<p>tututaxi–</p>
<p>The supervisor gave him the name of the person to make a report to, from what I have read. </p>
<p>They really ALL did the same exact thing, in their own way. </p>
<p>So sad.</p>
<p>Dadx-- I think the reason we are accidentally using words like “vile” at each other is just becuase that is the exact right adjective to describe what happened and it is that language stuck in our heads and it leaks out sideways. I think that’s what happens sometimes.</p>
<p>Governor Corbett is standing in front of the TV cameras attacking everyone else for not taking action to stop these years of abuse. He who lives in a glass house…</p>
<p>However, let us remember that Corbett was PA. Attorney General up until January 2011. In 2008, a mother reported her son’s abuse to police. The police contacted the Centre County District Attorney. Because that DA said he had a conflict of interest, he forwarded the case for handling by the PA. Attorney General in MARCH 2009. It would not be another 2.5 years until Sandusky would be arrested.</p>
<p>[Central</a> PA Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - PennLive.com](<a href=“http://www.pennlive.com%5DCentral”>http://www.pennlive.com) </p>
<p>The Harrisburg paper is providing the most detailed coverage and new information. Their article today says that a source told them that only one investigator was assigned to the case. It took 2 years until there was a search of Sandusky’s house (which by the way is right next to an elementary school playground). That was plenty of time to destroy evidence.</p>
<p>It was only after a new (female) Attorney General and a new State Police Commissioner took office in January 2011 that the case got the attention and manpower that it deserved.</p>
<p>Penn State students already feeling the impact. [This</a> letter from a PSU student to CNNSI.com](<a href=“http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/peter_king/11/14/Week10/1.html]This”>http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/peter_king/11/14/Week10/1.html) relates that four students have lost their spring internships because companies don’t want to be affiliated with Penn State. PSU’s large student charity for pediatric cancer, THON, is also losing corporate sponsors. That is surprising to me that has affected students in this way, but that is how bad the perception of Penn State is.</p>
<p>^^^ Note the use of “apparently” and “supposedly” before these claims. Personally, I’d take this with a big grain of salt.</p>
<p>Can the Big Ten lose Penn State as well as take Paterno off the trophy? I’m surprised his name is on it–they’re such a recent addition to the league, and never really felt like part of it to me. (and yes, fully realize that’s not important here–bit it’s another example of the Paterno worship–I"m sure there are coaches with far more ties to the league historically then him.)</p>
<p>As I posted they have take his name off the trophy. A suspension of PSU might also be in order.</p>
<p>Sax quote:</p>
<p>*Let’s make sure we start with the facts from the reporters news article as this discussion rolls on.</p>
<p>Sandusky retired as a coach of PSU football 11 years ago in 1999 at the age of 55. He was part of PSU football for 30 years</p>
<p>Sandusky started a program for at risk youth in 1977 and used Penn States facilities for it. He continued to bring youth into PSU’s facilities after his retiement. The program continues to this day.</p>
<p>8 boys were targets between 1994 and 2009 (15 years)</p>
<p>In 2009 a mom reported the abuse to her sons high school. This started the official investigation</p>
<p>In 2002 a grad student witnessed a sexual assault and reported it immediately to Paterno. Paterno says he immediately reported it to the athletic director of the college.</p>
<p>The athletic director (Curley) and the vice president for finance and business (Schultz) questioned this grad student about 10 days after Paterno reported it to them.They state that the grad student only reported non sexual horsing around to them. They barred Sandusky from bringing kids on campus. They reported this to the president of PSU (Spanier). They did not report this to any law inforcement officer.</p>
<p>A janitor witnessed an assault in 2000.</p>
<p>Schultz stated he knew of a 1998 investigation of abuse although the news article says the first case to come to light was the 2009 case.</p>
<p>So for those in the University accused of knowing of the abuse and not reporting it, it all boils down to who is lying. The grad student or Curly/Schultz. What did the grad student tell Paterno? What did Paterno tell Curly? What did Curly/Schultz tell Spanier? The grand jury believes that Curly/Schultz were lying. The grand jury believes Paterno and Spanier were not implicated.*</p>
<p>Is the above true?</p>
<p>*Penn State students already feeling the impact. This letter from a PSU student to CNNSI.com relates that four students have lost their spring internships because companies don’t want to be affiliated with Penn State. *</p>
<p>This sounds extreme. The students are innocent.</p>
<p>It is chilling to listen to this 1987 interview of Sandusky and his talking about his work with children.</p>
<p>[msnbc.com</a> Video Player](<a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45285321#45285321]msnbc.com”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45285321#45285321)</p>
<p>What freaks me out about this whole thing besides realizing how many people looked the other way, is knowing that there are other atrocities that are being covered up that we just don’t know about yet.</p>
<p><strong><em>This sounds extreme. The students are innocent.</em></strong> </p>
<p>That is why it’s so important for PSU to shut down it’s football program now. Shut it down just means everyone involved is out of a job for the rest of the year, then they can slowly rebuild it. They NEED to do that. It was shameful that they played this past weekend. They just don’t seem to care.</p>
<p><strong><em>Is the above true?</em></strong></p>
<p>It seems very unlikely that Coach McQueary only reported it as “non-sexual horsing around.” That makes no sense. And they keep calling him a “grad student”. He was 28 years old.</p>
<p>“In 2002 a grad student witnessed a sexual assault and reported it immediately to Paterno. Paterno says he immediately reported it to the athletic director of the college.”</p>
<p>Paterno continued to serve as an Honorary Director on Sandusky’s Board for nine years after the incident, and continued to provide facilities and access to the locker room by Sandusky.</p>
<p>To be fair, the football players are innocent too. They thought they were being offered an opportunity to play by a decent, honest coach (and who, for some of them, might provide an opportunity to go pro.) Their loss is at least as extreme as four internships, and would be greater if the football program is shut down. </p>
<p>Let’s call it for what it is: football is (or has been) the single most important characteristic of Penn State, and has been for a long time. (If this had been a basketball thing, I doubt there would be a basketball team today.)</p>
<p>The university is torn between doing what the public demands and doing what is best for its students. I think there should be an effort to reduce the collateral damage to the students as much as possible. That includes football players. I don’t understand how shutting down the football program makes anything better at this point. I am willing to be enlightened.</p>
<p>edited to add - cross posted with mini and agree that the players just add to the list of innocents.</p>
<p>“I am withdrawing my description of Ohiomom3000’s post of last night as “vile”. I regret using that word, and i apologize for it.”</p>
<p>Thank you. I appreciate it.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids: that was a good part of my post 9# in this thread of over a thousand posts. Those facts were from a news article published hours after the scandle broke. Prior to even reading the grand jury report. The identity of the grad student was not even known at the time. Most of that post holds up now .</p>
<p>Shutting down the football program means that the vast majority of Penn State students, who are not football players, no longer have to be associated in everyone’s mind with a program whose leaders enabled child rape, a program which was used by a child rapist to lure in his victims. I say shut down the program. Cauterize the wound.</p>
<p>Athletic programs get shut down all the time, at colleges and universities across the country. This should be no different. Cut out the rot root and branch.</p>
<p>I think it is a good thing that we here are so emotional and moved by these events. It is a good thing that we have differing opinions about some things and differing approaches, but we all agree that what happened was horrific. </p>
<p>I know I will try to be more aware of any bubbles that I may operate in and hope that I will never let them color my judgement.</p>
<p>I wonder if all/any of the parties involved are able to look at the national reaction and realize how mislead and wrong they were in their handling of this.</p>
<p>Cardinal Fang - could you give me some example of athletic programs (university level) that have been shut down? Not being snarky…really would like to know what programs were shut down, why, and for how long.</p>
<p>But keep in mind shutting down the football program also means doing away with the MAJOR focus of the cheerleaders, band members, and dance team members. Guess those activities would have to be suspended as well.</p>
<p>Cardinal Fang, I see your point, but when it is truly just the leaders of an entity who are the problem and not the members or participants in the program, don’t we often see the leadership replaced but not the entity shut down? I think this can be differentiated from situations in which the athletic team itself benefited from wrong doing - such as recruiting violations - but this is not that. It is worse in so many ways but is really separate from the playing of the game. I’m trying to look at it as I would if my son had spent the better part of his young life working toward playing college football only to have it yanked away from him.</p>
<p>In many institutions of higher education, academic programs are curtailed or shut down all the time for budgetary issues and what not. Mind you - academic programs constitute a core mission of any such institution. </p>
<p>It’s amazing that the issue of temporarily curtailing football (just even a semester of no football) has so many people anguished, coming up all sorts of reasons why that should not be done - like innocent players etc. Well, shutting down academic programs will result in “innocent” faculty members losing jobs and “innocent” students who wanted to study the subject losing the opportunity. </p>
<p>It may be unfair to a few football players and local merchants who make a business out of catering to football related customers, but if it helps the MAJORITY of the students by facilitating a jump start on image rehabilitation, why is there such reluctance? (of course, if people believe curtailing football program will do NOTHING to rehabilitate the tarnished image, that’s a different story. I believe it will go a long way in sending a clear message to the world that PSU is rising above football.)</p>
<p>It just comes to show me how football craze completely warped the institutional priorities…</p>
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<p>Too bad. I’ve noticed that the schools with the best endowments don’t have athletic scholarships or are Division 3. I hope it serves as a catalyst to thoughtfully review the role athletics take in our colleges. I am a big supporter of college athletics but also not a supporter of the “minor league” system our big colleges have become.</p>