Penn State Sandusky scandal

Parent Cafe
5661

<p>I said, a few hundred pages back, that I suspected that after the report was issued and the facts came to light, that I would feel that Joe Paterno was a punk.</p>

<p>Joe Paterno was a punk. But apparently I am taking an unneccesarily narrow view.</p>

<p>I learned today, in the manner of most higher learning - watching Sportscenter, that there are two sides to the story. In light of the conclusions of the Freeh Report, we are too quick to fogert that Joe won over 400 games, that he transformed Penn State, that he was a positive influence on the lives of a great many of his players, and that he was generous in donating large sums to PSU.</p>

<p>Also I believe we should view Ted Bundy, a former Eagle Scout, in a more complete context. Sure he murdered 40 people, but many old ladies navigated safe street crossings thanks to Ted. History should remember that.</p>

<p>OJ was a great guy before he took to decapitating waiters. Heisman Trophy, 2000 yards (in a 14 game season!), not to mention Naked Gun. Sure he had a bit of a temper, but all in all, a good, but imperfect, guy.</p>

<p>Not to mention, Sandusky himself could coach up that defense. Linebacker U, and all.</p>

5662

<p>Coreur, I am no fan of football, particularly on the college level, and have no interest in Joe Paterno at all. But even in my world, I know who Joe Paterno is, before all of this, and that he was considered one of the greatest football college football coaches. That still stand, but what goes along along with it is that his program was so important to him that he was willing to let children get abused and molested. That part needs to be given the same weight and be interwoven in his accomplishments. It’ll take time to do this, as it will take time for many people to get in incorporated in their minds.’</p>

<p>Sadly, there are most likely people out there who don’t care, still. What’s important to remember is that these people involved in this may be more typical than one thinks. The involvement runs the gambit from the janitors at the athletic center who very well knew what was happening to the president of the university who did not even say, “what about the boy” when he heard the story. Not a thing about those boys, which is what makes me hurt in the chest even as I write this. Not, “who are these boys”, “is that child all rightL, “what happened to the kid”, “find out who the child was”, call someone trained in these things to talk to the children that Sandusky is around”. Not a thing about them. </p>

<p>When I first read about the situation, what struck me was how McQ, the young man who actually witnessed Sandusky molesting or more, a child, LEFT THAT CHILD with the perpatrator and did not call campus police, or anyone to make sure the kid was all right. For all McQ knew, that child could have been raped minutes after he left. And he told his father and a doctor, a MD (and was his father also a doctor?) w
That is downright frightening. I don’t know what I would have done if I got rumors that someone looked like he was crossing boundary lines. A =ho are under law required to report any signs of child abuse. If nothing else, the police should have been called at that moment to go make sure the child was ok. Even an anonymous call would have sent someone out to check up on the child.</p>

5663

<p>Well said, Stats21.</p>

5664

<p>Stats21, you said it all. Who said that sports reporting isn’t really journalism? Wait…I said it.</p>

<p>That being said, I don’t know if sports radio WFAN New York (Boomer & Carson, Mike Francessa, etc.) is broadcast elsewhere in the nation, but if you heard them last night and this morning they have been quite sober, factual and fair with their commentary on this sordid business. Indeed, they repeated what we all know now; Joe Paterno LIED, LIED, LIED.</p>

5665

<p>

</p>

<p>Football, no…academically, better than ever. (I heard that the average ACT score of late is 29 - far cry for when it used to be the “13th grade” for rich kids.)</p>

<p>I still don’t get how anyone can observe a child being sexually assaulted under any circumstances and not call the cops.</p>

5666

<p>Just read Hayden’s point in post no. 5649. Bingo! While this matter might not expressly fall under the NCAA Death Penalty standard that requires a repeat offense, the Sandusky matter is not the first time that Paterno has ignored (or worse) justice and set himself up as the only judge whom matters at Pennsylvania State University. I remind you all of the football player riot at a private residence a few years back, wherein Coach Paterno’s punishment for players who assaulted and severely injured an innocent person was to make the players push around brooms to sweep-up the stadium.</p>

5667

<p>"Some students are inspired by academics, social/political consciousness, the arts and friendships. Not attacking athletics, just saying there are other things that make a college experience special and inspire school spirit. "</p>

<p>And there are other sports besides football! You don’t need to start rallying to the symphony orchestra, just find another sport. No one has suggested retiring basketball, soccer, gymnastics, etc. at Penn State. If students/alumni really care that much about school spirit, bleeding blue, etc., they should be able to hold soccer games in the football stadium and attract the same crowd. (Of course, we know that won’t happen, but if the boosters were right, it would.)</p>

5668

<p>Missypie, I am with you. How could you observe it and not stop it?. My former football player husband said he would have stopped it right then. It is hard for me to imagine, but perhaps it really does show the power of the program.</p>

5669

<p>

Really, FlyMeToTheMoon? Do you really think the outrage expressed here has anything whatsoever to do with being a jealous football fan? I don’t follow college football and I barely knew Penn State existed before this story broke, and I think the suspension of the football program is the only way to send the message that colleges can’t put sports above ethics, no matter how much alumni money they bring in. It’s highly unlikely PSU is the only school that has cut corners, protected criminals, paid people off and done whatever other unethical conduct was considered necessary to protect a vaunted team. The message has to be sent to every school, loud and clear.</p>

5670

<p>The best comment I’ve heard was a text message read on sports radio in Boston yesterday. Guy said, “If my brother killed a man, I’d help him out. If he raped a kid, I’d turn him in.” </p>

<p>That’s the line we’re talking about here. Like many people, I see this kind of moral abdication as the worst thing imaginable. But - and this is a big one - there is a model for how big institutions handle this kind of thing: the very church that Paterno and Sandusky and probably Curley - don’t know about Spannier - belonged to hid child abuse and child rape for decades.</p>

5671

<p>Well, you can count me among those who thought that the facts should be in before the hanging, but it seems that the Freeh report pretty much settles matters. It has been obvious for quite a while that the administrators were guilty, but the full extent of Paterno’s involvement was not as clear. Actually, it seems that it STILL isn’t fully clear, but it is clear enough. What I’m saying is that his culpability may in reality be even worse than they can prove, but he is culpable enough. What a shame, to find that the legend was to such a degree a sham. This goes, as Stats points out, far beyond feet of clay.</p>

5672

<br>

<br>

<p>Not me. I didn’t hate Penn State before or now. I think it has many things to recommend it, including fine academics. But I did view with suspicion the school’s over-the-top devotion to football. It suggested, and still suggests, warped cultural and institutional priorities. As one of the janitors who feared for his job if reported Sandusky was quoted as saying in the Freeh report: “Football runs this school.”</p>

<p>Unfortunately, my concerns about this tail-wagging-the-dog situation were justified. Horribly so. And I do not think this situation is confined to Penn State. I think the same risk of putting the sports program above the plight of innocent people exists at pretty much every sports-mad school, especially the big money football and basketball factories. Penn State just had the bad luck of having a monster turn up in its midst. And the Football Uber Alles mentality protected and enabled him - for more than a decade. But the same or worse could happen elsewhere.</p>

5673

<p>Stats21~love your post. I found PSU’s announcement yesterday also doing the Paterno wasn’t all bad dance, and thought it was a PR nightmare. Did others catch one of the trustees angrily addressing a journalist for asking what the trustees could have done differently. I found it evidence of the PSU arrogance leaking out…kind of “don’t question us, we did the best we could” but of course they too failed. </p>

<p>I agree Missypie, how could anyone leave a child, I have said it before, the fact that McQueary observed the assault, that victim became extremely vulnerable as he might have been emboldened to report what happened knowing there was a witness. I would not put it past Sandusky to have done something to get rid of the boy. </p>

<p>The report details how the janitors "couldn’t report Sandusky for fear of being fired, and blames the culture, it has also been stated that this is why McQueary didn’t immediately report the assault, for fear of retribution. Have we sunk so low as a culture that we accept that as an individual we choose a job over ignoring a child sexual assault. I understand the machine of PSU football, but how can one want to work in an organization that would enable this. I feel for that janitor, but still hold him too responsible for his own poor choice to not report. and McQueary seems to have signed a deal with the devil for his position.</p>

5674

<p>Missypie, that hit me too, when I first read about this horror. I’m no linebacker, and have little physical strength. But I would have called the police, immediately and have intervened not with physical force, but told the kid to get dressed and out of there, not just slammed a door to interrupt what was happening and then walk out. Couldn’t have done that, just couldn’t.</p>

<p>Sadly, I could see myself in the administrative quagmire and weakness that occurred, though I pray and hope that I would have asked, “What about that child? Someone has to talk to those children.” That, to me, was the most striking part of this abomination. No one cared about the chlildren, real live little boys there. </p>

<p>Stats, I don’t agree. Bundy was a convicted mass murdere. OJ was acquitted. Paterno has not and will not be legally charged. Very different cases, and if our legal system is to matter a bit, there needs to be discernment. </p>

<p>There is no need to wipe the slate of Paterno’s accomplishments,they are there and part of history. But they should be viewed in the light of what he ignored since it was so all fired important to him that nothing get in the way of the football program. There is a lesson to be learned there and the accomplishments are important in this picture, as what one lets happen when a personal mission becomes too important…</p>

<p>People are screaming about Paterno and wanting his head. What about Spanier? Shouldn’t he be charged along with a number of others who clearly violated child endangerment laws? n</p>

5675

<p>

</p>

<p>Thank you, MommaJ. That is a great post. I particularly agree that the message must be heard by every school. This is not just a matter of a few administrators at Penn State. As the Freeh Report noted, it also speaks to the culture of big-time athletics. Every school should be on notice.</p>

5676

<p>Let’s be clear: this wasn’t about JoePa “lkeeping silent” or “not doing enough”. That might be the case if he had a nextdoor neighbor whom he suspected, and didn’t call the police. No - this was criminal facilitation.</p>

<p>“Mini, perhaps send me a PM–you keep saying “follow the money” here and I truly am at loss as to how this was flowing right TO Sandusky and his causes.”</p>

<p>So, here’s what we know. When Sandusky “retired”, he received an extra supernummery payment of $168,000 (likely recommended by JoePa.) In addition, he received a very handsome pension and the title of Professor Emeritus - highly, highly unusual for an assistant football coach, which allowed him continued use of the facilities, and the capacity to represent the university, and often to be reimbursed for expenses. Since we know that he continued to be involved in recruiting efforts, and took his boys on trips to away games, did the University (or the football program) pay for his expenses?</p>

<p>We know that part of the agreement was that JoePa would continue to provide support and reputation for the Second Mile program, helping them to raise funds. These funds would, in turn, go to pay Sandusky’s salary, and his “expenses” - likely the use of his car to ferry the young boys, and his own “recruiting” expenses. The university’s ties to Second Mile would be strengthened, and JoePa would recruit former Penn State stars to raise funds and represent Second Mile for Sandusky.</p>

<p>JoePa entered into business dealings with Sandusky’s associates at Second Mile. Were any of these business dealings used to funnel funds from Paterno to Sandusky through Second Mile? What did JoePa tell his new business associates about Sandusky? How much did the associates contribute to Second Mile after the 2001 event?</p>

<p>JoePa was a major financial backer of the now-Governor, former Attorney General. Did this support play a role in slowing the investigation?</p>

<p>Finally, were there any direct payments from Paterno to Sandusky, or payments funneled through other channels?</p>

<p>Follow the money.</p>

<p>“There is no need to wipe the slate of Paterno’s accomplishments,they are there and part of history.”</p>

<p>What WERE his accomplishments? Criminal facilitation? For how long? The players would likely have been good players wherever they went. Did Sandusky recruit any of those players? Did Sandusky recruit any of those players while “Professor Emeritus”? I mean isn’t this the ol’ Mussolini made the trains run on time?</p>

5677

<p>This was the best quote on what should be the bottom line for this situation</p>

<p>“Shuttering Beaver Stadium for two years would take Penn State football down a peg. It would also punish loads of hard-working athletes who have done nothing wrong, as well as all the fans who live and die with the Nittany Lions. But that will be a far better result than the alternative—allowing a pedophile-sheltering athletic department that was bent on self-preservation to succeed in having itself preserved. If Penn State football carries on this fall with a new coach and those old white-and-blue uniforms, then the worldviews of Curley and Schultz and Spanier and Paterno will prevail. Though all four men lost their jobs, their mission to protect Penn State football at all costs will win out in the end.”</p>

<p>THIS is why the football program should be shut down. Period.</p>

5678

<p>Jay Paterno Addresses Report (14 mins clip)</p>

<p>Jay Paterno speaks to Tom Rinaldi about the findings in the Freeh report and the impact on his father’s legacy.</p>

<p>[Jay</a> Paterno Addresses Report - YouTube](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>

5679

<p>There is a lot I don’t understand: who leaves a CHILD in those circumstances? how does a football program become so important that the CHILDREN don’t matter? why on earth did the investigation take so long, which allowed additional children to be abused?</p>

<p>Really, there are answers to most of these questions, I may not like or understand the answers, but they exist. But given that the Univ President has a background in family counseling, that everyone seemed to know about the 1998 incidents, Sandusky was never going to be coach and retired…why did they give him keys to the building? Why didn’t they at least change the locks in 2001? If you felt like he had to have an office–move it out of the locker room/sports facility. No more travel with team. If you feel the authorities are going to investigate and you have to wait for the results of the investigation, why allow the guy in your facility? He’s not a coach. He’s not an employee. He doesn’t need to be there…and without that access he will have a harder time attracting victims.</p>

<p>I am not saying these actions would have been enough, but they would have been better than nothing…and certainly better than giving him access.</p>

<p>The only answer is crazy to me. Football, and the Penn State “legacy” were more important than the children.</p>

5680

<p>I do think that some people need time to fully accept the severity of the betrayal. Paterno’s “hero” status is what fueled his own arrogance and others’ trust in him.</p>

<p>I went through something like this with my former husband. He was involved in something that involved legal charges, loss of a license. Honestly, the moment he told me it felt like a sucker punch, bc I truly had no idea… I told him he couldn’t come home, and I walked away from him and sought support with friends. I told them the story, the truth, and began to put one foot in front of another to start a new life. People called me strong, brave, etc. I accepted reality, the truth, which was painful, but necessary. And I forced my h to do the right thing, all around. Admit his wrongs, and seek care, etc. I was unable to respect or trust him and divorced him. I have a hard time when people stand by others or enable them. </p>

<p>Everything points to Paterno, et al lying, enabling but Jay Paterno continues to claim “the truth will come out”. While I understand they are in denial, they also don’t want to let go of all that they potentially will lose. I lost a lot making my decision, but I can’t imagine doing anything else.</p>