Would You Want Your Child to Go to Happy Valley, Land of Moral Blindness?

Penn State does have its share of problems right now -- lack of controls, deficiency in ethics and humanity, some misguided students. Another one is rolling admissions, with the first deadline Nov. 30. Now that we know how many blind eyes exist at that campus, would you want your child to attend?

Here's a discussion of crises and how they affect admissions. Schools like Duke have dealt with messes related to athletics and have seen some admissions drop-off -- but nothing lasting. Others, including Virginia Tech, have seen far more horrific events. They all recover. Penn State will, too. But it does make a parent think.

Do we really know and fully understand how and why colleges act? Why Virginia Tech waited so long to alert students to a killer on the loose? Why no one at Penn State followed through on terrible accusations?

Maybe the punch list of what our children (and we) are looking for in a college should include how the administration responds to serious, possibly life-threatening, events. Or whether there is a pattern of putting athletics first. So search major papers that would cover the school. See if you can discover whether the schools seem to be run by good and rational people who put students and academics first, who set strong ethical and moral standards.

It just might make you feel better, or force you to suggest your child think through college options a little more carefully.