Penn State Sandusky scandal

Parent Cafe
8921

<p>I can’t wrap my head around the notion that these people are still working in education. As far as I’m aware, there aren’t even proceedings underway to remove them. Still. There’s no excuse for keeping them, it’s appalling. Worse than appalling, but I don’t have the words. </p>

<p>Anyway, more news from the front. From the local paper, a long update about Freeh recommendations, but I thought y’all would be interested in the Advisory Committee makeup. (It was supposed to be all PSU people, per recommendations. Don’t know why, that doesn’t make sense to me, but okay Louis)</p>

<p>"The Freeh Advisory Council has been assembled from individuals from across the university to address the 119 recommendations in the Freeh report, which was part of an independent investigation after the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. The university has completed one-third of the recommendations, which include addressing safety, governance and misconduct reporting, according to a university news release.</p>

<p>The following is a list of the 10 individuals invited by university President Rodney Erickson and trustees Chairwoman Karen Peetz:</p>

<p>Larry C. Backer, chairman, university Faculty Senate and professor of law; Linda Caldwell, NCAA faculty representative and professor of recreation, parks and tourism management and human development and family studies; Ann Crouter, dean, College of Health and Human Development; Charmelle Green, associate director of Intercollegiate Athletics; Crystal Hubler, chairwoman, University Staff Advisory Council; Courtney Lennartz, president, University Park Undergraduate Association; Jonathan M. Light, president, Teamsters Local Union No. 8; John May, chief compliance officer, Penn State Hershey Medical Center; David Rench, vice president of external affairs, Graduate Student Association; and Karen Wiley Sandler, chancellor, Penn State Abington."</p>

8922

<p>“I cannot believe that principal is still there. despicable, and a mandatory reporter.”</p>

<p>How can that principal hold her head up after allowing Aaron to be taken out of class with out parental knowledge or permission, to watch his grades fall and continue to allow him to be taken out of class, to tell his mother to go home after reporting and then to be seen RUNNING from Chris Como on 20/20. She should run. She and the school district should be sued! The HS coach too. They are all a disgrace! And still working there. This could not be made up! I just scratch my head at what is still tolerated and permitted in PA.</p>

8923

<p>[EXCLUSIVE:</a> Sandusky’s return to coaching derailed by failed background check - CBS 21 News - Breaking news, sports and weather for the Harrisburg -York -Lancaster -Lebanon Pennsylvania area](<a href=“http://www.whptv.com/content/Sandusky/story/Sanduskys-return-to-coaching-derailed/ibh5wvVLNkWQg-h4hbo39g.cspx]EXCLUSIVE:”>http://www.whptv.com/content/Sandusky/story/Sanduskys-return-to-coaching-derailed/ibh5wvVLNkWQg-h4hbo39g.cspx)</p>

<p>Unbelievable.</p>

8924

<p>^^Nothing about this case surprises me anymore. I’m well beyond being capable of being surprised.</p>

8925

<p>Somewhere there is a textbook definition of delusional…</p>

<p>Kudos to Aaron. He and his mom deserve the major credit for their courage and persistence in having finally exposed Sandusky.</p>

8926

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<p>If Juniata College was able to determine Sandusky was under investigation how could Second Mile and PSU’s top brass (Spanier and Schultz) not be aware of the investigation?</p>

8927

<p>^^I don’t think Second Mile has any public comment on what they knew and when; PSU admins would have known about the investigation Juniata referred to because at least locally, the understanding was that Juniata meant the grand jury. Which was public knowledge, at a minimum, the spring prior to charges being brought. I’m not sure PSU admins have denied knowing about the grand jury. The BOT contends that admins knew, but deliberately kept them clueless (and they did not query further.) I don’t know why this is “news”, the story about Juniata being the only group that DID do the right thing is old. </p>

<p>Students at the Iowa-PSU game tonight dressed as convicts with “Sandusky” written on their backs posed with Iowa tailgaters for photos. Because that’s funny. I’m sure the young man who was interviewed on 20/20 is laughing, right?</p>

8928

<p>In the meantime, this…</p>

<p><a href=“Joe Paterno Billboards, From PS4truth, Pop Up In Pennsylvania Supporting Late Coach | HuffPost Sports”>Joe Paterno Billboards, From PS4truth, Pop Up In Pennsylvania Supporting Late Coach | HuffPost Sports;

8929

<p>^ The ongoing Cult of St. Joe (see link in post # 8928) is appalling. And it renders all the squealing out of the Penn State apologists on this thread hollow. </p>

<p>It’s pretty clear there’s still an enormous cult of Paterno still alive and well in the Penn State community, victims be damned. ALL HAIL PATERNO! ALL HAIL PENN STATE! And we won’t let a few victims of child rape stand in our way!</p>

<p>Disgusting.</p>

8930

<p><<the ongoing="" cult="" of="" st.="" joe="" (see="" link="" in="" post="" #="" 8928)="" is="" appalling.="" and="" it="" renders="" all="" the="" squealing="" out="" penn="" state="" apologists="" on="" this="" thread="" hollow.="">></the></p>

<p>First of all - why would you blame those on CC for this billboard? And second of all, why do you feel it’s necessary to call people names? I find “Penn State apologists” offensive and uncalled for and I certainly have not heard “sqealing”. </p>

<p>You do realize that this “cult” that you speak of is a minority, right? And that you are generalizing, blaming something a few did (putting up the billboard) on the many. Although you did just demonstrate exactly the behavior I’ve been saying has been going on this whole year.</p>

<p>Why people continue to feel they need to use words like “cult” and “apolgists” is beyond me. I used the word “bullying” many threads back - and I got blasted by some. Look up the definition and see if it fits. You may be surprised.</p>

8931

<p>People should check out the trouble that the BBC is in over the late Jimmy Savile in England. He was a DJ and Presenter on BBC shows, including children’s. He died last November, and it is now coming out that he abused both boys and girls for years. At least 60 people have come forward saying that Savile abused them when they were children. He also abused his great niece. </p>

<p>The BBC did not investigate complaints made over the years or just did superficial investigations. He was adored by millions and a big supporter of charities. It is a huge story in England. The story hasn’t really hit the news here. It is big and a huge problem for the British Government.</p>

<p>[BBC</a> crisis deepens as UK’s Cameron demands answers - Yahoo! News](<a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/bbc-crisis-deepens-allegations-emerge-070518960--finance.html]BBC”>http://news.yahoo.com/bbc-crisis-deepens-allegations-emerge-070518960--finance.html)</p>

8932

<p>just so sad when we realize how many children have been abused in soooo many organizations, settings and locations. and they’ve all taken the same approach of denial, protect the predator, kids can’t be telling the truth, kids weren’t really harmed. We must actually start to listen to our children. for years there’s been this fear that kids make this stuff up and it has hindered a forward movement in addressing this huge issue. please, listen to your kids and always take them seriously.</p>

8933

<p>The bright minds that made the billboard ad apparently FAILED! their English classes as they. do not understand the proper use of punctuation</p>

8934

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<p>Is it really? How do we know this for a fact? I would hope they are the minority, but I’m starting to wonder. Those that continue to canonize Joe may be the minority, but those that refuse to consider he may have had some serious culpability in this situation seem to be quite numerous.</p>

8935

<p>If the Pateno idolaters are such a minority, why are they the only PSU people we ever hear from on the matter? Where are billboards condemning Paterno for his role in the cover-up? Why doesn’t this “majority” speak up and drown out the minority with public support for the decision to fire Paterno?</p>

<p>All we get from this supposed majority is a lot of silence, which makes it a legitimate question whether they are really much a majority. And the deep and continuing reverence and admiration for all things Paterno is the only thing left standing in Happy Valley.</p>

8936

<p>Coureur, I absolutely have no interest, love, hate, knowledge of Joe Paterno. i just recognize the name, and I’ve never even watched a Penn State Football game on TV. So I could not care less about Joe. I don’t think laying it all on Joe Paterno makes sense to me. I think a lot of people who are still alive who let a football coach influence how something like this whole mess should have been handled are the ones who need to be on the line. Much as I have respect of Mini’s opinions and for those of other old time and valuable CC posters, I don’t think the issue is completely at the feet of the football program. IT’s up to the administrators of the school ultimately to keep such beasts tame and under control (sports programs). THat they did not is their problem. I was appalled that one of the first things that the new president/board head did after the Fromm report was exactly one of the things that was roundly panned–make a decision without presenting it to the board regarding NCAA sanctions. The danged prospect of sanctions was so frigging important to the pres that he agreed to them singularly instead of following procedures set up to safeguard the folly of a single person’s judgement. And that was what made this problem go as long as it did as well as a total disrgard for children/others outside of the tunnel vision focus. Nobody seemed to care what the heck Sandusky was doing with all of those kids, and you can’t tell me that given the evidence that was out there that a lot of people knew something was hinky there. I’d rather the focus go on those still around continuing to make decisions get their behavior curbed than this dumping of someone who is now dead. </p>

<p>As for Juniata College, denying Sandusky a position, that would be standard when vetting an outsider for a job. Many people due to credit reports , police records, other issues would not be able to get the jobs they now have because we don’t vet those already in position. You can be drug user at some jobs where only the incoming applicants are screened, for example. For certain positions, you are automatically screened for certain infractions when applying for a job. Once in, they don’t rescreen you.</p>

8937

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<p>I can’t imagine anyone trying to “lay it all” on Joe Paterno either. What I find rather astounding is the attempt by many to completely drown out any dialogue whatsoever which suggests that Paterno bears any responsibility in the matter or that the worship of coach and football had any bearing on the actions of those who tried to either actively cover up the abuse or passively allow it to continue completely unabated by their inaction. Anything this large in scope can never be laid completely at the feet of any one person or factor.</p>

8938

<p>Here we go with the “worship of football” again. The BBC DJ mentioned above, the Boy Scout leaders, the Catholic priests, etc, etc, etc – coverups or not wanting to deal with pedophiles can be found everywhere, in every situation. And there are many other types of scandals (academic, financial, criminal) throughout college athletics. </p>

<p>What Penn Staters are trying to say is that you’re kidding yourself if you think there is some special “cult” or excessive worship of football at PSU that is any different than any other big-time college athletic program. This could have happened anywhere - and indeed, it does. In every situation, there are people who don’t want to deal with it. There are people who care more about money than the crime being committed. There are people (Gov Corbett anybody?) who will ignore the problem and then gleefully throw others under the bus to direct the attention away from themselves. College football is not a singular evil that allowed Sandusky to get away with it for that long.</p>

8939

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<p>Well, that is an opinion rather than a statement of fact. Penn State’s football culture is different from many others. The fact that they kept a coach for so long is very unique. I have not seen a coach occupy a role of FATHER in such a way. I have not heard of many other institutions deifying a coach in the manner of JoPa. While I do not think you can lay all of the blame at the foot of the football culture, I might respond that one is “kidding himself” to state that the culture there had NO BEARING on the actions of those involved in the cover up.</p>

8940

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Who on this board do you consider a “Paterno idolater”? I have been fairly vocal on this forum, and my personal position is that (a) there is insufficient evidence to accurately place Paterno within the coverup and that (b) my own limited knowledge of the man and some of the other involved individuals makes me think that he was probably not involved as much as Freeh and others assert and may not have been consciously aware of it at all. If that makes me an idolater then I am stymied by your apparent inability to see the color gray, and if it does not then TA-DA!!</p>

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You think that message has not been getting out? Certainly the board of trustees and new President have been willing to disavow Paterno! As for the rest, perhaps they too are simply unsure of the truth. Thankfully, individuals like yourself are so certain that it doesn’t really matter, does it?</p>

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You seem to think that a minority of “Paterno idolaters” must mean a majority of “Paterno condemners” or else the other way around, as if those are the only options. Remember that this is a man who many on campus knew or thought they knew, who lacked many of the characteristics you would typically expect in an individual involved in such a scheme - I think the majority are silent simply because they have not yet come to any conclusions about which they wish to be vocal.</p>

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No, pretty sure the university is still standing too. And so are the rest of us.</p>