Reflections on the Sandusky Learning Curve.

This is an unedited, direct copy of my reaction(s) to the Sandusky Scandal, less than a month after the BOT firing of coach Paterno and the resignation of President Spanier:

12-04-11 repost from TDC group page

by Owens Family (Notes) on Sunday, December 4, 2011 at 7:55pm

People ask me a lot of questions. This is about all I have...
Re: Sandusky
For those of you who subscribe to the mantra “Knowledge is Power,” I will insist that whatever credence I give to your journalistic efforts will be based on just that...knowledge. That standard will apply forever to your opinion(s), also. Embrace the notion.
In this profession, especially, I hold people more accountable for what they pen and “gut reaction” is no excuse. Gut reaction is also the cause for projectile vomiting...and I note the similarities.
Here’s what I bring to the table: I am a graduate of State College High School and Penn State University. I am a former student/athlete. I have a lifetime investment in all things Happy Valley and Blue and White. I have been working in publishing for almost 50 years. I am better informed than most and may well know more people in the eye of this storm than most. And here is what I know about what actually happened:
Not much.
I believe that renders my opinion useless and I am trained to not speculate when other peoples’ lives and reputations are at stake.

I do, however, have a few things worth mentioning:
- I am constitutionally incapable of guilt by association. I don’t need time to heal, because I didn’t do anything wrong. Neither did the student body at Penn State nor the inhabitants of Centre County. I am a proud Nittany Lion and anyone who has a problem with that can come see me about it.
- I’m pretty sure I was against child sex abuse before this event. Do we need a show of hands? Collective guilt, after the fact, is an interesting phenomenon that somehow makes me uneasy.
- I don’t abandon my friends.
- “Success with Honor” is a noble goal. It is not meant to be assigned to any person, place or thing.
- Vigils and “riots” look like photo ops.
- Town Hall events are PR.
- “Transparency” is the new buzzword.
- A former FBI director has about as much authority to interrogate people as I do. He just has a cooler title.
- Anyone who has dealt with a Board of Trustees, Board of Directors, etc., at any level, knows the downside of accountability issues.
- I don’t brag about what charities I donate my time, not money, to.
- Why would anyone feel guilty for donating to The Second Mile if their heart was in the right place when they did it?
- Has anyone besides me even looked at the financial statements for RAINN?
- I fight back when I’m attacked. I know, I’ve always been a candidate for anger management therapy, but still...not a single soul stood up for us during an unprecedented barrage of sweeping accusations against an entire community and university. Instead, everyone either curled up in the fetal position or distanced themselves. Pitiful.
- Lions don’t cry. Embrace the teardrop, if you like. I get it. I prefer that everyone gets off their collective asses and DO SOMETHING...and I don’t mean design t-shirts and logos.
- The perjury charges were the most damaging. So, what is the criteria for deciding who is a credible witness?
- A presentment doesn’t actually prove anything.
- In the same vein, just because a prosecutor or a defense attorney says it, doesn’t make it true.
- I don’t use the word “victim’” until it is proven...and, as anyone who has taken journalism law courses will tell you, the word “alleged” is not our get-out-of-jail-free card.
- Tom Corbett is knee-deep in this.
- “Teaching moment,” my ass. Typical academic reply to a real world tragedy.
- ESPN is out of control. It belongs over on the A&E or SciFi channels.
- My contempt for broadcast news is well documented. Overwhelming evidence supports me on this matter.
- It falls to us to remain objective, concentrate on the facts and maintain some form of journalistic integrity amidst a storm of emotional, irrational and irresponsible commentary. The students I work with have shown more dedication and resolve to get it right, under enormous pressure, than their counterparts out in the world. That’s a fact that I get to witness every day and they are my only hope. My generation has become a hopeless embarassment to me.
- By the way, if you witness a crime, report it to law enforcement. You may want to make certain that there is documentation.