Sexual abuse charges Rock Penn State University (Page 11)

I loved the way Jon Stewart addressed the topic of the riots and outrage over Paterno's termination.

I don't want to jump to conclusions here, but it appears the street riot is in response to Coach Paterno's firing. See, I get that it's hard for you to believe that this guy is infallible and this program you think is sacred could hide such heinous activities. But there is some precedent for that. And just like with the Catholic Church, no one's trying to take away your religion, in this case football, they're just trying to bring some accountability to a pope and some of his cardinals who ****ed up. So don't worry. On Saturday, you'll still get to go to services against Nebraska. No one's going to take that away because obviously you're young and that would be a traumatic experience. We wouldn't want that memory to scar you for life.

I have an 11 year old son, and 7, 9, 10, and 12 year old nephews. I know EXACTLY what I would do if I were in any of their situations. I would protect the kids at any cost.

On a positive note, I just saw the highlights from Beaver Stadium today.  The best highlight was the moment of silence for the victims.  Having the 2 teams meet midfield before the game was nice no matter where you stand on the Joe Pa love him or hate him scale.

btw, thanks Renee.  That Stewart clip hit the nail on the head.

I feel bad for Joe Pa...but Joe screwed up and he's paying for it now.  I don't think he meant to do any harm, but for God's sake, if he had just done a little more.  It's just incredibly unfortunate.

My father-in-law and I were talking about this yesterday.  He just turned 80 and he didn't agree with Penn State firing him.  What made me pause was when he stated stuff like this didn't go on in his day.  Personally, I don't buy that for a second.  It was a different age surely...but the difference wasn't in actions, it was in people talking about it. ("it" being sexual abuse)

That was nice of Nebraska to think of and suggest it to Penn State.

Did they?  I just assumed PSU planned that.

My feeling bad for Joe Pa has only to do with seeing a brilliant career end in such public disgrace for his sins of omission.  He didn't perpetrate those horrendous acts.  But his silence allowed them to continue and that is what he's been called to task for.  Sandusky retired years ago, while his name is dragged out in the press and on the television reports it's almost a byline to the fact that Joe Pa got fired. That part is wrong to me.  Let the alleged perpetrator of these acts  be villified for them.  He was supposed to be mentoring kids who were already at risk because life had already handed them hard knocks.  What he is reported to have done (which I cannot bring myself to read the entire grand jury report of) is beyond heinous.

I hope those kids, who are probably adults by now, have gotten help and come forward to put Sandusky where he belongs.

By coincidence I was at Penn State today to shoot 
a long planned photo/video project for a client.

By coincidence it was for another organization for at risk youth.

There's a lot of pain in Happy Valley right now.
Lots of good people there in shock.

They all need our prayers. 

Reading the time line of events presented in my local newspaper today made me physically ill.  Seeing in print that Sandusky is still trying to maintain innocence makes me want to do physical harm to him.  At least I have the self control and physical distance to know better than act.....but I totally hope he gets the book thrown at him. 

Joe Pa will be lucky if he isn't named as an accessory to the crime in some suits. He deserves to be listed there.

I turned into the game a few times, but as you said it was painful to watch. Everything felt extremely fake to me, i hardly think the victims where the first thing in anyones mind. It migth very well be the cynic in me, but thats how i felt.

Just like you the last 3 to 4 years i have found it very difficult to get into college football like i used to, and this incident has extinguish the last few flames that were there. UM played Florida State this weekend, which is always a big deal if you are a fan of either team, and i couldnt bring myself to watch it or care about it. College football has become a symbol of hypocrisy to me.

I also agree with yoru opinion to radically clean house. Im of the opinion that everyone associated with that program were aware of the rumors and allegations to varying degrees, but that the institution was more important than the individual victims.

What bugs me the most is reading that the university police and the DA's office were involved and aware of Sandusky as early as 1998.  There's all kinds of weird stuff in this article:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/12/us/penn-state-scandal/index.html

1. The 1998 investigation was closed.  I don't get why they didn't charge Sandusky with something (unlawful contact with a minor?)
2. As Cuetoy mentioned, Gricar - the DA back then - went missing a few years later.  He was never found and finally declared legally dead this year.
3. University counsel back in 1998, Wendell Courtney, was also the attorney for Second Mile - Sandusky's charity.  No wonder the creep felt invulnerable on campus?  Probably explains #1, though.

Anyhow it seems like there was a lot of covering up going on way before the mess with McQueary and Paterno.  I'm not happy with JoePa's inaction, but definitely feel like he got the brunt of the backlash while the police and DA's office are skating by.  I'd hope that internal affairs gets involved at some point.

Sadly I think you'll be proven right on this one - I saw just a fraction of a news conference the other day where the statement made was something to the effect of 'we know there are more victims out there, we're waiting and hoping they will have the courage to come forward.'  It sounds like it's expected to get even worse than it already is. 

Doesn't matter.  She had ties one way or another.  She should've excused herself from this.