<p>What I don't understand is why Joe Paterno is getting DESTROYED by the public. He was told of the incident from another person - he didn't see the actions himself. No one knows exactly what went down on the day he heard about what someone saw Sandusky do because we don't have all the facts yet - some people THINK they do, but the fact is that we don't know the entire story.</p>
<p>So why is he being targeted so much by the public and the media? Paterno was a Penn State grad who made many, many, many appearances in Penn State's public events. He pushed his football players to maintain their education, and about 89% of his players graduated. He's donated millions of dollars to Penn State. He's one of the most influential figures of his university and the college sports world. And now all of that seems to mean nothing.</p>
<p>What gives. Seriously guys? I HATE Nittany Lions football with a passion but I've always respected Paterno and he shouldn't be under this huge of a fire right now. The focus should be on Sandusky who actually sexually abused the kids...</p>
<p>JoPa graduated from Brown - not Penn State… I have issue with the board telling the guy over the phone - how many years of service and how many millions in donations - he deserved a face to face firing…</p>
<p>The administritation needed to take a “clean house” policy lest they lose millions of dollars in donations, fewer applicants etc. That’s the sentiment that the media is picking up on.</p>
<p>Is the guy an idiot? Maybe. Is he evil? Christ No! Have you seen the interviews? He’s a doddering old grandpa.</p>
<p>Floridadad, it was reported to him in 2002 by the grad student, 3 years after Sandusky retired. There is definitely something different about this than we know. Why did the AD not act? Why didn’t the administration? Why is it just now coming to light? This runs deeper than the athletic department.</p>
<p>Have *you * read the grand jury report carefully? Then maybe you won’t be wondering why he’s being “tarnished.” This is the Catholic Church all over again. It’s disgusting.</p>
<p>Of course I read the report, and I know why he’s being tarnished. It’s just not fair that Paterno is taking the majority of the blame when there were several more people who played a role (some of which were even bigger than Paterno’s) in this.</p>
<p>College students, you and your University superiors do not live in a little fantasy world, where you can make your own rules and decide what is right and wrong.
I know, I know, your illegal alcohol and drug use, and even your sexual escapades gone wrong are ignored so often that I can understand why you might think this way.</p>
<p>How would you feel if your little brother was one of the victims?</p>
<p>This is not a media frenzy, It is a reaction to years and years of pedophilic abuse abetted by the lack of reporting by many many who should have done so by communicating with the Law outside of the University walls.</p>
<p>Moral relativism at its finest.</p>
<p>JoePa may not be the worst villain in this case, but he is a part of it. The entire University administration, the Trustees, all are at fault and possibly “liable.”</p>
<p>My question is whether the victims, their parents, and their doctors ever reported anything… Maybe they did and…</p>
<p>I honestly can’t believe my mom and brother tried to justify his actions. They said he did the right thing by telling his supervisor and that calling the police would have been excessive. Morons.</p>
<p>I read the report. doesn’t seem like their was a cover-up, or at least it wasn’t very deliberate. my guess is that the people that didn’t see the abuse (like paterno), that got the first-hand accounts instead, were not able to acknowledge it. When you hear something so horrible like that, and when you haven’t actually seen it so it’s not undeniable, then a common human response is to refuse to believe because the truth would be so devastating to accept.</p>
<p>It’s like the typical response from parents after being informed that their kid has unexpectedly died. At least in the movies it’s always - you must have the wrong house, or no that can’t be, and so on.</p>
<p>of course, the continued disappearance of their kid eventually gets them to come around. But Paterno didn’t have continued reminders of what had happened.</p>
<p>yeah, i don’t really think it’s acceptable. lots of people would have done more than he did. but I don’t really think punishing him for his inaction is acceptable either. But like how he reacted, it would be very understandable.</p>