Poll says Pennsylvanians want to see Paterno statue restored

    A poll says Pennsylvanians overwhelmingly want Penn State to put back a statue of former football coach Joe Paterno that was removed after Jerry Sandusky’s child molestation conviction.

    The Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday said the majority — 59 percent to 25 percent — favored restoring the statue to a prominent place on campus.

    Pennsylvanians also strongly support a recent deal between Penn State and the NCAA that restored 112 wins to the football team and Paterno’s status as winningest coach in major college football.

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    Paterno’s statue outside Beaver Stadium was removed in July 2012, shortly before the university and the NCAA entered into a consent decree that invalidated the wins, fined the school $60 million and temporarily took away some football scholarships.

    Quinnipiac surveyed 1,023 residents between Jan. 22 and Feb. 1. Its margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

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