<p>Should any person or group of persons be punished, in any capacity for something he/she/they did not do? I believe that punishment would be wrongly applied. Should blame be placed at the feet of those not guilty of the crime? Blame even as small as pointing a finger and saying “you did that!”? While a sub-standard win-loss record is very small next to the heart-rending suffering of the rape victims, I do not believe it gives anyone license or the right to blame or punish the innocent. I too, do not have a dog in this fight, but am dismayed that so many want to see many innocents punished for the sins of the few. I am a new poster, and typically shy away from boards of this sort, understanding the frenzy that ensues when people are impassioned about their opinion. I pray for peace and resolution for the rape victims and their families. I feel for their loss. I do not believe blaming innocents is the right way to right a wrong. I will wait, with the rest of the world, for events to further unfold.</p>
<p>I don’t think that blame is necessary for consequences. The sanctions by the NCAA, any change in the public perception of PSU and any degradation of a PSU degree (which I truly don’t agree is likely) are consequences of the sequence if events that played out. They aren’t affecting the students because the students were to blame, any more than the victims of an earthquake are responsible for the shifting of the earths plates.</p>
<p>I spent the weekend in PA and was with my niece (Penn State '10). She is very disturbed about the whole situation, agrees that the football culture was completely out of hand and ran the university, but is frustrated that it is coloring the academic side, too.</p>
<p>She said she can’t go anywhere in Penn State gear without people saying things to her like “Happy Valley isn’t so happy anymore” or making slurs about the school. She said she feels badly for her wonderful professors who have accomplished so much and are now lumped in with Sandusky, Paterno etc.</p>
<p>^ that is sad, and unfair imho.</p>
<p>" I too, do not have a dog in this fight, but am dismayed that so many want to see many innocents punished for the sins of the few."</p>
<p>I think it is unfair to see innocents punished, though I would note that it is Penn State itself that has done most of the punishing. The NCAA is not responsible for the university’s lack of institutional control. The prosecutor isn’t responsible for the sins of the guilty. Public opinion isn’t responsible for the cowardice of the faculty. The media isn’t responsible for the idiocy of the Board of Trustees. Taxpayers aren’t responsible for academics being dependent upon the football culture.</p>
<p>I don’t think the sins of the guilty are even close to being enumerated, and there may be more than a few.</p>
<p>Did I miss something or did we know some of the trustees just filed an appeal with the NCAA and are prepared to file a federal suit? Lawyers are out of Boston.</p>
<p>Someone posted the story link yesterday. What I don’t get is really what will they gain from this? Honestly don’t think they have a case. </p>
<p>It just makes the BOT look idiotic, again begs the question what on earth are they trying to do to themselves? Infighting among the BOT, those on BOT “in the know”, (since it was quite swift),really want this to go away, move on, yet the few 2 or 3 BOT insist on grandstanding.What gives?</p>
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<p>Well there are still apparently many Penn State people who still willingly, in fact fervently, lump themselves with Paterno. As the evidence against him has come out they love him all the more fiercely.</p>
<p><<she said="" she="" can’t="" go="" anywhere="" in="" penn="" state="" gear="" without="" people="" saying="" things="" to="" her="" like="" “happy=”" valley="" isn’t="" so="" happy="" anymore"="" or="" making="" slurs="" about="" the="" school.="">></she></p>
<p>I am sorry your daughter is having that experience. My son’s experience is the complete opposite. He has traveled a good bit the past 9 months and has worn his Penn State gear (sweatshirts, t-shirts, caps) routinely. He has received no negative comments and - more commonly - the comments were very supportive.</p>
<p><<virtually all="" psu="" supporters="" have="" talked="" about="" how="" much="" the="" football="" team="" has="" contributed="" financially="" to="" academic="" life="" of="" university,…="">></virtually></p>
<p>Who has said this? I don’t recall anyone here on CC saying anything like that.</p>
<p>Go back 5,000 posts.</p>
<p>I would like to see posters like whoever wrote that quote actually post some hard facts rather than just throw those statements out enough with hopes that people start believing that is a fact.</p>
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<p>Yes, well, there is quite a bit of smack talk on this thread, which in my opinion just shows the complexity of the situation.</p>
<p>[State</a> College, PA - Penn State Brass Respond to Sports Illustrated Cover](<a href=“http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/penn-state-brass-respond-to-sports-illustrated-cover-1107826/]State”>http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/penn-state-brass-respond-to-sports-illustrated-cover-1107826/)</p>
<p><<go back="" 5,000="" posts.="">></go></p>
<p>Very helpful. Thank you.</p>
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<p>Not my daughter- my niece! And the comments were all made in the Philadelphia area.</p>
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<p>A broken record by now, but this is yet another example why the orchastrated penalties fell short and were misguided. There should be no ambiguity. The penalties should have clearly identified the culprits and this would have been done by a beheading of the football program and a lengthy ban. </p>
<p>That way, the poor niece could answer … “Yes, it will be different without football, but that is a good thing for the people who did not live and die according to JoePa’s playbook.”</p>
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<p>Absolutely true. Unfortunately, PSU is more inclined to fight to its last drop of blood to protect the sacrosanct football program. Because it is still what matters at PSU.</p>
<p><<not my="" daughter-="" niece!="" and="" the="" comments="" were="" all="" made="" in="" philadelphia="" area.="">></not></p>
<p>Oops! Sorry! That’s what I get for posting with minimal caffeine!</p>
<p>Comicfish wrote:
You’re right, most ordinary students didn’t do anything they should be ashamed of. And their degrees are not worthless, despite what might be said by a handful of people, one of whom has posted here. There may be a few people who think that of anyone who went to PSU, but they are extremists - and there are also extremists on the other end of the spectrum, who think Penn State shouldn’t be held accountable at all for what happened on their campus. The vast majority of people, including those here, fall somewhere between those two extremes.</p>
<p>MomofWildChild wrote:
Here we have a young woman who is willing to admit (and even laments) that football culture was out of control. She may not have been in a position to do anything about it, but I wonder if some of those wonderful professors might have been in a position to do something, particularly if enough of them banded together. If, as some have argued, they will suffer due to a loss of funding without football, or because of penalties to the football program, is it not also true that they benefited from football, even if indirectly? They probably didn’t know what was going on with Sandusky, but they were aware that football was king. They may not have contributed directly to football being king, but they didn’t more to change things either.</p>
<p>So MOWC neice says football culture is out of control. What exactly was out of control according to this one student. How about something other than generalizations.</p>