I believe this to be very true. I think the faculty is in a very precarious position. Normally I think the faculty senate would have made an official statement long ago, as is often the case when universities are in crisis. They were most certainly instructed not to do so because of liability. They are in a no win position. Speak out and they risk liability. Say nothing officially and they are viewed by some as complacent.</p>
<p>My most sincere best wishes for the students and faculty of PSU as they start the new year.</p>
<p>It was about misplaced values and priorities. And at Penn State that meant football. Because the school and its popular culture valued and prioritized football above all else, or at least above the plight of children. Which is why the senior leaders, when faced with choice after choice as this mess developed, always chose to put the interests of football above the interests of innocent children. </p>
<p>I agree this problem is not unique to Penn State. Other institutions can have misplaced priorities. Other institutions have failed to protect innocents and/or engaged in criminal cover-ups. But at Penn State, because of its particular set of priorities, it was almost inevitable that if this misbehavior occurred it would be manifested in the context of football. Nothing else was powerful enough to make otherwise smart, good men repeatedly make decisions that to outsiders are inconceivable. </p>
<p>So Penn State’s problem is not about football as a game, not in the sense that some change to the rules of football will solve or prevent the problem. But it most certainly is about Penn State’s football program and the judgment-warping value and priority that was placed upon it.</p>
<p>Today I read a bumper sticker on the car of a close and amiable neighbor’s mom whose family is full of PSU alum that read " We are because of him " with a image of Joepa with his birth date and death date.<br>
Though we are friendly with the family I couldn’t help but imagine taking a sharpie </p>
<p>marker and adding “an enabler of pedofilia” under the text
kind of disturbed that an 80 something grandma would proclaim her support now</p>
<p>I’m sorry lje62. I can imagine this has to infuriate you. It’s people like that giving the PSU community a bad rap. As has been pointed out, the few making an impression for many.</p>
<p>No faculty member faces anything in the way of increased liability in speaking out. And thinking about increased liability rather than publicly defending academic - and ethical - value and priorities for a tenured faculty member is frankly sick.</p>
<p>I understand that. And I also want to make something clear about the penalties. As much as I have been trumpetting that the penalties have been too light, I also expected the penalties to ONLY involve the football program. </p>
<p>As drastic as it might sound, I also believe that a lengthy death penalty would have allowed the school to redress its wrongs and reassess its priorities. Something that the people who are worried about the reputation of the school, the worrthiness of a PSU degree, and an academic experience that transcends collegiate sports … might not find that excessive. </p>
<p>Right now, the penalties are all over the place, and allow anyone to judge them too harsh or too easy, justified or excessive, or missing the mark of the right targets. And that is a shame!</p>
<p>Let’s remember that the NCAA penalties had nothing really to do with Penn State: they were enacted to protect the image of the NCAA and its pocketbook. PSU should set up its own reform platform, and there is absolutely nothing that prevents them from shutting down the football program for a period on their own.</p>
<p>“As for yourself, feel free to denounce all you like; you’re not in a position of authority with respect to this matter, so it doesn’t matter so much,”</p>
<p>Thank you for your permission, but it’s unnecessary and unsolicited. That’s what I’ve done since day 1 on this thread. Ive renounced all four, as in repudiate.</p>
<p>you know from a student’s or football player’s perspective the leadership of PSU failed to address Sandusky’s crimes, and yet at this point those students see no fallout for those leaders. Sandusky of course will be sentenced to life in prison, but who knows what will happen to the others. Maybe nothing? which would outrage me. Yet football and the students are impacted in an ongoing way. I can understand their frustration, and see how they could feel let down by all the adults in leadership positions, including the BOT. And it’s not as if they’ve even heard Spanier express one iota of remorse, or empathy for the victims, only his own bs, that he never knew what was really going on. this is an ongoing slap in the face to the whole university.</p>
<p>Nothing standing in the way except Penn State itself and its perpetual devotion to football, which is why hell will freeze over before that ever happens.</p>
<p>Myturnnow,
I agree 100 percent. I also think that this has very little to do with football. At it’s core it’s about ANYthing becoming so important that it violates the most basic principles of morality, compassion and care. </p>
<p>I don’t blame the players and fans for feeling unfairly penalized, when Spanier and the others are walking around with absolutely no consequences for their actions and inactions.</p>
<p>"Maybe the ugliest academic scandal in NCAA history. "</p>
<p>“First, the NCAA has to show it cares. Incredibly, to date, the NCAA has not. Trained NCAA investigators missed the very stuff that is seeping out now…”</p>
<p>No wonder the NCAA was happy to have the Freeh report. Evidently their investigative skills are lacking.</p>
<p>Perhaps the situation at PSU is serving as a prompt for other universities…the more reports that are made to the police/CPS, the better. Someone decided a possible glimpse of child porn on a computer needed follow up. And that’s a good thing.</p>
<p>Yes and no. If I’m reading the article correctly, the resident was charged in December, after school officials contacted the police in November - as a result of what was going on at Penn State.</p>
<p>BUT - the co-worker first saw and reported seeing child pornography 6 months BEFORE charges were brought. According to the article - “She told a supervisor, who then told another supervisor, who told another official … until at least eight Michigan employees knew about the child porn allegations.” But no one ever reported it to the police.</p>
<p>Yes, if it hadn’t been for the the Penn State scandal - this probably would have never been reported. So that is good. But, you had a series of supervisors and officials, working at a HOSPITAL, who couldn’t be bothered to report the allegations to authorities. Another failure by administrators. Quite disturbing.</p>
<p>I thought this comment was very interesting - “Medical schools, housed on university campuses, are powerful and isolated fiefdoms.” Sound familiar??? ;)</p>
<p>But don’t you think this is also a topic appropriate for a college forum - since the issue deals with the academic integrity of the institution?</p>
<p>Well, there might be a silver lining after all in this abject PSU affair. Perhaps the greater attention to scandals in money sports such as basketball and football will move towards positive changes, be it in refocusing the programs to real sports or simply recognize that the players are pawns in a game of economics that also robs them of a true education. </p>
<p>Perhaps that will lead to changes in conferences that stand for Super Easy Classes (SEC) or All Cut Classes (ACC) and other similar monikers that deride the academic difficulty of large sport programs at state universities. </p>
<p>Of course, at a school such as PSU, the fans might be careful to wish for increased attention to the academic prowesses of their student-athletes. As we have learned, the fall from the pinnacle is a lot more painful for the ones who hoisted themselves to the very top under false pretenses.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, we should not fool ourselves in believing that the NCAA has a great desire to clean house, especially if it might cut into the lucrative positions of everyone who is associated with college athletics at a high level. Some of the outrageous paychecks given to academics and adminstrators are direct results of the lucrative sports contracts. </p>
<p>It is still all about self-preservation of the powerful and … a disdain for the little guys.</p>
<p>Thats why Division 3 sports are much more “honest” in their recruiting of student athletes. In any recruiting material from them they will state right up front we can’t give you money but if academically you meet our requirements you can play for us and we will award merit money based on your grades/SAT/ACT if you qualify just like every other student who applies.</p>
<p>What academically deficient superstar will ever be recruited by a school that can not promise them the moon and stars college degree by only taking basket weaving? And be ok with lying/wining/dining 17 and 18 year olds? I doubt any of the powerhouse schools besides the IVY league are honest in this process. </p>
<p>We have been to recruiting showcases for another sport, it turned me off to the entire process. College coaches evaluating 14 year olds just exiting 8th and 9th grade? The older kids are complete by end of 10th grade. It was all the “brand name athletic powerhouse schools” sitting on the side lines with binders and school gear on. </p>
<p>To me it resembled a cattle market. Again just my opinion and experience.</p>