Severe.

That was the word many Yorkers used to express their feelings about the NCAA sanctions on Penn State announced Monday morning.

At the Maple Donuts counter on Arsenal Road in Manchester Township, everyone agreed football players and students at Penn State are not the ones who should be punished.

"It is severe," said Don Gluck, 63 of West Manchester Township. "Why penalize these kids now? I could understand the fine, that is fair, but they should not penalize the students."

Bill Byrne, 48, of Springettsbury Township agreed.

"The NCAA is being way too severe," he said.

Vacating all of Paterno's wins from 1998 until 2011 is the worst part of the sanctions from the NCAA, said Byrne.

"I think it might be worse than the death penalty for a few years," Byrne said, adding the sanctions are unfair to the student athletes.

The extent to which the sanctions will affect students is unknown, but some students at Penn State York worried they might even affect the campus athletic programs.

Dan Rogers, 22, is an incoming senior at Penn State York and a member of the baseball team. He said the NCAA penalties could affect funding for his team if it advances to regional or state playoffs.

"It is too severe," Rogers said. "It's hurting all of the wrong people. The people with criminal charges will go to jail, so I don't think that the school needs to be punished too."

Penn State York graduate student Jason Kelly, 25, said he is not sure about the NCAA's decision.

"It punishes a lot of people that deserved it, but it also punishes a lot of people who did not have anything to do with it," Kelly said.

"It had to be a harsh penalty to get the message across, but it is a shame for the players," said Cheri Miller, 62, of Manchester Township.

Questions remain: Tammie Cool, 23, who graduated from Penn State York in the spring, agreed, saying, "I really don't know how to react, because I don't feel like what happened at Penn State has anything to do with football."

Some students, like 20-year-old Martin Arabi, wondered if the $60 million fine to Penn State would affect tuition and other costs of their education.

Arabi, a junior majoring in information science and technology, said the NCAA's decision was "uncalled for" and "not logical."

Penn State will probably not be the same as it was for a long time, said Ronald Brockley, 66, of Seven Valleys. His daughter and granddaughter both attended Penn State, and Brockley remains a fan of the football team.

"I think it's stupid," Brockley said. "They won the games, so how could they take them away? They deserved them. Anybody can make a mistake, and Paterno made one, but so what?"

Shane Wolf, 24, of Red Lion, said the decision is "ridiculous."

"That is taking everything Paterno and all of the players worked for. You cannot punish all of the kids who worked for those wins," Wolf said.

Stigma? Banning Penn State from playing in any bowl game for the next four years was also outrageous to Yorkers.

"The kids going to school now, this is their shot. They did not have anything to do with it, so why should they be punished? Why punish the whole school?" said Tom Bassett, 67, of East Manchester Township.

"If anything they should try to punish the people who tried to cover it up," Bassett said. "As bad as it was, the school will suffer a stigma because of this for God knows how long."

Some thought the decision was better than the rumored death penalty to the program.

"I'm just glad it did not get completely shut down," said Evander Kinsler, 22, of Conewago Township. Kinsler is a senior at Penn State Harrisburg. "I don't know if it's fair to the players though."

As far as the wins, Kinsler said at least true Penn State fans will always know the wins still count.

"People from Penn State know that he had those wins," Kinsler said. "It is a figurative thing, but if you are a true fan of Penn State you will know."

- Reach Chelsea Shank at 505-5432 or cshank@yorkdispatch.com