<p>Perhaps they are counting on the insurance company paying the civil suits/settlements. Of course, the insurance company is desputing the liability. They say the Univ did not inform the insurance company of the allegations about Sandusky, and that the insurance policy does not cover abuse claims after a specific date (I don’t recall the date, but think it’s eary 1990’s).</p>
<p>If the insurance company wins that lawsuit, Penn State will have a bigger problem. You cannot promise everyone that the money will not come from their contributions (taxes, tuition, donations). The money has to come from somewhere…</p>
<p>I’m sure in the back of my mind I was thinking of more than the NCAA fine but doesn’t really matter – how all those costs are paid, I suspect, will be a big issue. At least the NCAA fines have the potential to wash out. </p>
<p>I suspect there will operational cuts…from as small of things as cutting back on snow removal, lawn care, housekeeping to a myriad of deferred maintenance, etc. I suspect there will be scrutiny into travel costs and general personnel expenses that can be stopped for awhile. They can cut back on student activity budgets and transportation for clubs. I suspect there will be scrutiny into individual budget vs. revenue streams to tighten those up. They will find it, but it isn’t a pretty picture, belt tightening never is.</p>
<p>“don’t think anyone was thinking about “downsizing” sports at Penn State including the NCAA. They were punishing the sports kids because of the sins of the administrators and athletic department. I see nothing wrong with cheering the team up.”</p>
<p>Everyone knows the current football players are innocent of wrongdoing and had no idea what was going on, and no one wishes those students ill in any way. Given that, why isn’t that enough? What, can’t they just go play the sport they enjoy - why do they need to be “supported” with rah rah treatment? That’s the whole cultural issue that led to trouble in the first place - the reliance of the program on mass adoration and applause, and the importance that PSU placed on having everyone care about football. Why can’t they just think of it like intramurals -I’ll go play, and that’s that? Why the insistence on the group grope?</p>
<p>The young men on the football team all had the option of jumping ship. Some have, many haven’t. To me, the ones who choose to stay with Penn State, especially with all the baggage, deserve a little rah-rah. I don’t see what the big deal is.</p>
<p>Money is fungible. If in the past, the Football Program generated funds (i.e., income over expenses) for the University and some or all of those funds will now go the NCAA penalty, then, in effect, the funds will come from the university.</p>
<p>Yes and no. If the money that is left over after football pays its expenses goes to the university, then sure the amount being paid to the university may decrease because expenses went up. That would be like any other expense that is added…</p>
<p>When a college depends so much on football, then everyone that benifitted will need to deal with the fallout. Students, faculty, staff, poor football players, they will still go to class. Maybe it will be a lesson to not allow football or any sport to be so important.</p>
<p>Do I feel sorry for penn state students. Nope.</p>
<p>why wouldn’t you have empathy for Penn State students? these are our friends and neighbor’s children? kids, innocent, young college students, hoping to get an education and enjoy their college years.</p>
<p>They can still get an education. They can still enjoy their college years. They are very very lucky young adults to be able to go to college. </p>
<p>Its like they are somehow suffering some real hardships. They wont be. Some may be inconvenienced. And if any lose financing, it’s because psu made their priority football and not education. </p>
<p>I’m not callous. With real suffering in this world, like child rape, having a few less shuttle buses is not such a big deal.</p>
<p>You act like every single student at Penn State knew what was going on. You are callous. Maybe you should have turned Sandusky in since it was apparently so obvious it was taking place…</p>
<p>It’s not as simple as that. Penn State is not as transparent with their finances as many public universities are, but from the limited data I’ve seen it looks like all the surplus from football stays in the athletic department and is used to fund other intercollegiate sports, plus the general overhead for the athletic department. That helps the university financially insofar as it means the central administration doesn’t need to commit other funds to support intercollegiate athletics, but it also makes the athletic department an autonomous empire, funded and fueled by football. And even that is not so unusual. What was unusual at Penn State was that Paterno was there so long and was so revered that he ran the athletic department; a succession of athletic directors worked for him, rather than vice versa, so there was no accountability.</p>
<p>But on finances: part of the NCAA penalty is that Penn State has to pay the $60 million fine without taking it out of the hide of other athletic programs. Well, the surplus generated by the football program is already committed to supporting those other programs. The university seems to be taking the position that the $60 million is the athletic department’s problem, and that makes some sense; the NCAA is penalizing athletic department infractions, nothing more. I think that one is resolvable financially, for reasons I’ve already stated: there are some cost savings from fewer football scholarships, insurance might pay for some of it (though it may take litigation to get there), the $60 mil is spread over 5 years, and over the longer term football generates enough revenue that the cost can be covered by some current diversions from the football revenue stream, assisted by a loan from the university to spread those payments over more years.</p>
<p>The rest of it is more complicated. If Penn State ends up with tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and/or court judgments, they can’t possibly expect football to pay for all of that. That’s got to come out of central university funds, and if their insurers won’t cover it, or cover only a portion of it, that means it’s ultimately coming from students, taxpayers, and/or charitable donors. It’s not as if they can say, “Well, we have all these tens of millions of dollars that we got from football in the past,” because those funds were already spent on other things, namely other athletic programs that Penn State built up and many public universities don’t have because the largesse of Penn State’s football program made them possible. They can’t double-count money that’s already been spent, nor can they pretend that current dollars coming from students, taxpayers, and charitable donors really represent money earned from football in the past. If they try, they’ll get crucified, and justifiably so…</p>
<p>I am not saying the students are at fault, but they benifitted from psu football.</p>
<p>And how exactlly are the students going to suffer? They can go to school. They can get a degree. Some of you act like the students will be in such anguish, and pain because their sacred school will have to make some choices re money. </p>
<p>Wow, how is that callous? That I don’t feel sorry that some college kids who may be inconvenienced? </p>
<p>After seeing what happened in Colorado, the fludes in India, young people who cnt even go to college because of many much worse reasons. The school didn’t close. It still there, just a bit tarnished.</p>
<p>Egad, again how re the majority of psu students suffering?</p>
<p>I am not a nasty person. Maybe I give the psu students more credit you do. I think they can handle it. If victims of Sandusky can come forward, and makesomething of their lives, i imagine the psu student can somehow manage.</p>
<p>I feel sorry and bad for people who have real problems, who have real hardships, who have few choices in life. To feel sorry for psu students who might have a less then perfect collee experience seems silly.</p>
<p>I just watched a program about people born with major disfigurements, watched the news about vets with missing limbs, heard the story about the parents of a little girl called megan, who inspired megans law, the kids blown up by mines, and many more people who really have some hard stories. Compare that to some very fortunate college kids who have food, shelter, clothes, medical care, families…</p>
<p>And to feel sorry for them because life is not ideal? Really? To that I say I am not the nasty one.</p>
<p>Hey, stop ganging on Seahorserock just because he or she has a different opinion than you. </p>
<p>I agree with Seahorse totally. I doubt that the students at PSU are as pansy-assed as you’re making them out to be. Sandusky was a despicble criminal. Top admins at PSU willingly and with full awareness covered it up. THEY are at fault for the ripple effect here that is extending to the innocent. It’s called life. No one gets a guarantee that it will always be fair. </p>
<p>The Freeh report, which PSU itself commissioned and agreed to abide by the findings, said the football culture at PSU was unhealthy and partly to blame. THAT is why this rah rah, so soon, seems out of place. It does nothing to help the pro-football case. It helps the case of those who think all Penn State ever cared about was ‘football must go on.’. We’ll pay millions, we’ll start child abuse programs, but don’t take away our football.</p>
<p>"“don’t think anyone was thinking about “downsizing” sports at Penn State including the NCAA. They were punishing the sports kids because of the sins of the administrators and athletic department. I see nothing wrong with cheering the team up.”</p>
<p>Here’s a concept. The current football players could actually be treated as no more or less important than any randomly selected PSU student. Maybe football could be deemphasized to the point that it’s not anyone’s mission to “cheer them up” any more that it’s anyone’s mission to cheer up the debate team if they lose a match.</p>
<p>" not callous. With real suffering in this world, like child rape, having a few less shuttle buses is not such a big deal.
You act like every single student at Penn State knew what was going on. You are callous. "</p>
<p>Hops scout, your rejoinder makes no sense. Believing that PSU students aren’t suffering is not equivalent to accusing them of having known what was going on.</p>
<p>What’s so admirable about the football players choosing to remain at PSU? I see a football player choosing to stay or go as morally neutral - neither choice is morally superior to the other, and in the end they all weighed their options and decided what was best for them individually -just as they should.</p>