A request for some kindness for the Penn State alums among us

[Patiod]

OK, let's start by saying that I've been following all the "molesters suck" threads, and have seen few if any defenders of Sandusky or his enablers (and until proven differently, I'm including Paterno among the enablers). I think we all agree that there needs to be trials and punishments. And the people on DU who have been abused themselves, for whom this has to trigger a lot of pain: I've been thinking of all of you, and holding you in the Light.

And as for the boys (it was mostly boys) who rioted: they need a good, swift kick in the ass.

Having said that, I've had it with the broad brush. There are tens of thousands of great kids at Penn State. There are tens of thousands of students, professors and townspeople who had nothing to do with the cover-up (or riots).

Here are some of them, out to support the victims on Friday night


Here's another great group of Penn Staters:

You know what they're doing? They're holding up numbers, which represent last year's total of money raised for the Four Diamonds Fund at Hershey Medical Center for children with cancer and their families. If you can't read it, it comes out to about $9.5 million. Raised last year alone.

I post this total every year on DU, and my posts sink like stones, because we are all outraged by some disgusting pervert or some testosterone-poisoned boys tipping over a new van, but we don't get all that riled up by young people raising nine fucking MILLION dollars for kids with cancer.

So all I'm saying is that before you get out the broad brush to post a joke or make a comment like "maybe it's more like 'creepy valley'" or make a blanket condemnation of the entire school, just remember that there are a LOT of good young people up there. People who stand out on street corners in the rain and snow and sleet raising money for kids with cancer. People who are just as angry as you are about the abuse and betrayal.

[Suich]

1. Thanks, Patiod!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[JohnnyLib2]

2. Good post.

:thumbsup:

[Spazito]

3. I agree everyone should not be tarred and feathered over this...

it is unfair and, to be honest, it diverts the attention to the issues surrounding this heinous crime, imo. As an alumna, do you know if the alumnus are looking at working to change the culture surrounding the cover-up and lack of action in the investigations on the part of law enforcement? The reason I ask is that having the alumnus take a strong and public position on this and announce actions they, as a collective body, are going to take toward this end would carry great weight in the community as well as at Penn State itself.

[AlinPA]

4. The students who collect that money do it in cold freezing weather, standing near

shopping centers, intersections all over PA during their breaks and weekends.

[enough]

5. Sorry I was the one who said "creepy valley." I am a life long Pennsylvanian,

half my uncles and aunts went to Penn State, half my cousins, and half of my children's friends (with whom we are still in touch). It may seem unbelievable, but when I said that, I was thinking not of the school, but of the neighborhood, the place where people live over time while an endless stream of students come and go, the place where institutions and human power structures get entrenched, just as they do in any location where some people stay for a long time, and some people just pass through.

I was, though no one will believe me, not talking about the many generations of students, but of the power structure in the place.

[Patiod]

9. Thanks, enough

:hug: :hug:

[enough]

11. Thank you Patiod. These are sad times in PA. (nt)

[MADem]

10. I believe you.

It's a real shame that the students and alumni of that school are painted with the broad brush, but the very sad fact is
that brush was dipped in the paint pot and flung all over by Sandusky, Paterno, MqQueary and the board of directors. That crew is solely responsible for having tarnished the reputation of the school, and they are the ones who are responsible for all this blowback, not the people who are simply expressing a very natural disgust over what happened there.

One can feel sorry that those students are trapped attending a university that is, like it, or not, going to wear a huge stigma for a VERY long time, and that alumni will have to deal with snickers, crude jokes and eye rolls (which is how lots of people process uncomfortable and brutal happenings, by snarking), but the ones to blame for that aren't DUers or anyone who makes comments about what happened at that school.

The blame is squarely on all those once-worshipped Nittney Lions Big Shots who put a hundred-million-a-year football program ahead of the safety of little kids, and did not give two shits about those kids, OR the students and alumni who would be humiliated and angered when their little cover-up fell apart.

[butterfly77]

6. I wonder...

how many of them were out there protesting the first night and if any of them help overturn the van..

[Bunny]

8. I'm sure every last one of them was.

There couldn't possibly be innocent, civic-minded students at Penn State.

[butterfly77]

15. So I guess that means..

we can't talk about or point out the perpertrators. Lets sweep it under the rug and cover up the rape because it will make the college look bad.Bullshit!

[Bunny]

17. LOL!

[Patiod]

12. Not the majority

And as I mentioned, looking at the pictures, the vast majority were guys.

[Bunny]

7. Oh forget it, Patiod.

You're all forever tainted by the shame, at least on DU anyway. We've got the broadest brush in the world.

[femmocrat]

13. No one needs to feel embarassed or ashamed except the people who were involved in the scandal.

And that includes Gov. Gashole (Corbett) who used the scandal to get rid of Spanier :

http://articles.mcall.com/2011-11-11/news/mc-penn-state-paterno-new-president-20111111_1_tom-corbett-campus-closures-penn-state

Some are saying that Corbett could have investigated it more as Atty. General as well.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/11/sports/ncaafootball/tom-corbett-pennsylvania-governor-couldnt-discuss-inquiry.html?_r=2&hp

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=175x19353

[hootinholler]

14. Thank you

I've tried to point this out. Maybe this time the message will get across.

[WilliamPitt]

16. I have friends and family who are alums.

Your thoughts are most welcome.

:toast:

[PRETZEL]

18. Class of '81

Penn State is more than the football program.

I want justice for those kids and anyone else who's been harmed by not only Sandusky but anyone who's ever taken advantage of any child.

Penn State has always been a first rate academic institution and always will be.

The actions of a few whether they be in the most powerful positions there cannot supercede the works of so many fine professors and students who are there to learn and make themselves better people.

There's probably fifty some thousand students at Penn State. A thousand or so immature kids do not make the student body.

[snooper2]

19. They may be good young people but for being in an institution of higher learning

nobody taught them how or what a space is? :rofl: :P