JoePa.....Sad if true....

[massphatness]

I rarely disagree with you, Scott, but in this case I do.

Paterno did the legal thing. But he failed to do the moral thing.

[Starscream]

Originally Posted by massphatness

I rarely disagree with you, Scott, but in this case I do.

Paterno did the legal thing. But he failed to do the moral thing.

That's what I'm missing. What was the moral thing to do? Beat his @$$ (which is what I might have done if I were him)? He told his superiors what was going on, then he was told by his superiors that they had taken care of the issue/cleared his name.

[E.J.]

IMO, I will formulate opinion on people, not only on their ability to follow the laws on the land, but of the moral laws of humankind.

If someone on my staff came up to me and said that they just observed another member of my staff, who happened to be a long time friend, anally rapping a kid, I would not feel my "duty" ended when I did the minimum of all actions, which is to leave that information in someone elses hands, let someone else deal with it.

ESPECIALLY when I see that went nowhere. It should be noted that this was not the first time I had heard "rumblings" about this dirtbag.

This is not just about one person either, it is about every person at Penn State and even outside of Penn State University, who knew about this and did nothing more than the bare minimum at best, less than that at worst.

In the end, unless you are going with the theory that McQueary made up the story...then McQueary failed. Then Paterno failed. Then Curley failed. Then Schultz failed. There are more names I am sure....

You watch Matt Millen here, you tell me that he doesn't know this exact statement in his heart... McQueary failed. Then Paterno failed. Then Curley failed. Then Schultz failed. Penn State University, which is part of me, the place which had a big part of making me who I am today, a place I love, people that I love, failed these children.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MKAt...layer_embedded

[massphatness]

Originally Posted by Starscream

That's what I'm missing. What was the moral thing to do? Beat his @$$ (which is what I might have done if I were him)? He told his superiors what was going on, then he was told by his superiors that they had taken care of the issue/cleared his name.

In my mind, the moral thing to do would have been to report the information to law enforcement. I'm pretty sure the parents of the rape victims would agree on this point.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by massphatness

In my mind, the moral thing to do would have been to report the information to law enforcement. I'm pretty sure the parents of the rape victims would agree on this point.

Law enforcement was already involved at the time Joe became involved, Vin. Actually, they were involved years prior. And did nothing.
Joe had already removed Sandusky from his program, told him he wouldn't be receiving the head coaching position, and reported the grad student's information. All things that were within his power.

Penn State officials allowed Sandusky to continue to use Penn State facilities as part of his retirement in 99 when Joe ran him off.

[croatan]

Originally Posted by massphatness

I rarely disagree with you, Scott, but in this case I do.

Paterno did the legal thing. But he failed to do the moral thing.

Same here.

Also, after reading the grand jury report, a Texas court would most definitely have a different take on whether he did the "legal thing". Many states, including Texas, require every person who has cause to believe (notice it says "cause to believe", a pretty low standard) that a child is being abused or neglected to report it. Additionally, here, "professionals" including doctors, teachers, and anyone who works with children, are even required to report within 48 hours or face criminal sanctions.

Just because something is legal somewhere (assuming it even is--I don't know Pennsylvania criminal law) doesn't make it right.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by massphatness

I rarely disagree with you, Scott, but in this case I do.

Paterno did the legal thing. But he failed to do the moral thing.

What we're missing here is that we don't know all the things that he truly did do. We know one thing, and that is that he immediately reported the incident to his superiors. We don't even know if he followed up or not, but everyone is assuming that based on God knows what. It's certainly not based on his character or past performance.
If we're assuming he did nothing else but take this to his higher ups, that also makes no sense. He's not spoken to his personal involvement or mentioned what he did or did not do.
That goes right back to indicting him on what's in our imagination rather than what actually happened.
Along the way he also dismissed Sandusky from his ball club, plus let him know that he was no longer in line for the head coaching position that was to be passed to him. So that's three things we know he did.
We don't have to agree, my friend, but I'm not sure what this moral thing is that he failed to do, or how we know he didn't do it?

Sandusky was allowed by the college's officials to continue use of all Penn State's facilities AFTER Joe had already run him out of his program. Doesn't that sound like Joe's hands were tied, or that he must have been led to believe that all these accusations against Sandusky were either erroneous or already taken care of?