<p>That’s interesting; I had no idea PSU did such extensive marketing. </p>
<p>Just curious, why Princeton but not Harvard?</p>
<p>He is applying to Harvard and would love to go to grad school there. </p>
<p>Princeton is a smaller school. Princeton has a greater focus on undergrads rather than grad programs. Less grad students means more opportunities for undergrads to do meaningful research. His original school search was a search for both physics and creative writing and Princeton came up number one. He liked their campus slightly better.</p>
<p>Although he has the grades, class rank, test scores and EC for ivy league schools he does not have the social story of overcoming family and community problems. From his high school only immigrants and athletes have been admitted to the ivy league schools.</p>
<p>Penn State Alum here…lots of friends and family that are Penn State Alum. I never went to a football game the entire time as a undergraduate. Many students do not. I went to one game (as an alum) in my entire life. I’m just not that interested in sports. Of course I knew who Joe Paterno was but never had any Godlike worship for him. Happy Valley is a place that holds great memories for me. I received a great education there (graduated 30 years ago) and I made lifetime friends there.</p>
<p>The events are heartbreaking and tragic on so many levels and once again a story of adults prioritizing their own interests ahead of our youth. All of the adults let down the kids and put them and left them in harms way by their words and lack of words, by their actions and inactions. </p>
<p>That said, however, my quick reading of many postings leads me to the conclusion that many of the posters care less about the problem of child abuse and cover-up and more about hating Penn State. </p>
<p>As for me I decided that if I wasn’t part of the problem than I should try to keep my focus on becoming part of the solution. </p>
<p>So on that note I made a donation to the Rape Abuse Incest National Network
<a href=“http://rainn.org/proudpsuforrainn[/url]”>http://rainn.org/proudpsuforrainn</a></p>
<p>and will once again this year contribute to Thon at Penn State which is the home of the largest student-run philanthropy in the world. The proceeds support children with pediatric cancer and the entire drive is student run.<br>
[Home</a> | THON.org - Conquering Childhood Cancer](<a href=“http://www.thon.org/]Home”>http://www.thon.org/)</p>
<p>I will also follow this story closely with the hope that the laws are changed to protect the children and writing to my congressman – state and national – in hopes that the laws will change and be made stronger and the penalties for not reporting these crimes are enforceable.</p>
<p>FTK – (Thon slogan – For the kids!)</p>
<p>
Interesting interpretation. I interpret the majority of posts almost completely differently. It seems to me as though many posters are more worried about JoPa and PSU’s reputation than the harm done to the victims in this case. Bit perhaps the difference is that I’m not a PSU student or alum.</p>
<p>aglages, do you having a son applying to PSU? I thought you might and, if so, how does this affect his (and your) thinking?</p>
<p>1moremom: I have a son that was accepted at PSU (CP) last year for engineering. Up until he received his appointment to USAFA we all (especially my son) thought he was going to enroll at PSU. My wife, son and I have speculated/discussed how we “thought” this would have affected him and have all agreed that it wouldn’t have made much of a difference either when he was considering PSU or if he was currently enrolled. Perhaps if he was a recruited football player but not a non IC athlete. </p>
<p>IMHO…this scandal will pass and in the long run PSU will probably be better for the changes.</p>
<p>aglages -congrats on your son being accepted to USAFA ( a year late!)! Such an outstanding opportunity and I would certainly understand how that could trump anything else.</p>
<p>Many years ago, when my DH was a senior Oceanography major at George Washington, he was recruited for the Navy (as an officer) and ultimately was rejected for health (eyesight) issues. To this day - something he regrets. But, I just keep reminding him that – HAD he gone with the Navy, he never would have met ME!! 
Note: he ended up getting his Masters from Duke. Not bad.</p>
<p>Having talked to good friends who are HUGE SMU supporters (having experience the NCAA “death penalty”), - I agree that this will pass. However, I do admit that the students graduating in he next few year need to be ready to answer questions.</p>
<p>aglages – I share your opinion that PSU will be better for having had this scandal exposed. I don’t know necessarily think it will “pass” but I think that we all will be better for the exposure of the ugly reality of the abuse and the silence…laws need to change. We need to protect our children better. Abuse of children and women are often difficult to prove and I think that because of this that there are many, many more victims that choose to keep the secret than to expose a coach, teacher, or other "trusted’ adult. It’s not a topic that most of us want to discuss. </p>
<p>Grcxx3 — I’m just curious about what type of questions you think will be asked of the students in the next few years. </p>
<p>I have been closely following all of the news…and I am somewhat disappointed that the replacement appointments were all made so quickly and, I think, all came from within the University. I’m sure that there is a great internal talent pool to choose from and I don’t actually know what the diversity statistics are within the power structure…but I would have liked to have seen a longer search and maybe some more diversity in the appointments.</p>
<p>My daughter will only graduate in the top 15% of her class, only has a 1800 on her SAT, and only has a high school gpa of 3.75 . These are lower scores than most admissions to Penn State. I hope all the haters encourage their teens to attend other universities so my daughter will have a better chance to be admitted and get an excellent education at Penn State.</p>
<p>AdvicePlease - a lot of interview questions these days are situationally-based. So I can see interviewers asking students to put themselves in different scenarios based on this scandal - a student caught up in the riots, a football player, a prospective student, etc - and then being asked to talk about what they would do. </p>
<p>As for the replacement appointments, aren’t they are provisional/temporary/interim appointments? That makes sense in order to keep things running.</p>
<p>aglages, that is great.
Seeyahaters, thanks for that. ;)</p>
<p>My H and I were talking about the appointment of Rod Erickson as the new Pres (not interim). I was of the mind that it would send a clear message and be more effective to bring in an outsider. He believes that it would be difficult to find a really good person who is willing to come in and clean up this mess. He says Erickson is a stand-up guy and close enough to retirement that he will be able to deal with this without worrying about his future career at Penn State. Then they can bring in someone new. Makes sense to me.</p>
<p>1moremom - that makes sense to me too.</p>
<p>@1Moremom- Perhaps you missed that Penn State has asked the former FBI Director to head this investigation. The former FBI Director, not a Penn State alumni, will “clear this up”.
[Penn</a> State Hires Former FBI Director Louis Freeh to Investigate - ABC News](<a href=“Former FBI Director Louis Freeh to Head Latest Penn State Probe - ABC News”>Former FBI Director Louis Freeh to Head Latest Penn State Probe - ABC News)</p>
<p>Yes, but we still need someone to run the university, cooperate with investigation and inculcate a culture that will not allow anything like this to happen again.</p>
<p>Grcxx3 – </p>
<p>Hmmn…yes I suppose the students should expect situational questions. My daughter graduated 2 years ago. She attended PSU specifically for the IST program…she was employed very quickly after graduation and had multiple offers. I hope employers don’t pull out of recruitment commitments…there is great talent in the PSU student body.</p>
<p>As for the appointment of Erickson – hope it’s a good one. I would have liked to have seen a longer term interim appointment and then a national and very transparent search for a new President. </p>
<p>I don’t know if term limits are in order for college Presidents but it does seem that there should be some transfer of this position after a set amount of years. Spanier was there for 16 years…that seems excessive to me.</p>
<p>I would also like to see some more diversity in the leadership…and, I suppose, everywhere.</p>
<p>As a freshman at upark, this has been by far the biggest thing to happen to my first semester. I still love penn state and I think most people need to realize that this happened in the past(10+ yrs) and still view Psu for what it is, a damn great place to spend 4 (or 5) years. I hope it doesn’t effect admissions and corporate recruiting either, but I think it might have a small, short term effect. We are!</p>
<p>PSU freshman - i guess we’ll need to wait and see. I can’t imagine recruiters holding the actions of the administration against the students…makes no sense to me.</p>
<p>Have you become involved with the Thon fundraiser? Keep working hard at your school work…this will define who you will become in your future.</p>
<p>This bothers me because it appears that moral conduct is viewed differently for football players than other students. If my child wanted to go to PSU I’d want him or her to be on equal footing and not subject to this unfairness. And that’s the least of the issue. The greater is-- why would any university allow such conduct of any student? “Football” is not an acceptable answer. </p>
<p>[Joe</a> Paterno Fought Penn State Official Over Punishment of Football Players - WSJ.com](<a href=“Joe Paterno Fought Penn State Official Over Punishment of Football Players - WSJ”>Joe Paterno Fought Penn State Official Over Punishment of Football Players - WSJ)</p>
<p>Here is an interesting, student-written response to that article.</p>
<p>[Shame</a> On You, Wall Street Journal - Onward State](<a href=“http://onwardstate.com/2011/11/22/shame-on-you-wall-street-journal/]Shame”>Shame On You, Wall Street Journal)</p>
<p>It is noted that the author of the article in onward state does not dispute the truths about what was written saying it was out of context. Also I take issue with him complaining that the replys to her email were not included. If memory serves me right, you dont have the same latitude publishing someone elses emails as you do yours.</p>
<p>I would have to agree with the professors from PSU interview yesterday. The damage will last for decades, and the scandal will never go away. One has to hope that Penn State goes forward from this and corrects everything that went wrong with this system.</p>