Are Pennsylvanians embarrassed about Penn State now? (Franklin, Conway: lawyer, school)

[loves2read]

I am not from PA--but I know that alumni ties and football tickets are big incentives for how government can make choices that help/hurt university funding and other state programs
I see that in my home state which is addicted to football almost as bad as PA is

[joebaldknobber]

The Nobel Peace Prize is worthless. It's just an award given out by wealthy European dogooders to other dogooders.

Originally Posted by Katiana

Are you serious? Until recently, PSU had no Nobel prize winning individuals on their faculty, and the one they have now didn't get his Nobel for research done at Penn State. Only one person who studied at Penn State ever got a Nobel, as well.

Nobel prize-winner joins Penn State — Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences

List of Nobel laureates by university affiliation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by joebaldknobber

The Nobel Peace Prize is worthless. It's just an award given out by wealthy European dogooders to other dogooders.

There are more Nobel prizes than just the peace prize. I'm not talking about the Peace Prize, I'm talking about any Nobel, including those for academic research.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by Katiana

Are you serious? Until recently, PSU had no Nobel prize winning individuals on their faculty, and the one they have now didn't get his Nobel for research done at Penn State. Only one person who studied at Penn State ever got a Nobel, as well.

Nobel prize-winner joins Penn State — Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences

List of Nobel laureates by university affiliation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Nobel Prize is the most overrated award in the world.

[rhondee]

How do you think this scandal will affect the way people outside the state view Pennsylvania? PA has a huge population, so obviously, PA is more than Penn State.

[/quote]

Pennsylvania is definitely more than Penn State. We have many more fine universities in this state. To put in perspective, we have more universities in PA than in Texas and you have twice our population.

The University of Pennsylvania in Phila. is among the top 10 universities ranked in the world.
Pennsylvania is a very diverse state, rich in natural resources and water and is one of the most beautiful states in the nation. I think most educated people outside looking in would recognize the situation for what it is, and not indicative of how the people of PA are.

[SorryIMovedBack]

It's a very bad thing, but in terms of corruption and good-ol'-boyism in academia, "it's just another day." As anyone who has ever seen the seamy underbelly of higher ed in the USA can tell you, the system is rife with nepotism, favoritism, and corruption from the top down. The media should stop hyping this, and start nosing around all the other universities to find some more dirt to dish. I would bet that records have been furiously destroyed and huddles have been called to discuss damage control strategies at any number of them, just in case somebody decides to open up the local can(s) of worms.

No, I am not embarrassed to learn that something like this went on at Penn State and was covered up by the Olde Guard for so many years until the New Guard wanted to jump into the saddle. I am always shocked, shocked! to learn that pedophiles are so often found hanging around schools, churches, youth groups, Boy and Girl scouts, daycare centers, playgrounds, and other places where children and adolescents are. Shocked, I tell you.

[fisheye]

To the original OP from Texas: I just posted this link on the other thread that is running (JoePa out of PSU) http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111113/NEWS/111130345/-1/NEWS16 Isaac W. Sanders was accused of sexual impropriates with six students (they were not kids; they were between 18 to 25 years old). He worked for ESU as vice president for advancement and executive director of the ESU Foundation. He was fired because of the accusations - but was never put on trial. He is currently employed at a college in Texas doing a very similar job.
The good thing about this ugly PSU scandal is that it will put a spotlight on all inappropriate behavior. It could even lead to new laws and codes of conduct. Hopefully it will also help the victims through the healing process.

[Icy Tea]

I'm not embarrassed. More shocked, angry and saddened. I've been up to Penn State campus. I drive by it once a year so I wanted to stop and get a look at the new stadium( built thanks mostly to Joe Paterno) which I did, then I drove around a little bit. They have a huge agricultural program and I saw the dairy complex. Then we walked a little bit around the campus. Its a great University. Huge. With Joe Paterno's help they've gotten donations and put so much money into the rest of the school.
People want to bash football and crucify Joe Paterno( I'd have demanded his resignation BTW, but his firing was poorly handled) but there's no getting past what its done to make that school so successful. And Penn State is a great academic institution and a big job generator for the area with the lowest unemployment rate in the state.
You can't blame Penn State itself or even lower your opinion of it as a school. I'm angry with Paterno, his staff, the university leaders, the trustees and with the local authorities. I look at other school's football programs and what their players get into and am glad Penn State is better. I think people were waiting at the chance to see Penn State get lowered to everyone elses level and now its happened. Pride goeth before a fall. We'll get over it. But right now its important to keep things in perspective and focus on seeing justice done, remembering the victims and to fully investigate and disclose just what was going on.

[Avalon08]

Originally Posted by nativetexasgal

As a Texan, I think there but for the grace of God could go the university from which I graduated. Football is a huge part of the state's culture in Texas as it is in PA. That being said, are Pennsylvanians feeling embarrassed or ashamed about what has happened at their state's flagship university?

How do you think this scandal will affect the way people outside the state view Pennsylvania? PA has a huge population, so obviously, PA is more than Penn State.

I'm curious how people in PA are dealing with the reverberations from this horror. The crimes Sandusky is accused of are almost unspeakable. It's unbearable to think of what the victims went through--every shred of dignity and wholeness stripped from them.

Pennsylvania's a huge state with two major cities on either end and Penn State right in the middle, hours away from the major metropolitan areas, and many other colleges and universities. Both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh have NFL teams, so some football fans don't even follow college ball. And it's not a given that everyone from Pennsylvania is a Penn State fan because it's their home state. Or that Pennsylvanians feel our identity is tied to Penn State. So no, I'm not embarrassed as a Pennsylvanian. I'm just outraged that this could happen anywhere, and my heart breaks every time I think of Mike McQueary leaving that little boy in the shower, and then his father advising him to come to his house so they could discuss what to do.

[SusqueHappy]

Originally Posted by Icy Tea

I'm not embarrassed. More shocked, angry and saddened.

We will not let Lion Pride go down. We owe it to our players, to the community, and to the victims - whose enthusiasm for football and pride in their home team is also damaged.