The old expression says boys will be boys. And girls will be girls. But lately people seem to have forgotten that college students will be college students, too.

I understand that athletes are viewed as public figures. By playing a sport, they put themselves in the public eye. Around campus, I’ve heard the argument that it’s OK to publicize their mistakes because they are paid to be here.

However, the athletes aren’t the only ones receiving scholarships. Much of the student body, including myself, is receiving money to be here -- whether it be through the lottery scholarship, work-study programs or through some other form of academic scholarship.

By that argument, all of these people should have all of their mistakes put on the front page of the paper, too. You will be hard pressed to find anyone who will agree with that.

DUIs and illegal drugs on campus are newsworthy, no matter whom they involve. I think most people would say that this is true. But every little mistake that an athlete makes does not warrant a picture and name being plastered across campus.

People say that they are ambassadors of our campus. No, they are ambassadors of our athletics program. We are all Skyhawks, all part of UTM, and we should all worry about how what we do affects the image of the university. It makes me sad to think that people on this campus leave it up to a very small percentage of students to determine what others think of our school.

They are young college students just like the other 5,500-plus of us on this campus and it’s not necessarily fair to single them out. For those of us not directly involved in intercollegiate sports, what gives us the authority to determine the actions that the athletics department should take in regards to recent incidents?

It’s our right to have opinions on what we think should be done, and we should all be allowed to voice them. But, no one argues about how fraternities and sororities should handle their problems. People worry about the organizations that they are involved with and don’t like outsiders telling them how to run things. People don’t like it when someone tells them how to do their job.

This situation is no different. Those of us non-athletes, I’m sure, have no real idea how the coaches handle disciplining their players. Just because they are not made to be public examples or kicked off the team for every mistake they make does not mean that they do not have to face consequences.

The coaches on this campus were hired for some reason or another and should be trusted to do their jobs. If they aren’t, come contract renewal time, they will be dealt with. We should take comfort in that.

GO SKYHAWKS!!!!!!