Nevertheless, the public has a right to now about this pension.
Does the public have a right to know what your retirement benefits are?
Penn State is not part of the government, despite what some people think. Penn State is a private land grant, far more similar to Cornell or Rutgers than a state university, the suggestive name to the contrary notwithstanding. Pennsylvania has a state university system. It is not associated in any way with Penn State.
Some years ago, the judiciary ruled that because some PSU employees participated in the State Employees Retirement System, the pensions of (some) PSU employees should be public. PSU employees who opted for TIAA/CREF were not affected by the ruling. I believe the judge erred in that determination.
But even if I accept your point, the public is not entitled to believe that Penn State is paying this pension. It isn't. It has no power whatsoever to affect this pension by even one penny. The amount paid out, and loss of benefits when applicable is determined completely by law.
This headline, and this story is -- like most of the stuff published at PennLive.com -- a load of crap. This web site is a front for the Patriot News. That newspaper is an apologist for every bad liberal idea that has been brought up or imported into Pennsylvania for the last sixty years. There is virtually no other story printed in that rag that any conservative would credit, but, because it satisfies the blood lust of the Paterno haters, it's suddenly credible on conservative blogs.