[Husker] PSU report

[Steve Reichenbach]

I haven't read the report, but from accounts, it should lay to rest the
earlier defenses that some offered for Paterno (e.g., "he reported it
to his superiors") and others who engineered the coverup.

I don't think it makes sense to expel Penn St from the conference.  The
fault was mostly with those who are being brought to account.  For those
who put much stock in "institutional failure" (including, evidently, the
report), I can only say that there aren't very many institutions that
have institutional procedures in place that would thwart five levels of
administration (McQuery, Paterno, the AD, his boss, and Spanier) who
secretly conspire to cover up criminal behavior.  Really, I suspect that
in matter of degree, almost all institutions (not only universities, but
also corporations, hospitals, and governments) sometimes decide to try to
hide dirty laundry and are usually successful.  It is just that this is
time the secret was more terrible than most.

In that, I think that this is more a tale of individuals than of the
institution.  And, it is a tale told many times in many ways, of people
who can't make the difficult choice of doing the right thing when it
appears to be painful to their personal interests.  In that, this too is
a matter of degree --- some of the most powerful men in their business
protecting their roles in one of the most prominent enterprises in the
country.  Spanier appeared to be an upright man, but you don't get to
be where he was without big ambitions.

For other similar stories, look to the financial pages and the LIBOR
scandal or the recently failed Peregrine Financial.  Success is soon
taken to be something that is protected and then sometimes used to
improper advantage.  Of course, there are and will be calls for new
procedures, but regardless of the insitutional procedures put in place,
the institutions and their procedures still will be implemented by
humans with a propensity to avoid personal difficulties.  For that,
I think swift and strong penalties for the wrong doers themselves help
balance the scales for those making future decisions much more than
institutional procedures will.



> Paul, I'm not sure I don't agree with you.  I'm not ready to call for the
> expulsion from the conference, have to hear more about that, but my mind is
> definitely changing.  At first I didn't see what an institutional
> punishment would accomplish.  But this was a conspiracy among the
> president, vice-president, athletic director, and head football coach to 1.
> cover up the crimes of a child molester, and 2. allow the child molester to
> continue to molest children for 14 years.  This whole thing is
> inconceivable. Yes, I get it that the 3 surviving people in the conspiracy
> are being punished.  Fine.  But right now I want anyone with a hammer to
> smash anyone and anything to do with PS.  And if the NCAA has a hammer, or
> the Big 10, or the Dept.of Education... by all means smash away.
> 
> Dave
> 
> > After taking a quick look at the report I'm wondering if the suggestion to
> > remove PSU from the B1G doesn't have merit.
> >
> > If PSU is allowed to maintain all of its current status and positions the
> > the goal of the coverup worked.  They protected the University.   Unless
> > someone is willing to make the price for covering up crimes worse than the
> > price of reporting them there will be coverups.