day 17-14 loss to Nebraska. Although Penn State's rally came up short, quotes like one from senior linebacker Nathan Stupar show there were more important things to worry about that day (via Yahoo! Sports):

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I was holding a Nebraska player’s hand, and at that moment, I didn’t care about him being my enemy. I just cared about the victims, Joe Paterno, this university, just praying for a turnaround, for healing, forgiveness, for everyone.

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Mike McQueary's status will remain the biggest question moving forward, at least in the short term. There has been a lot of talk about possible whistle-blower rights, but it's hard to imagine Penn State allowing him on the sidelines again if the Board of Trustees is serious about recovery.

Happy Valley might never return to normal—whatever that signifies—but that might be a good thing. Normal consisted of allegedly covering up a major sex abuse scandal and allowing more children to become unnecessary victims.

That's not something anybody should be striving toward.

New regulations need to be put in place on campus and statewide laws need to be agreed upon to ensure nothing remotely close to this scandal ever occurs again.

Penn State's successes won't be recognized for months, if not years, and it must be prepared for the negative press to continue for the foreseeable future. But the level of media attention should continue to decrease over time, which will allow the university to focus solely on rebuilding trust.

How long will that take? Nobody knows, but Penn State must make sure no stone is left unturned.