In the Sept. 25th editorial, the Editorial Board expressed their disappointment with the way the Athletic department is handling the three students accused of drug possession. They asked whether the three students are facing the same punishment any other athlete would be facing.

To me, this is the wrong question to ask. Why would I treat an athlete any differently than any other student? Every student on the ISU campus represents ISU. We represent ISU when we present at conferences, go to academic events and even just tell people we meet traveling or at home that we go to Iowa State University.

If any one of us runs afoul of marijuana laws, we aren’t suspended from these activities. Often no one even knows it happened. Why should these three football players be treated any differently?

Talk is always of how football players are treated favorably, but there is little negative reaction when the knee-jerk response is to punish them worse than less high-profile members of society.

That doesn’t sound like any justice I want to be a part of.

Jerry Stoner is a graduate student of mechanical engineering at Iowa State University.