Is Penn State the same as UPENN?

Is there a happy ending in sight for Happy Valley and Penn State?

• The Sandusky investigation tarnishes Joe's legacy for the worse except in Penn State. Reuters: An online poll conducted on Friday by the Los Angeles Times showed about 82 percent of the nearly 9,000 votes cast were in favor of removing the statue, while newspaper editorials across the country blasted Paterno and other university leaders for concealing the abuse. Then there is Penn State, where Paterno's legacy hasn't really changed. Reuters: After report of abuse cover-up, Penn State still loves Paterno Stacked atop a pile of daisies were handwritten notes left by the stream of visitors on Friday who converged at the 7-foot-tall (2-metre) statue of Joe Paterno. One tribute read: "I Stand By Joe," another "Remember: He was a man, not a God." Among those taking in the scene at Pennsylvania State University was Bridget Deromedi, a 2002 graduate who lives in State College. She stood next to the bronze statue outside Beaver Stadium, home of the team long coached by Paterno, winner of more games than any other coach in the history of U.S. major college football. "They are crucifying him," said Deromedi. "He told the people he needed to tell," she said in response to former FBI Director Louis Freeh's scathing report on Thursday saying that Paterno knew far more about child sex abuse by former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky than he claimed and helped cover it up for years. Sandusky, 68, was convicted last month of sexually abusing 10 boys, some of whom were attacked in the football locker room showers after 1998 when the first allegations surfaced. He faces up to 373 years in prison. After the scandal broke last November, many across the country were dismayed as Penn State students held vigils to denounce Paterno's firing. Much of that support appears to have held strong in the past eight months, even after the criminal conviction of Sandusky and Freeh's report. Across the Penn State campus, sometimes called Happy Valley, football fans and alumni said they expected the rest of the world eventually to move beyond the controversy and allow Paterno's once-sterling reputation to recover. "I don't think here it will be tarnished," said Drew D'Elia, a 2012 graduate from Lansdale, Pennsylvania, who was milling about an art fair near the campus' Pattee and Paterno Library. One football fan said it was a stumble akin to drinking one too many and driving. "This was a mistake, same as if Joe had a DUI," said Jim Gilles, from Minneapolis. "The win/loss column for Joe Paterno did not change because of this." http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/07/13/usa-crime-sandusky-idINL2E8IDHK420120713

• Answer:

  One football fan said it was a stumble akin to drinking one too many and driving. "This was a mistake, same as if Joe had a DUI," said Jim Gilles, from Minneapolis. Yeah, like I got drunk and accidentally raped your virgin daughter. Oops. Sorry, wasn't even drunk. Lets move on. In another venue, they look at this as the Mad Hatters tea party, "Clean cup! Move down" This is called circle the wagons. What ever the transgression, the people needing to keep their icons on pedestals, Literally in this case, and will push away anything which disturbs them. Jimmy Swaggart got a new church, so has Ted Haggred. The Catholic priests are now in monasteries continuing their studies of God. Sports is God to some people just like war is to others. We don't like our icons tarnished. But this is an integrity issue. One of the most visible places integrity occurred in history is when General Patton slapped the private. Patton was one of the greatest Commanders ever. yet Eisenhower relieved him of his command of the Seventh Army. A Few Good Men had Nicholson's character completely bewildered after ordering a red line to a recruit, which killed him.. What did I do? Downey: What did we do wrong? We did nothing wrong. Dawson: Yeah, we did. We were supposed to fight for the people who couldn't fight for themselves. We were supposed to fight for Willie. They forgot they were in the game of life and supposed to be helping the young people find their way. Instead they made it about winning a football game. WBBM Newsradio’s Dave Dahl reports Gov. Pat Quinn’s story about a Special Olympian – Marcy Bobell of Auburn, Ill. “When you were 9 years old, you were leading the race– first place, ready to go across the finish line; break the tape – when you noticed that the girl behind you in second place, stumbled and fell down,” Quinn said, “and rather than finishing first, you went over to the other girl and helped her up. You didn’t finish first in the race, but you’re first in our hearts, Marcy, and we want to thank you for that generous, charitable effort.” My guess is, because the Machiavellian's are in control and being cheered on, Joe will be kept as an icon of success and not one of infamy. The school will go on through the scandal like Kent state, UCLA professors selling cadavers, and the Duke Business School Cheating Scandal. then it will be business as usual. Because that's what it really is, just a business.