The Never Ending Saga of the Penn State Sandusky Scandal

Recently I read an article that was posted online by an organization called Onward State.  It originally began as a student run blog page for Penn State students to keep up with news that might impact the campus in some way, shape or form.  Today, it continues to produce stories and issues them to the students.  On occasion, the news they report includes incorrect facts, and sometimes what they report is the truth.  Sometimes you just need to wait and see if the news continues to be reported that way by other organizations before you can decide if what they reported was factual in nature.

The article I read continued the never ending saga of the Penn State Jerry Sandusky scandal.  If you are interested in reading it, please click here.  For those of you who do not know me, I am a Texas Longhorns football fan.  I do however, have a sister who attends Penn State in State College, Pennsylvania, and have quickly learned to love the school and the football team.  Even though I have been a Longhorn fan for many years, I have always loved and supported the great man that was Joe Paterno.

I have been shocked and amazed by how the media has chosen to cover this story from its beginning back in November of 2011.  The media has tried to awe and amaze us with facts about the cover up, pinning blame on Joe Paterno, former university President Graham Spanier, former university Athletic Director Tim Curly, and former Senior Vice President of Finance and Business Gary Schultz.  Any news story that was produced showed photos of Joe Paterno, followed by the headline of "The Penn State Scandal".  We saw footage on almost every television news station of Penn State Students rioting in the streets the night that Joe Paterno was fired.  Media vans were flipped and students were deemed to be "on a rampage" due to the removal of their beloved Coach.

According to the Admissions Page for Penn State University Park, approximately 35,000 students attend their largest campus.  Approximately 1,000 of these students were in attendance of the riot the night that Paterno was fired.  Considering that there are 35,000 students on that campus, it could have been far worse.  But news organizations painted it out that the entire student body was rioting at the loss of their coach.

Candlelight Vigil held at PSU for the victims.

But how many of you heard about the student organized candle light vigil held for the victims?  Hardly any television news organization covered the event.  Some print organizations, like Reuters did.  Were you aware that over 10,000 people were in attendance at this event? Now, I am sure that there were more people at this event than just students alone.  But that number is ten times higher than the number of those who were rioting.  But it was brushed under the rug because it wasn't juicy enough to catch the eye of many news organizations out there who were trying to show the nasty under belly of the Penn State Athletic Organization.

Now, here is what I have a problem with.  Why was it that every time the Penn State Scandal was brought up, Joe Paterno's face was shown.  Joe Paterno is not the one who abused those innocent children.  The only person whose face should have been shown, was that of Jerry Sandusky.

My next issue is the people that say "he should have done more".  Sure, I see your point, and I agree, but only to a certain degree.  Here's my arguments for this issue.

• Take a moment to consider the generation Joe Paterno was from.  Also, take a moment to consider how old the man was.  That generation really didn't openly discuss sexual topics.  It was something that was to be left behind closed doors.  Maybe Paterno didn't realize how bad the situation was - not because he was trying to protect his program, but because he simply couldn't wrap his head around what was going on.  
• Now think of a time when you reported an incident to whoever your higher up official is, or even filed a report to the police.  What is it that you usually hear from them once you turn in the information? "Thank you, we will investigate this." and usually, you will never hear what came out of that investigation.  Joe Paterno did what he was LEGALLY required to do.  An incident was reported to him, and he took it to the people above him, and was told it would be looked into.  And from what we can gather, we can assume a few things.  One of which is that he turned it in, and never heard anything more of it.  Another is that he turned it in, and knew that there was more going on and didn't do anything about it. 

I simply can not wrap my head around the comments that "he didn't do enough".  Change your sentence, please.  Joe Paterno did what he was legally required to do.  COULD he have done more, yes.  Could he have called the police if he felt it wasn't being investigated properly? Yes! Could he have placed a phone call every day to make sure that the situation was being handled properly? Yes! But would anything more have come of it? Who knows! The man was old.  He wasn't even on the sidelines for the majority of the football games because of it.  How much energy do you think one old man could put toward a situation, when he was probably very confident that the school he loved so much and dedicated his life to should have been taking care of the situation.

For those of you who question his character.  Please think back for a minute on all of the things this man stood for.  He wanted his football players to excel in college.  He felt that they were there as students first, and football players second.  He was a strong supporter of liberal arts.  His wife went so far as to tutor players who were struggling in classes. Together, the Paterno's donated roughly $4 million to various departments at the university, and helped raise over $13.5 million to help build an extension of the school library.  He was paid roughly $500,000 a year to coach that school.  While other college football coaches at schools of an equal skill level are paid two or three million dollars a season.

But lets remember, that this man was a bad man, and lacked any form of morals, and only cared about football.

So the sanctions come out, and everyone is so happy because "Penn State deserves everything it has coming to it".  Why would you ever think that students who weren't even involved deserved to have games stripped from them? Why should they lose all of their wins? Why were the punishments so harsh?

Lets go back to when the Duke Lacross team had charges brought against players for an alleged rape incident.  The NCAA decided not to get involved because it was a criminal case.  So why is it that they can get involved with a criminal case involving a coach of a team? This incident had nothing to do with students of the school, yet they are the ones being punished for actions that they had no control over?

Then comes the incident with Notre Dame that was barely even covered in the news.  Girls were allegedly raped by football players, and then threatened not to go to the cops because "you don't mess with the football team".  The girls were harassed so much that one of them, who was a freshmen, went to far as to commit suicide because she couldn't handle it.

Did the NCAA do anything? Those players were playing in championship games like nothing even happened.  There was no national story with news airing 24/7 about the Notre Dame Scandal.  So what made Penn State such a priority over schools with similar incidents like the Duke Lacross team or Notre Dame?

All and all, I am curious to see what all is said about there being no evidence that Paterno did anything to cover up this scandal.  I will forever be a Joe Paterno fan, and a firm believer in what he stood for.  I can't begin to wrap my head around how people think he was this evil and corrupt man, who cared only about football.  When that is in fact the farthest thing from the truth.  I hope that one day, his name will be wiped clean, and all that he stood for will be what he was remembered for, and not this scandal that has ruined Penn State in the eyes of many.

Lastly, to all my Penn State friends and family members. Just remember to stay strong, and don't let people with negative opinions weigh you down.  The actions of a few corrupt people do not equal the actions of the whole.  You all have done things to be proud of at that university, THON being one of the most important ones.  You had a record breaking year last year, so keep up the good work and break it again this year.  FTK!

WE ARE.... PENN STATE!