Students react: 'We've got to stand by the Ducks for now'

EUGENE, Ore. -- When Duck football players get in trouble, the news affects University of Oregon students in indirect ways.

"My Twitter account gets really full and it's really annoying," said Jacob Shilling.

"I mean no one really interacts with the football players," Mark Costigan said. "They're kind of in their own world."

Students on the UO campus talked to KVAL News about their thoughts on the intense interest in the deeds -- and misdeeds -- of public figures like Pac-10 freshman rushing record holder LaMichael James.

"I'm really worried about trashing these guy's reputations without knowing anything," Shilling said. "These guys are in the public light and people do look up to them but at the same time, they're still kids."

Kids who, by University President Richard Lariviere's estimate, appeared on 15.5 million television screens nationwide during the Rose Bowl.

"I think they're in the public eye, so they need to be careful about their actions," Ariel Gilbert said.

"You know it just proves you might be king of the heap here at the U of O, you still have to watch out for what you're doing and be a role model for everybody else," Jake Neilson said.

Neilson isn't ready to believe everything he hears about Duck football players

"Some of these allegations might be true, some of them may be not," he said, "but you know, we've got to stand by the Ducks for now and we'll figure it out from there."

For a football program that seemed to take the season-opening scandal of LeGarrette Blount's post-game punch in stride, the recent spate of arrests and accusations seem out of place to students like Cameron Passmore.

"It's a surprise because one of Chip Kelly's big strong points is he seems to run a really tight ship," Passmore said, "so this would be probably the last thing you'd expect to see -- but we're seeing it all the same."

And how some of the most public of students -- football players -- conduct themselves reflects on the campus community as a whole, Costigan said.

"It's unfortunate that our athletes act that way so they can give everyone else a bad name," he said. "I don't know if it will affect our intergrity or you know, the view of students in the public spotlight and in the media."

So many people who saw the Ducks pick themselves up after their loss to Boise State to go on and win their way to the Rose Bowl now watch Duck news of another kind with an intensity lower-tier teams don't face.

"Well it was so positive, the Ducks going to the Rose Bowl, and then it's things like this," said Chelsea Choenberg. "They represent the school and so if they represent it in a negative you can only support them to a certain extent."

"I'm from California," said Micaela Sicroff, "and people at home are like, 'Oh we see your school in the news but not always for positive things.' "