Penn State to respond to NCAA demand within days

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM and RANDY PENNELL

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Penn State said Tuesday it will respond within days to the NCAA's demand for information as the governing body decides whether the university should face penalties - including a possible shutdown of its storied football program - in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

Penn State President Rodney Erickson said he doesn't want to "jump to conclusions" about possible sanctions after the head of the NCAA declared the so-called death penalty has not been ruled out.

The NCAA is investigating whether Penn State lost "institutional control" over its athletic program and violated ethics rules. The probe had been on hold for eight months while former FBI Director Louis Freeh conducted an investigation on behalf of the school's board of trustees. Freeh's 267-page report, released last week, asserted that late football coach Joe Paterno and three top officials buried allegations against Sandusky, his retired defensive coordinator, more than a decade ago to protect the university's image.

Sandusky was convicted last month of sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period. He awaits sentencing.

FULL story at link.



Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20120718/DA031GPG0.html

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Penn State University President Rodney Erickson speaks during a board of trustees meeting at the school's Worthington Scranton campus, Friday, July 13, 2012, in Dunmore, Pa. Penn State’s board of trustees promised a “more active, structured and robust oversight role” in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal to make sure the school never again permits a sex predator to roam free on its campus, the school’s chairwoman said Friday. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

[Punkingal]

1. They should voluntarily shut down football.

But they won't.

[eggplant]

3. That would be the high road, and you're right, they won't take it.

So the NCAA should take it for them.

[Warpy]

6. Sandusky raped boys for what, 15 years when everybody knew?

That's how long Penn needs to be without a football team, let all those corrupt old bastards get put out to pasture and maybe start with a less corrupt bunch--IF they decide to squander money on football again.

[roguevalley]

2. agreed. Since this was about football, the people involved and the coverup to protect it

the death penalty doesn't seem too much to ask.

[Iggy]

4. SHUT DOWN the football program for 3-5 years

anything less proves both the NCAA and Penn State are bogus and it proves college sports=money=God.

a message has to be sent... some colleges are paying their football coaches Millions of dollars per year. they
need to see that enabling a criminal the way Penn St did is unacceptable and will be dealt with
severely

[dballance]

5. SHUT THEM DOWN!

This was an institutional failure due to the culture that worshiped football more than it cared about kid's lives. This culture must be irradicated.

Sucks for them they will lose that $70 million in annual revenue from TV etc.

[fujiyama]

7. If the NCAA doesn't at least suspend them for 5 years

it will prove that it's a joke. What happened at Penn State is just so far beyond any other scandal they have faced. At the minimum they should get what SMU got in the '80s. But the reality is even that's just a slap on the wrist.

I ultimately echo the others posters saying the football program should be shut down, if not permanently, at least for 15 years, the amount of time this shit was going on and the administration turned a blind eye. I'm really tired of hearing whining about the "innocent" students, faculty, and alum. The only victims in this situation are those kids that were raped. I lost sympathy for the student body there when they started rioting when Paterno was fired.

During that time period without a football program, the university should reevaluate its purpose and mission. And if that means fewer alumni donations, so fucking be it. Ultimately, I think ALL universities should start reevaluating the important and significance sports, and college football in particular has in a university. The sad thing is that college sports are a huge cash cow for alum donations and I think these horrific crimes and the callous attitude and cover up could have happened just about anywhere. It's incredible at these times when state funded universities nationwide are facing budget cuts, that football coaches can make several million dollars a year. This is an absolute outrage and it's taxpayer money here. Science labs, potential disease curing projects, and academic programs are facing massive setbacks.

I always laugh when I see DUers bitching about foreign students in universities, because considering the obsession Americans have with college football, at times it seems like foreigners (at least at grad school) are the only ones (aside from the professors) really giving a shit about university academics. Our status as a fat and happy nation may be coming to a close fast. But don't worry, football season is just two months away!

[Monk06]

8. Penn just erected a statue for an accessory, before and after the fact, to child rape.

Penn should be permanently expelled from the NCAA. Else the NCAA's reputation as a governing body is worthless.