BELLEFONTE - Let's see what you know about college campuses.
Are there more ...
A.) Beer bottles/cans, or
B.) Textbooks owned by students?
I asked eight college students and/or recent graduates that question Wednesday. Seven of them laughed - like it was such an easy answer - and all eight said the same thing.
Beer.
By far.
Maybe even double or triple the textbooks, most said.
Navorro Bowman may want to hole up in his room and never leave, except for class and football, because he is going to have a tough, tough time avoiding alcohol for the next year.
Penn State is ranked as the No. 3 party school in the country by Princeton Review. That means there is probably much more alcohol and marijuana - the illegal substance of choice in college - on the University Park campus than most other institutions in the country.
That is not good news for Bowman.
If he gets caught drinking alcohol or even going into a bar at any point in the next year, he will go to prison for six months. That's a stipulation of his probation sentence handed down Wednesday.
Given the overwhelming supply of beer, the ease of obtaining it and the peer pressure to drink it, the star linebacker is going to need a lot of willpower and a lot of help to steer clear of the suds.
It's worth mentioning that Bowman, only 20, is not even legally old enough to drink. But sadly, that law may as well not exist on college campuses because it's broken so much.
Oh, and smoking weed is illegal, period. Bowman has admitted to doing so twice since December, which landed him in front of a judge for Wednesday's probation revocation hearing.
What he needs to understand is all it will take is one kid - on a campus of 40,000 - to see him sip a beer, enter a bar or light up a joint. If the kid tattles, Bowman goes to prison.
Every person on this earth is responsible for his or her actions. If you screw up, look in the mirror to see who's to blame.
That's true for Bowman, too.
In his case, though, he has about 100 teammates who also should take personal responsibility for helping him stay clean. If they care about him as a person, a friend and a teammate, it's the least they can do knowing he has no more second chances.
"We all try to look after each other," linebacker Sean Lee said. "The football team, we see each other almost as brothers, as a fraternity, and we're always trying to keep guys out of trouble."
Lee added he knows Bowman "has great intentions" and that "he's going to do what it takes to be on the field next year, to graduate and to be a good role model."
To achieve those goals, Bowman must protect himself at all times and avoid hanging around anyone who is drinking or toking up.
"No, I don't think that would be a tough thing to do," quarterback Daryll Clark said. "Situate yourself with people that don't associate themselves with alcohol. ... Stay in your room."
Even on weekends? Oh man, that's going to be brutal for a college kid.
"For me, who really doesn't drink," Clark said, "I'm never around it unless I decide to go out, which is on weekends."
Good luck, Navorro. And don't do anything stupid.
Just remember, your freedom is more important than getting buzzed or stoned.
Cory Giger can be reached at 949-7031 and cgsports12@aol.com.
