Sandusky reportedly watched Paterno's record win in president's box week before arrest

FoxNews.com ^ | January 12, 2012 | None listed

[Scoutmaster]

Jerry Sandusky reportedly watched Joe Paterno notch his record 409th victory from the president's box a week before the former Penn State assistant football coach was arrested on charges of child sex abuse in November.

A source close to the university's board of trustees told The Patriot-News on Wednesday that Sandusky, 67, was seen in then-president Graham Spanier's box on Oct. 29 and later went to Penn State's Nittany Lion booster club.

Earlier Wednesday, former Nittany Lions linebacker Brandon Short told the newspaper he had been told by two independent sources -- whom he did not identify -- that Sandusky was in Spanier's box for the Penn State-Illinois game.

The unidentified source also told The Patriot-News that the school's athletic director at the time originally did not want to give Sandusky tickets to the game, but Sandusky’s wife, Dottie, was so insistent that he eventually relented.

[Scoutmaster]

It's curious, though, that Graham Spanier had no problem with discriminating against lesbians.

For about 30 years (a decade under Spanier), Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland had a known policy of not recruiting lesbians and of forcing lesbians off the Penn State team. Perhaps Portland got away with it because she was so successful (over 600 career wins).

And when I say a "known policy," it was known nationally. In 1991, a large media story quoting Penn State players about Portland's "no lesbians" recruiting policy. There was uproar and the Penn State Faculty Senate adding a sexual-orientation clause to its anti-discrimination policy that year. But nothing was done about Portland or her policy.

It was only in 2005, when Jennifer Harris, Lisa Etienne and Amber Bland were dismissed by Portland from the team immediately after Penn State lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament that things went awry. Portland was weeding out the lesbians again. This time, however, Harris sued (and later settled out of court). Spanier finally acted.

So Spanier had no problem with a coach discriminating against lesbians for a decade at the same time he's accused of welcoming GLBTEIEIO, and it being know about nationally, as long as the school was winning basketball games and nobody sued.

[BlackElk]

I have heard a little bit about Rene Portland and her praiseworthy policy. Penn State sure does have a policy of keeping coaches in place for verrrry long tenures. I did a brief search on her name in response to your post. Apparently, she graduated in about 1975 from Immaculata College in Chester County, PA. The school is said to be Catholic. Nowadays, few are. OTOH, Rene Portland seems to have kept her faith (and mine) intact through four years there and 36 or so years since.

If the rest of the Penn State Athletic Department displayed her admirable and practical principles, Penn State would not be suffering the ignominy in which it is immersed today.

Just as universities should not be allowed to have police departments of their own because of obvious conflicts of interest for sworn officers, so the faculty of a university would best mind its academic business and try to convey advertised subject matter (hopefully consistent with Judaeo-Christian civilization) to students rather than posing as a politically correct "legislative body." That no one carried out their "policy" prohibiting "discrimination" on the basis of "sexual orientation" or recreational choice or whatever, is simply an indication that the faculty regards itself (themselves) as infinitely more important than more sensible folks regard them.

I think it would be a great idea if Portland were asked to return as university president, followed by resignation of the entire board of trustees and upper management, and let her choose all of their successors. Normal folks would then flock to Penn State once again. If any of the faculty don't like it, they should prove how much they truly care it by resigning and Rene Portland can screen applications for replacements.

I take it that the addition of EIEIO to GLBT is a humorous reference to Old MacDonald who had a farm?

[BlackElk]

That is indeed a very good read. I hope that Mr. Novak is successful in his quest to return to the board and to see a number of trustees elected by the alumni/ae and the PA agricultural community. The status quo that he describes is one of incestuous cronyism among the existing trustees that ought to be viewed as responsible for the mess.

[Scoutmaster]

I take it that the addition of EIEIO to GLBT is a humorous reference to Old MacDonald who had a farm?

Don't know that's it humorous, but I don't know where to stop with the letters. I've seen all kinds of letters added to GLBT. I've seen GLBTQI lately - Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Intersexed. That's not the only list.

[WPaCon]

Glad you like Novak’s post and thank you for being a voice of reason on these threads.

I may actually post the article now as its own thread if it has not already been posted.

[Hegewisch Dupa]

Thank you sir; though I don’t agree with everything you said, you have written about this as thoughtfully and as intelligently as I’ve read from anyone on either side. I understand better now those who don’t call for Paterno’s head. And just for the record, I’d be happy to see Spanier hang.