- Penn State students riot upon learning of Head Coach Joe Paterno’s dismissal
Living in a Top Ten College football town myself (Columbus, OH), I’m all too aware of how passionate both students and members of the community can be about the game. That said, I’m stunned by the thousands of Penn Sate students who rioted and destroyed property Wednesday night in angry protest of the dismissal of their Head Coach, Joe Paterno.
The facts: One of the assistant coach’s of the Penn State Football team, Jerry Sandusky, has apparently been sexually violating little boys for years. In 2002, another coach actually witnessed Sandusky raping a 10-year-old in a Penn State locker-room shower. The 6’5″ witness did not try to stop the rape and did not call the police. But he did do what many other members of Penn State Football “cult” might have done when confronting a potential scandal, he informed the High Priest of the community: Head Coach, Joe Paterno.
Paterno, also elected not report the event to the appropriate authorities, but he did take away Sandusky’s keys. Did Paterno think that by taking away Jerry’s keys to the locker-rooms he was going to put a stop to the molestation? Or did Coach Paterno just want Sandusky to take his private business off campus?
Sandusky’s evil history came to light in the last week along with the fact that the patron-saint of Penn State, Coach Joe, knew what was going on. On Wednesday night, the trustees of the school appropriately dismissed Joe and the school president, Graham Spanier.
News of Saint Joe’s dismissal drove thousands of Penn State students into a riotous, destructive-emotional frenzy. Apparently, many Penn State students didn’t give a damn about any child molestation scandal; they just couldn’t deal with the prospect of THEIR favorite coach no longing leading THEIR football team. Some students interviewed on camera during the Wednesday night brouhaha, spoke of how “unfair” it was for such a great man to be treated this way.
But what about those annoying incidentals like: morals, ethics and the law? What about the well-being of the victims? “Don’t know – so I don’t care?”
The Wikipedia definition for: he·don·ism/ˈhēdnˌizəm/
Noun: The pursuit of pleasure. The ethical theory that pleasure is the highest good and proper aim of human life.
Penn State is not a school for dummies. A person has to have pretty good grades to get in there. So what does Wednesday’s riots tell us about some Penn State students? A person can have “book smarts” but still be selfish hedonist with no scruples?
“My needs, my pleasure, my self-interests always take priority over the common welfare.”
If I were a leadership development recruiter for the Republican Party, I’d be planning on spending some extended time in State College, PA.
Tent of Abraham 
Hmm, I wonder if you even read the Jury Report, because you are not getting the facts straight. Paterno is a Penn State employee and does not have the power to take anyone’s keys…
He also reported the incident to both a university official and a head of the university police.
Could he have done more? Ehmmm and what more appropriate authorities are there? You mean President Obama?
Oh, and did you know that one of the trustees admitted to having fired Paterno because of all the media attacks on him? (Hence the media truck getting destroyed)…
I could go on and on, but it’s not worth it. You people will just keep pouring out all your crap on him just because you don’t know anyone else from Penn State, are too quick to make a judgment, and too lazy to support your argument with facts…
ER, you comment reflects the standard response of people who can’t handle the truth: launder the facts and shoot the messenger.
1. Your suggestion that as his boss, Paterno couldn’t have taken Sandusky’s key’s away is so ludicrous as to not be worthy of a direct reply. You are either a very young person who hasn’t been out in the work world yet, or you are an old curmudgeon who never supervised others.
2. You are the first an only person I know of to suggest that Paterno told campus police. If he did, they too must be held accountable for the child molestation that went on after the 2002 reported rape. In fact, the head of the PA State Troopers said that if he had been made aware of what was going on, Sandusky would have been in jail years ago: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hbx-Y-NGE35iPoPp9eXT_0vuDGAg?docId=641ef0e4e5bc43d2aefea8f02a0cc4a2
If someone told me that another person was sexually violating little children, I would never again go to sleep be before I knew that that person was in jail. How many years did Paterno know about this?
3. Of course the Trustees fired Saint Joe because he was doing damage to the school’s reputation. duh? Anyone who would-not take immediate action against Saint Joe doesn’t have a sense of right and wrong.
All considered “ER,” (love how brave you are to use just initials,) its readily apparent from your comments that YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM AND NOT THE SOLUTION. You are clearly not in a position to be lecturing anyone on what is or isn’t factual.
It is all about power and profit. This whole ordeal has truly sickened me. A graduate of Purdue, another Big 10 college, this really struck home. College sports is no longer the same as it was when I first started (1982). Power and profit. I hope all who knew are all prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. http://motleynews.net/2011/11/10/the-penn-state-sandusky-cover-up-all-for-profit-photos-video-of-student-riot/
Schultz was in charge of university police when this occurred. Also, because Sandusky was retired, Joe Paterno was not his boss. These are a few facts you should know.
Frank, thank you for making that point about Sandusky having already retired by 2002 when he was seen raping a 10 year old in the Penn State locker room shower. That said, if Paterno was in fact advised about the incident the next day, he -like anyone else who knew about what Sandusky was doing to little boys, must be held accountable for what did or didn’t happen to Sandusky until last week. I stand by my response to E.R. that I if someone told me about an active pedophile, I wouldn’t rest until I knew the person was no long a danger to anyone.