Penn State Goings-On

[jimmy olsen]

How could he step into stop that, but not step up and help the child

Edit: Alternately how horrible must have been what he saw to send him running.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/11/who_knew_what_about_jerry_sand.html

   
McQueary is a guy who once stepped in and broke up a player-related knife fight in a campus dining hall — a fight police admit could have been very ugly. But this week, he is getting blasted by the public for doing too little.
   

[Caliga]

The difference may be that he knew Sandusky very well...

[dps]

I think that says more about your imagination than the actual facts here.  The GJ report is quite explicit and specific about most of the witness statements, reporting the words that actually said.  Except here.  When it comes to the point of exactly what McQ told P, the report doesn't report the words said -- ie M told P he saw Sandusky anally raping a boy.  Instead it suddenly becomes indirect -- it doesn't say anything at all other than the indirect M told P "what he had seen". Your imagination is filling in the rest.

I'm afraid the "imagination" is on your end. Your account relies on the words "reporting what he had seen" to mean something other than, you know, what he had seen.

If it was something less than what he had seen, that would be a key fact in the case - surely worthy of mention. The most obvious meaning is that he reported, truthfully, what he had seen.

It would seem to me that exactly how he worded things when talking to Paterno is a fairly important point in the issue that you and Minsky are debating.  And neither you nor Minsky have any idea how McQueary worded things when he told Paterno "what he had seen".  It could have been very graphic and specific, or it could have been very vague.  We don't know.  The difference here is that while Minsky admits that he is speculating about how McQueary might have worded it, you're claiming to know, which, unless you somehow have inside information that isn't in the grand jury summary, you don't.

[katmai]

Been hearing all the news from a Penn St graduate of the School of sports journalism...utter chaos.

[alfred russel]

Yeah, it bugs me that focus is all on Paterno and McQueary, and very little attention is given to those further up the chain who kept it buried.  Paterno and McQueary could and should have done more, those above them actively suppressed it and protected Sandusky.  That's orders of magnitude worse.

I see things differently. The appropriate response is to go to the cops. Anyone can do that. There isn't any real need for an investigation beyond the police investigation. Anyone is capable of going to the cops--and I'd put more of an expectation to go to the cops on the person who saw the incident rather than those who heard about it second hand.

[alfred russel]

How is this at odds with anything I've said?

If the school fired P and kept on the other two, that is indeed bizzare.

Going back through what you wrote, it isn't directly at odds. But I think the quote below puts the testimony in a different light than how you were looking at it--it is an affirmative statement of cooperation and honesty that goes beyond the possibility more information wasn't given about his testimony because they just didnt' feel there was enough there for a perjury charge. It raises the possibility that the GA was discreet when he informed Paterno.

"We have a cooperating witness [Paterno], an individual who testified, provided truthful testimony,"

[frunk]

I see things differently. The appropriate response is to go to the cops. Anyone can do that. There isn't any real need for an investigation beyond the police investigation. Anyone is capable of going to the cops--and I'd put more of an expectation to go to the cops on the person who saw the incident rather than those who heard about it second hand.

Anybody involved could have gone to the cops, the administration was just as capable of that as Paterno or McQueary.  The fact that the administration didn't, barely gave the guy a slap on the wrist, told McQueary that it was being handled and didn't do anything further is tantamount to saying they approve of Sandusky's actions.  At the very least they knew there had been allegations before, something that McQueary may not have been aware of (Paterno, not so sure).  The signs that this guy was a repeat offender were everywhere and they did nothing about it.

Big campuses like this you don't see the non-campus police ever.  Just about everything is handled by the school, it is its own kingdom.  Telling Paterno and Paterno telling his boss is roughly equivalent to it being told to the mayor or at least the mayor's staff.  It is expected that serious issues are handled by them, and they didn't.  I agree Paterno and McQueary should have told the police, but they did something constructive.  The lack of responsiveness from the administration in such a horrible situation is monstrous.

[Sheilbh]

Taking sports so seriously you would build statues to heros or riot over them is messed up. Glad to hear that stuff doesn't happen in Canada.   

There's a couple in the UK to legendary football managers (or players).  In the case of Fulham the owner, Mohammed al-Fayad, decided to memorialise his friend by erecting a statue of Michael Jackson outside the stadium:

[Neil]

How could he step into stop that, but not step up and help the child

Because your natural instinct when you see two people having sex is to walk away and leave them too it.

[crazy canuck]

Yeah, it bugs me that focus is all on Paterno and McQueary, and very little attention is given to those further up the chain who kept it buried.  Paterno and McQueary could and should have done more, those above them actively suppressed it and protected Sandusky.  That's orders of magnitude worse.

I see things differently. The appropriate response is to go to the cops. Anyone can do that. There isn't any real need for an investigation beyond the police investigation. Anyone is capable of going to the cops--and I'd put more of an expectation to go to the cops on the person who saw the incident rather than those who heard about it second hand.

Reporting the matter to the police is a no brainer.  But but I have a minor disagreement with your statement that there isnt a need for anything further.  Normally a University would also conduct an internal investigation of some sort.  Criminal investigations can take some time.  In cases of alleged sexual assualt Universities have to make decisions regarding keeping people off campus/suspending employment more quickly then the Criminal wheels of justice can turn.

[The Brain]

The difference may be that he knew Sandusky very well...

[jimmy olsen]

Good Lord, just give the Football program the death penalty. This kind of mentality has to be cleansed from the Earth with fire.

Follow the link for a photo of the guy and his signs
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/12/penn-state-stadium-profanity-scorn-joe-paterno/?page=1

At Penn State's stadium, profanity, scorn greet one father's protest

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — In the middle of Curtin Road, John Matko held one handwritten sign in his right hand and rested another against his jeans. Two inches of black tape obscured Penn State's logo on the 34-year-old father's hat, as he tried to ignore the jeers, slaps and beer hurled at him.

"Put abused kids first," one of Matko's signs read. "Don't be fooled, they all knew. Tom Bradley, everyone must go."

Penn State's Beaver Stadium loomed 30 yards away, rumbling with the first roars of Saturday's game with Nebraska. The sea of blue-clad supporters wearing gray fedoras and camouflage hunting jackets and "This is JoePa's house" T-shirts parted around Matko.

"That is such bull–-!" one young woman screamed at him after glancing at the signs. "Who the f– do you think you are?"

Eyes hidden by blue aviator sunglasses, Matko didn't respond.

The night before, thousands of students held candles and sang Coldplay's "Fix You" a capella in front of Old Main to support victims of sexual abuse. They wanted to show a different side to Penn State than the 40 charges of child sexual abuse against ex-football assistant Jerry Sandusky or the riots late Wednesday after the university fired iconic coach Joe Paterno for his role in the cover-up.

Under Saturday's cloudless sky, Curtin Street revealed something else.

A beer showered Matko. One man slapped his stomach. Another called him a "p–-."

"I understand the culture," said Matko, who graduated from Penn State in 2000 with a degree in nutrition. "I was part of it. It doesn't surprise me what I'm getting from them."

Matko drove three hours from his home in Pittsburgh on Saturday morning. He was tired of reading about what university officials didn't do in the wake of Sandusky's charges. The father of a 4-year-old boy, he couldn't stop thinking about the 23 pages of horror in the grand jury's indictment of Sandusky. Right or wrong, he thought, I've got to do something.

A gust of wind picked up rust-colored leaves, dozens of discarded bookmarks and pamphlets about child sexual abuse and crushed blue cups.

Two-middle aged women wearing "Shuck the Husks" buttons on their blue fleece jackets dispensed the bookmarks nearby. Their sign read: "Penn State pride is about more than football." They wanted to do something, anything to help.

"This is the elephant in the room no one wants to talk about," one woman said.

Down the street and to the left, hundreds supporters pressed around the statue of Paterno leading his team from the tunnel. Three bouquets of white roses sat beneath it. Pictures snapped and right index fingers thrust in the air in copies of Paterno's pose.

"We need to rebuild the university," said one man, who leaned against the stone wall with a solemn look. Like many others Saturday, he refused to give his name.

Matko's vigil continued. "The kids are what this day is about, not who wins or loses," the sign resting against his jeans read. "Or who lost their job and why. Honor the abused kids by cancelling the game and the season now."

A passer-by kicked it.

"You're going to get your a— kicked, man," a man bellowed.

"That's bull–-, guy," another said.

Abuse flew at Matko from young and old, students and alumni, men and women. No one intervened. No one spoke out against the abuse. Over the course of an hour, a lone man stopped, read the sign and said, "I agree." Those two words were swallowed by the profanity and threats by dozens of others during the hour.

"The world is here. The world wasn't at the vigil," Matko said. "I still can't believe this game is being played. People are telling me the game is going to generate revenue for the kids. That's the point. We can't separate revenue, money from football. That's part of the reason why we're in this mess.

"I feel so betrayed. ... I can't believe the guys covered it up. It's disturbing and it's not over."

Matko didn't preach at passers-by. The signs said enough, two voices in a wilderness of blue.

"What a f–– idiot, man," shouted one fan. "Get out of here."

A woman, clad in blue like the rest, launched a finger-wagging, tirade inches from Matko's face. Two men led her away.

A burly man wearing a "JoePa" T-shirt strode up, wrestled away the sign urging abused kids be put first from Matko's right hand and slammed it to the ground.

After reading the signs, another woman glowered at Matko.

"This is in bad taste," she said.

One bystander wondered how long until Matko was punched.

From the stadium, the roar of "We are Penn State" washed down the street. Three men with white shirts and ties and rolled-up khakis in Paterno's style hurried past. The sweet smell of kettle korn and smoke from barbecue up the street drifted past two women as they split a 40-ounce bottle of Mickey's Fine Malt Liquor.

Matko adjusted his black backpack, retrieved his signs from the ground each time they were knocked down and stood his ground.

"Not now, man," one student said, shaking his head. "This is about the football players."

[sbr]

Death penalty to a team because the fanbase is full of douchebags?   

Interesting concept, though I am afraid we will be reduced to watching BYU and the military academies in a perpetual round robin once your orders are carried out.

[The Brain]

Pedo State fans are a waste of carbon. Always have been, always will be.

[dps]

Death penalty to a team because the fanbase is full of douchebags?  

Interesting concept, though I am afraid we will be reduced to watching BYU and the military academies in a perpetual round robin once your orders are carried out.

Well, it's not like we need more evidence that Tim's a retard.