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<p>And yet it wasn’t “any department.” It was football. Are you really saying that you believe that if an assistant badminton coach had been discovered raping children, the university would have gone to such extraordinary lengths to protect him, at such considerable risk to themselves and the school?</p>
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<p>no offense, but you still don’t get it.</p>
<p>Everyone with power at Penn State actively chose to let young children to continue to be raped in order to protect the football team. The entire football program needs to be shut down because THAT IS THE REASON THE REPEATED CHILD RAPE WAS ALLOWED.</p>
<p>They valued the football team more than the lives of innocent children! People keep saying this and you keep saying “I’m not sure how it is related to football.”</p>
<p>You think a football program that pays a student is worse than a football program that RAPES CHILDREN??? That is the argument you are making. I honestly am dumbfounded with what you have posted in this thread.</p>
<p>If that is the culture that PSU wants to claim, then they do indeed, belong in the State Pen.</p>
<p>I watched a 2 hour new exclusive on this story and still remember that through all the evidence they found and examined there is not a SINGLE TIME any PSU administrator show any regard for the well being of the victims. This is one grotesque and disgusting scandal.</p>
<p>"the only fact is that administration knew about it and did nothing…:</p>
<p>Can we PLEASE stop saying this - it is absolutely not true. They did PLENTY. They made him Professor Emeritus, and gave him an extra free gift of $160k. They continued to allow him to recruit for the university, and allowed him to bring his young charges with him to far-off locations to do the recruiting. They may even have paid for the hotel rooms where he raped children, and for his travel expenses. They provided him with an office, and keys to the locker room. They provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to his charity - as well as their reputations, and the reputation of the entire university - putting him in position to rape children with impunity. And when he was caught - twice - each time they provided cover for him.</p>
<p>So enough of this “they did nothing”. It wasn’t like someone who lives next to door to a suspected child rapist and doesn’t call the police. It was facilitating a child rapist, providing him opportunity to do it, and paying him while he did so.</p>
<p>As far as I know, Sandusky is still an honored Professor Emeritus of Penn State University. Has any member of the Board of Trustees, any administrator, any faculty member of the faculty senate, any other athletic coach even suggested this is not such a good idea?</p>
<p>(Now, to be fair, there apparently WERE some who did nothing. Apparently (according to Freeh) there were other football coaches, and football players, who saw Sandusky in the shower with children on multiple occasions between 1994 and 1997 and did nothing.)</p>
<p>for those who needed evidence of what Paterno knew and did, it surely arrived when the email leaks occurred and CNN posted them…everyone recognized what it meant about Paterno. Another reason why I don’t understand how the BOT needs more time…They should have had a plan B, if the Freeh report revealed what they were scared it would. </p>
<p>Sax, you yourself recognized Paterno’s role, upon reading the emails. I respected you for acknowledging it at that point. And Greenbutton, you shared knowledge that the report was going to be very bad, especially about Paterno. If you knew this, then let’s be honest, so did they! So why would the BOT be so clueless at this point? </p>
<p>And what happened to PSU’s offer, the day of Sandusky’s conviction, to meet with the victims and begin to address their needs? One of the victim’s attorney indicated nothing has happened yet. Right, they need more time. I participate in a crisis management team at a large organization, and it is SOP to have a communication at the ready with a difficult situation, so if this is the best they came up with they are not interested in healing, but sealing over.</p>
<p>^^^^
And this is why the continued defensiveness and ambivalence on the part of the PSU Bot is so infuriating. It is no longer debatable that the administration not only knew but enabled a child rapist. The waffling on what action to take implies to the public that the character of the players is still a matter of opinion.</p>
<p>No. We have the facts. The statue needs to go, the football program needs to have action taken that decisively communicates the severity of the situation and Spanier needs to be indicted.</p>
<p>Somebody…anybody…in a position of authority at PSU needs to slam their fist on the board room table and say “Enough!” Somebody needs to set the tone for those that are inclined to try to maintain the status quo. The place needs a leader who is willing to take a stand and set a new direction by acknowledging what has happened and taking action that shows contrition.</p>
<p>momofthreeboys, because you asked, I’m going to try to explain why I think the football program should be suspended for a time.</p>
<p>Yes, it is true that shutting down or suspending the program would hurt the current players, coaches, band members, cheerleaders, students, and alums. And yes, it is also true that these people did not perform the actions which led to the rape of multiple children. </p>
<p>BUT these are the people who created the culture of football at Penn State. One hundred thousand screaming fans filled a stadium every Saturday. They worshipped and adored their team and their coach. It was a community drenched in football glory. Football put Penn State on the map. It brought in huge amounts of money. The cheer “We are Penn State” is a football cheer. Its use has spread to other aspects of university life, but at its beginning and at its core, it is a statement of what Penn Staters value most: glory on the football field.</p>
<p>Paterno, Spanier, and the Board did not do their despicable acts in a vacuum. They understood very well what football meant to their students and alums. They knew that football WAS Penn State to many, many people. Nurturing and protecting the program became vitally important – precisely because it was so very important to the entire Penn State community. Their actions regarding Sandusky, from 1998 right up to this weekend, are consistent with only one thing: As the janitor put it, “Football runs this university.”</p>
<p>So I believe that the actions of the men at the top were merely a reflection of the attitudes of the Penn State community. The players, fans, alum were thrilled to have such a successful program, and provided the energy which kept it successful (can you imagine that Sandusky would have been protected if the Lions were consistent losers?). AND the top officials were thrilled to have such a successful program, and provided the support which kept it successful. Everyone in the community wanted to keep a good thing going. It was a symbiotic relationship; everyone benefited. </p>
<p>The top adminstration has been replaced, although even Spanier’s replacement had a small part to play in Sandusky’s sweet arrangement. The Board has not been replaced, and a faction of it is opposed even to the small symbolic gesture of removing the statue. Nothing much has changed at the top. </p>
<p>Far more important, nothing has changed anywhere else in Penn State Land. The screaming fans are still there. Hungering for a winning team. Worshipping a man who aided and abetted a child molester. Clearly, the culture – which led the men at the top to believe that their actions were acceptable – is still drenched in football. </p>
<p>Football was too important; that’s how this whole debacle happened. And the vehement reactions to the suggestion of removing the statue, let alone shutting down the program, demonstrate one thing:</p>
<p>Football is still too important.</p>
<p>Paterno’s resignation was necessary but I don’t think the statue needs to go. That would be like demolishing the Jefferson memorial because Jefferson owned slaves.</p>
<p>.lets see a history prof rapes little boys and the president of says yup lets facilitate his actions? To think if this had been any other department besides football and itmwould have been handled the dpsame way is laughable…</p>
<p>evita–seriously? first, he didn’t resign, he was fired. and he was a football coach for God’s sake…the statue recognizes him as a humanitarian.</p>
<p>and the bronze quote behind him says,
“they asked me what I’d like written about me when I’m gone. I hope they write I made Penn State a better place, not just that I was a good football coach”</p>
<p>what do you think? did he succeed making Penn State a better place?</p>
<p>You’re comparing Joe Paterno to Thomas Jefferson?</p>
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<p>How ironic!</p>
<p>This is a fascinating article about someone who didn’t do things Paterno’s way and paid for it</p>
<p>[The</a> woman who stood up to Joe Paterno - CNN.com](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/15/us/triponey-paterno-penn-state/index.html?hpt=hp_c2]The”>http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/15/us/triponey-paterno-penn-state/index.html?hpt=hp_c2)</p>
<p>The whole article is worth a read to see the other side of the wonderful Paterno when someone didn’t do things his way. One particular part stands out to me, especially the bolded parts</p>
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<p>He sounds like a real charmer</p>
<p>Oh and this, after she tried to discipline some football players (part of her job)</p>
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<p>Wow. Just wow.</p>
<p>LasMa, very well said.</p>
<p>That is the whole point – football is still too important. It needs to be put in its place. How does that get done?</p>
<p>PSU Alumni and Student for Child Rights wrote:</p>
<p>PSU alumni and students - we need a voice of COMPASSION - of mercy, of sympathy, of humanity for the CHILD VICTIMS, who the leaders of Penn State allowed to be abused in the name of self-interest, public relations, and the football program.</p>
<p>We need a voice of concern and a voice of responsibility. We need a voice of responsibility that is not focused on denial, defense, or misdirection, but that accepts that there was wrong-doing and calls for accountability, responsibility, and change at PSU to reject the environment that allowed these actions over a decade.</p>
<p>I urge you to become part of that voice of responsibility, and visit our web page and petition for PSU Alumni and Students for Children’s Rights and Dignity at</p>
<p>[PSU</a> Alumni and Students for Children’s Rights and Dignity](<a href=“http://www.PSUChildRights.com%5DPSU”>http://www.PSUChildRights.com)</p>
<p>[PSU</a> Alumni and Students for Children’s Rights and Dignity](<a href=“http://■■■■■■/PSUChildRights]PSU”>http://■■■■■■/PSUChildRights)</p>
<p>A legacy of responsibility, accountability, and unwavering commitment to children’s human rights - should be the only legacy we are concerned about at Penn State.</p>
<p>Please sign our petition at:</p>
<p>[Petition:</a> Pennsylvania State University: Ensure focus on education and prioritize children’s rights and safety | Change.org](<a href=“Petition · Ensure focus on education and prioritize children's rights and safety · Change.org”>Petition · Ensure focus on education and prioritize children's rights and safety · Change.org)</p>
<p>[Petition:</a> Pennsylvania State University: Ensure focus on education and prioritize children’s rights and safety | Change.org](<a href=“http://■■■■■■/PSUPetition]Petition:”>Petition · Ensure focus on education and prioritize children's rights and safety · Change.org)</p>
<p>PSU Alumni and Students for Children’s Rights and Dignity</p>
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<p>If you want more wows, check out this article in the Delaware County Times, especially the comments. Many people in PA simply do not put much stock in the Freeh report. [Spencer:</a> Freeh Report is full of assumptions - delcotimes.com](<a href=“http://delcotimes.com/articles/2012/07/15/opinion/doc50022e6ab0246499824761.txt]Spencer:”>http://delcotimes.com/articles/2012/07/15/opinion/doc50022e6ab0246499824761.txt)</p>
<p>I gotta say, that the BOT is largely populated by people completely unprepared to deal with a crisis (although you’d think a class of 5th grade boys could do better). I don’t think their responses reflect any nefarious plan, I think they reflect total incompetence. </p>
<p>Pres Ericson allowed Sandusky’s emeritus status at Spanier’s demand. We’ve all been asked to bend rules by those on a higher pay grade. I don’t blame him; he could have walked away from this mess and Steve Garban (BOT) would be the interim pres. Vicky Triponey, btw, is someone you should all take with many grains of salt. If she were at your students’ school, you would be cheering when she left, too. (Which is not to say she’s lying. Just that her hands are not as clean as reported)</p>
<p>I knew the Freeh report was going to be bad, because I know reporters, who were sitting on leaks. That being said, nobody with half a brain was surprised by the contents. I am very discouraged by the new spin that the Freeh report is just an opinion, not a legal document. Seems like willful ignorance to continue that way.</p>
<p>We have about a month to get to where LasMa already is: the inappropriate level of investment in the football program by admins and alums helped this happen, and in order to turn over a new leaf, it will have to change. Is that fair? Maybe not. But nothing about this debacle has been fair, and I’m not interested in fair. I’m interested in just.</p>
<p>[matt</a> murschel college insider: Matt Murschel: Penn State, not NCAA, should suspend football program - Orlando Sentinel](<a href=“http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-07-15/sports/os-matt-murschel-college-insider-0716-20120715_1_freeh-report-tim-curley-graham-spanier]matt”>http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-07-15/sports/os-matt-murschel-college-insider-0716-20120715_1_freeh-report-tim-curley-graham-spanier)</p>
<p>Amen to this!! As a die-hard college football fan, if it were my Alma Mater - Ohio State involved in this heinous crime and cover-up, I would be the 1st to suggest death penalty of “14-years” for my school’s football program, and an immediate tearing down of the statue - be it Woody Hayes or Jim Tressel for all I care (although we have none on campus), as a strong statement sent to all that this institution cares, and is extremely sadden and remorseful to have caused all the pain and suffering to these young victims, period.</p>
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<p>Also consider the possibility that what we are seeing IS the plan: lay low and it will all blow over and we will get to keep our football program. After a suitable period of resistance, they can get rid of the statue and make that seem like the big sacrifice that makes amends for everything. But keep the football program. That is the primary goal.</p>
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<p>Discouraging, but hardly surprising. In the last decade or so, it has become the norm in the realm of what one might loosely call the realm of American public discourse to willfully discount factual information and serious science as mere “opinion” if it doesn’t square with one’s religious or political views. We’ve seen the triumph of willful ignorance from the White House on down.</p>
<p>BTW, greenbutton, I don’t think that you should smear Triponey’s reputation without offering some specifics. If you have facts, present them. Innuendo doesn’t cut it for me.</p>
<p>Fair enough----someplace in all these comments I posted a piece on Ms Triponey herself done several years ago by Onward State; it’s called the Timeline of Terror. Again, I am not calling her a liar. I am saying that the representation of her as this helpless crusader for purity in justice on campus is inaccurate to say the least. In a nutshell, she spent a great deal of time and energy closing down student groups, organizations, and demanding control (financial and editorial) of media and interest groups that was well outside the scope of her actual responsibilities. Student groups that attempted to resist were eviscerated. Again, that’s not pertinent to her accusations about the admins, but you asked.</p>