Pa. OK With Paterno Firing: Poll

Poll: more than half of Pennsylvanians support Paterno's firing

People in the Keystone State supported the firing of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno but not by a wide margin.

A new poll shows Pennsylvanians support the firing of legendary Penn State football coach following child sex abuse allegations against his former assistant Jerry Sandusky.

The Quinnipiac Poll released Friday says 52 percent of Pennsylvania voters support Paterno's firing while 43 percent oppose it.

Paterno and school President Graham Spanier each lost their jobs after Sandusky, a former long-time defensive coordinator, was charged with assaulting young boys.

Prosecutors say alleged on-campus assaults were not immediately brought to the attention of authorities even though high-level people at Penn State apparently knew about them.

The poll says 74 percent of respondents support Spanier's dismissal.

Those polled also questioned the power the Nittany Lion football program has in Happy Valley:

Football has too much influence at Penn State, 65 percent of Pennsylvania voters say. Another 4 percent say "not enough influence" and 25 percent say "about the right amount of influence." Feelings are about the same among all groups.

The poll of 1,453 registered voters from Nov. 28 to Dec. 5 has a sampling error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.


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