I've tried not to comment on the unfolding accusations against former coach Jerry Sandusky and the way in which Pennsylvania State University handled the matter. Nevertheless, the ongoing scandal begs several questions, none of which have yet been satisfactorily answered.
- When Mike McQueary allegedly found Sandusky raping a 10-year-old boy in the showers, his only action was apparently to report the incident the following day. Why didn't he intervene to stop the rape? Wouldn't any normal human being have done so?
- When Mr. McQueary and head coach Joe Paterno found that no action had been taken on their reports of the incident to University authorities, why didn't they pursue the matter? Wasn't it at least morally (if not legally) incumbent upon them to do so?
- Why did the University authorities not pursue the matter when it was reported to them? Who knew what, when did they know it, and why did they not act upon that knowledge? Does their lack of action render them guilty of aiding and abetting Sandusky in his alleged crime(s) - particularly those allegedly committed after this alleged incident?
- I can't believe that only one alleged incident was witnessed or uncovered. Sandusky is charged with no less than 40 counts of sexual abuse. If the authorities are confident enough in their evidence about those 40 counts to press charges, the odds are very good indeed that there are many more incidents about which there is insufficient evidence to press charges. Do you expect me to believe that none of them ever attracted anyone's attention? If the charges against Sandusky are true, then there must have been more widespread knowledge of his predilections. We need to know who was involved in covering them up.
You can read the Grand Jury's findings concerning Sandusky and his victims here (link is to an Adobe Acrobat document in .PDF format). However, I don't recommend it unless you have a strong stomach. They made me see red, I can tell you!
I think we've only just scratched the surface of this scandal so far. I think a lot more heads will have to roll before Penn State can cleanse itself of the stain . . . and I think the only solution for its football program is to close the whole thing down, let it lie fallow for a few years, then begin again from the ground up. I don't see any other honorable way to deal with this.
Peter
6 comments:
Once again, you said it better than I could.
Penn State needs to be cleaned out like the Augean stables.
Do you realize how much money the University would lose, and maybe never regain, if they "close the whole thing down, let it lie fallow for a few years..." ?
I think the entire scandal rests on that premise: not wanting to lose the money.
Peter, as bad as the existing situation is, both the known and unknown aspects of it, I have to seriously wonder if they will cover up something THAT serious, what is the laundry list of OTHER stuff they have also covered up?
For instance, how many rapes have occurred on that campus that parents and prospective students' parents don't know about yet?
I believe the realistic possibilities (probabilities?) are staggering.
And all of this made possible because grown men get paid too much to play a child's game.
I suspect no one here understands the society rules on college campus. Being branded a "HOMOPHOBE" is instant death. You will never pass another course, you will be socially ostracized you will lose any standing in seniority. Much easier to just fuggeddabodit.
Geoff
Who made that mistake once.
Frankly, at this point, I would argue that we have too many 4 year schools pounding liberal/progressive propaganda into young minds via one orifice or another.
Close the whole thing down. Not the football program, but the school. Sell off the lands and properties, and put the resulting revenue in a trust fund for the victims.
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