<p>I don’t think the football program should be shut down, as long as every single person complicit in the abuse of those kids is removed and punished. Same with the Catholic church. The culture of looking the other way and/or idolizing those in high positions has to change.</p>
<p>The problem with that, Sally, is that even after you remove the miscreants, the culture remains. I am aware that there is zero chance the football program and its sick culture will be terminated. So for many people, for a very long time, “We are Penn State!” will bring to mind the rejoinder, “where child rape is condoned.”</p>
<p>“they should shut the place down and fumigate it. Starting with removing every reference to Chief Enabler Paterno.”</p>
<p>…and so this would accomplish what? Students would be displaced, scientific research would stop…the law school, the medical school all shut down. Thousands of jobs for hard working middle class people would end…and the pedophiles would STILL be there. They will always be out there… and, in my opinion, they are everywhere. They’re not all associated with large churches or large schools or sports programs. The fumigator spray would need to cover many more places than Penn State.</p>
<p>Yes I am an alumni, parent of an recent graduate, daughter of a deceased Penn State professor, sibling of alumni, friends of alumni, etc., etc., etc… lots of fond memories, never attended the football games but am definitely a part of the …“We are” group of people who are proud of our university. It’s tough to read all of the venom out there. I think much of it is misdirected. As for the Penn Staters I know we are a great group of people who don’t spend our days drinking the Penn State Kool-Aid but rather are good people working hard, raising our children and trying to make a positive difference in this world.</p>
<p>We’ve got to do a better job at educating and protecting our children. The adults involved failed miserably with their “it’s not my responsibility” attitude. This has to change by changes in law and attitude everywhere. Never again should we hear an excuse that I didn’t alert authorities because I didn’t think it was my responsibility. Now we know…it’s our responsibility. Just as with many adult victims of rape, and date rape many victims have their reasons for not coming forward…their lives are changed forever…and the verdict possibly will give them new strength to embrace the potential and possibility of a happier future.</p>
<p>We’ve got to stop the monsters as they are everywhere…they are from every religion and probably at just about every school. The convicted sex-offenders are listed on a website…but the majority, in my opinion just go about their perverted business of molesting children without ever getting caught. They have been doing this since the beginning of time. They will never voluntarily stop…we need to report and protect and keep these monsters away from our children.</p>
<p>They are everywhere and my guess is that they’re not all Catholic priests or involve with Penn State athletics.
Just check out your local zip code on:
[Megan’s</a> Law Public](<a href=“http://www.pameganslaw.state.pa.us/SearchResults.aspx]Megan’s”>http://www.pameganslaw.state.pa.us/SearchResults.aspx)</p>
<p>annasdad - i’m a conservative through and through - however, I will say I too feel like prison sentences many times to me seem way too long, way too harsh especially for all the things you mentioned. For instance - the Blago sentenced seemed way overboard. A lot of times I really feel badly for the person going away for so long and what it does to their family, etc. </p>
<p>This time, too little too late. I don’t think pedophiles can be rehabilitated in most cases. The best thing to do for society is to lock them away. </p>
<p>I don’t think anyone in today’s society thinks it’s okay to molest children. Except maybe Jerry Sandusky and his ilk. And there is so much in todays culture supporting the victims to speak up - and I’m comparing it say to 50 years ago. There is still a ways to go. I think where everyone gets stymied is how to handle accusations with no “proof” and how to overcome the fear of coming forward if you suspect an adult is abusing a child and you don’t know what to do. </p>
<p>How many times have you met someone in passing who just gave you that “ick” vibe. All you can really do is steer clear. And isn’t it always after the fact when you hear something awful that you think - I always thought that person was a little off.</p>
<p>What I see is that the people in power are, and have been, in “damage control” mode, doing whatever it takes at a given instant to make the least amount of waves at that time. This is what Paterno seems to have done with Sandusky, and his bosses too, when they found out about him - the reason he was fired was that at that time was that it the least unpleasant option at that time. </p>
<p>The best thing they can do is to charter some external group without constraints to look at everyone involved in this sordid affair and take whatever action is needed. Criminal charges are the domain of law enforcement, but just because someone didn’t violate the law doesn’t mean they should get off. The decision on Paterno’s legacy in Penn State should have a very different criterion from whether he was guilty in criminal or civil court. And if there elements in the alumni who feel his contributions in the areas that were dear to them are more important than the harm he caused, hopefully the administration will take the high road. </p>
<p>Every institution has its Sanduskies and we should all be educated that that in itself isn’t the institution’s fault; what those with the power should be held responsible for is not that fact that they employed the Sanduskies, but what they did the minute they found out about it. </p>
<p>In the case of child molestation, a suitable bar setting for those in charge would be how they would have reacted if they had heard the same things about Sandusky, but the victims had been their own children. How would they have balanced the negative publicity of exposing him with stronger action, versus how they felt about what was done to their own children - if this is dramatically different from how they actually behaved, then it’s time to question their leadership, and whether they should be employed or have statues, or buildings named after them.</p>
<p>Dad<em>of</em>3, you are spot on. Had one of the powers that be kids been a victim, the whole story would have played out differently. And that is part of the bigger problem: these creeps don’t usually pick on the children of powerful people because powerful people would bring them down and bring them down fast.</p>
<p>^agree</p>
<p>it appears that these boys were seen as collateral damage. they were clearly selected so that they could then be disbelieved because they were after all “troubled.” I am surprised there haven’t been any football players who experienced some element of sexual misconduct by Sandusky over the years.</p>
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<p>Couple incidents that come to mind. Duke lacrosse anyone? Also, when this whole Sandusky case came to limelight, SO MANY people came forward claiming to be victims. Syracuse was at the same time (and it much quieter). Also, I saw there was a lady who claimed she was abused by one of her high school coaches. The problem was she went straight onto primetime national TV to say it; not to the police. The coach was from St. Louis and got fired on the spot. Never heard another word about it…</p>
<p>Unfortunately, there are people out there who are good at playing “victim.”</p>
<p>Now that Sandusky has been found guilty, punish him. He has been found guilty in the court of law so at this point I think you have to say he committed the crime and now he deserves whatever punishment the law allows.</p>
<p>Again, football players are big, healthy, macho guys who might have knocked him on his fanny had he touched them. My guess is that football players were not his type, so to speak.</p>
<p>@eyemamom Your post brings to mind a training session I once had through the Boy Scouts. The training video stated you cannot tell an abuser by the way he/she looks, dresses, etc. But to watch for actions. They go where children are accessible, may have jobs where they will have close proximity, spend lots of time with children, may touch children too much, etc. After the video the presenter asked if anyone else thought one of the panel members on the video, who simply sat in a chair and spoke occasionally, looked “weird” and speculated he could be an abuser. Many in the audience agreed. It wasn’t a test. He really thought that even after watching a training video stating you cannnot tell by the way a person looks, and he was teaching the session. (Not talking about a feeling, simply appearance.)</p>
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<p>I think it would be hard for them to necessarily define “sexual misconduct” and where it crosses a line. I know when I was in high school, there were things done in the locker room that made me uncomfortable, but was a line crossed? </p>
<p>A high school locker room and a college locker room have similarities but they also have differences. Obviously anything that happens in a high school locker room between a coach and player that are even remotely questionable should be reported. In a college locker room?</p>
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<p>It would send a very loud, very clear message that supporting a culture where the most degenerate depradations are winked at to protect the brand is not acceptable.</p>
<p>You are right - it’s not just a Penn State problem. I have no doubt that a very similar scenario would have played out at any so-called “educational” institution that has allowed itself to be totally corrupted by our sick sports-and-consumption culture (e.g., Division I-A). Maybe the message “this is what happens when you get caught” would get some attention - nah, probably not.</p>
<p>eyemamom, I don’t necessarily have a problem with long sentences handed out to people who commit serious crimes. That doesn’t stop me from empathizing with the people who have to serve them. Even though they have screwed up and must pay the penalty, they are still human beings, and to be a follower of Jesus means (to me) that I must recognize and accept them as my brothers.</p>
<p>But not Sandusky. Lord, forgive me, but him I cannot feel anything for except repulsion.</p>
<p>“It would send a very loud, very clear message that supporting a culture where the most degenerate depradations are winked at to protect the brand is not acceptable.”</p>
<p>Yes, no doubt it would send a loud very clear message but I’m not sure how this message would prevent pedophiles. </p>
<p>“You are right - it’s not just a Penn State problem. I have no doubt that a very similar scenario would have played out at any so-called “educational” institution that has allowed itself to be totally corrupted by our sick sports-and-consumption culture (e.g., Division I-A). Maybe the message “this is what happens when you get caught” would get some attention - nah, probably not.”</p>
<p>I think that the pedophile plays his perverted game on every field, in every church, in every school, in every country and in every culture. I really think that most of them just don’t get caught.</p>
<p>I don’t think “Rot in hell” would be a message I would ever endorse. Learn something, maybe? But never be running free with vulnerable (are there any other kind?) kids.</p>
<p>I would hope to see Penn State move toward true transparency about what happened, who knew about Sandusky, etc. Based on some of the information that emerged at the time the story broke they were hardly being open, in fact were trying to keep information from coming out. Let’s see whether this changes going forward. If it does not, I hope there is approriate protest.</p>
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<p>This particular pedophile would have been stopped a decade earlier had the culture not been one of look-the-other-way.</p>
<p>“This particular pedophile would have been stopped a decade earlier had the culture not been one of look-the-other-way.”</p>
<p>Yes, I agree with you here. </p>
<p>I don’t think this can be accomplished, however, with your suggestion to fumigate Penn State, etc. I think there are better ways to accomplish a change in culture than what you suggest.</p>
<p>[Penn</a> St. signals it wants to settle Sandusky cases - msnbc.com](<a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47935946/#.T-c2jo607Jw]Penn”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47935946/#.T-c2jo607Jw)</p>
<p>From above article</p>
<p>“…Shortly after Sandusky, 68, was convicted late on Friday on 45 counts of sexual abuse, Pennsylvania State University invited victims to try to resolve claims against the school.
“The purpose of the program is simple - the university wants to provide a forum where the university can privately, expeditiously and fairly address the victims’ concerns and compensate them for claims relating to the university,” it said in a statement…”</p>
<p>Sadly this move by Penn State smacks of a lack of transparency. What are they thinking? This immediately makes me think they are trying to “make it go away as fast as possible” not for the victims but for the school. </p>
<p>This is not going to just go away. </p>
<p>I really would like to see what the investigators have uncovered (including the emails) on Penn States Administration. Just what did they know. Are we talking Governor Corbett here also?</p>
<p>We shall see.</p>
<p>Penn State is too big and political to become transparent. Would be like asking the WH to do same. There is no way to organize, manage, or policy-ficate this. The lone hope is that the “new day” on the Board will prevail for awhile. Had to laugh at Mimi Barash, former BoT chair pontificating about Penn State’s needs for coming clean and transparency. She’s a PSU lifer who’s made a fortune on the back of the Nittany Lion, and a classic insider who enabled this abuse by feeding the notion that the Board works for the U. The Board works for the public to set and monitor the course. They all thought they were working for Spanier, following his lead. Collectively they get “F.” Remember, trustees of any non-profit are there to guard the interests of the tax-paying public in exchange for the many benefits derived from the public trough.</p>
<p>It’s my turn to suggest there is lots of soap boxing, naivete, and ignorance among those who fail to recognize that when a monolith like PSU … and there are many more much worse … there is a steep cost. And we are collectively somehow stunned when the bill comes due.</p>
<p>btw, of course PSU wants to “counsel” and “settle.” Gonna be millons of $$$ fleeing Happy Valley. Make that millions more.</p>