How will the BOT respond to the Freeh Report recommendations?

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Remarks from BOT Chairman Karen Peetz during the Aug. 12 special meeting

http://progress.psu.edu/resource-li...aren-peetz-during-the-aug.-12-special-meeting

..........I had intended to call for a vote this evening to ratify the Consent Decree. Not because ratification is legally required. It is not. But, rather, because President Erickson's authority had been challenged publicly by some of our own trustees, the leadership of the Board wanted to publicly demonstrate the Board's support of President Erickson and the University's commitment to fully perform and comply with the Consent Decree. We had hoped to clear up any lingering misunderstanding with respect to the Board's and the University's position on this matter. Given that Trustee McCombie yesterday indicated publicly that he has instructed his lawyer to refrain from taking any further action, a formal vote may not be as necessary as we had initially anticipated.........



More at link.....
 
Penn State banks on BNY Mellon executive to fix reputation

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/14/us-pennstate-bnymellon-peetz-idUSBRE87D0D420120814

(Reuters) - Karen Peetz's Penn State homecoming can't be what she imagined, or what her employer had in mind, for that matter.

When the successful New York banker joined the Pennsylvania State University board of trustees two years ago, the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal was still hidden from the public eye.

But then the scandal exploded, tarnishing Penn State's sterling football program and gutting the reputation of one of America's great universities. Peetz, a distinguished alum who was named American Banker's 2011 Most Powerful Woman in Banking, was elected to chair the board in its most trying times.............
 
From post 44 above
Penn State cuts community access to IM Building and Rec Hall:
http://www.centredaily.com/2012/08/1...the-doors.html


If I understand the gist of the new PennSt policies & procedures changes re recreational (i.e. non-class, non-team) related use of the athletic facilities, it's this:
1. Now only a person w. Uni ID can use the facilities and may bring one 'guest.'
2. Now Uni students are supposed to be 'safer' in those facilities because they will be the most common users.

LOOK BACK?
So if these policies had been in place and ENFORCED say in 1998 or 2002 or other relevant times, how if at all would that have changed the outcome re JerSan's activities?
Didn't he have Uni ID which wd/hv granted him access? 1998? Maybe not in 2002.
Didn't he only have only guest at a time?

LOOKING FORWARD
Next month, if a person (such as a Uni prof., coach, staffer, or any other Uni employee) w. Uni ID commits the same actions (showers with, assaults, attacks, sexually molests) a grade schooler or middle schooler guest in locker room...
would these policies do anything to prevent it? To reduce opportunity to do it?
I don't see how.

While these P & P changes may be approp, for other reasons, doesn't seem to me that they address the root of the problem.

Uni had notice of a crime (in 1998 'sting' operation, coach admitted showering & hugging boy & said said I wish I were dead --- common sense tells us that was crime, not horseplay). Okay, at the least, Uni had notice of coach-employee's very hinky behavior on campus way back when 1998.
Uni did not address the prob by firing him, or by taking any other approp. concrete steps then-1998.
Uni did not address prob in 2002 (after McQ reported up the chain of command) by declaring JerSan to be persona non grata and following thru w. it.

How do these P & P changes help prevent or reduce chances of this happening again?

(Maybe P & P sh/bar any one from using facilities other than for classes and group team practice? /sarc/)

Possible P & P change --- training employees about reporting up the chain?
Well, knowledge of JerSan's activities went all the way up the chain (except poss'ly not to entire Bd/Ttees).

If Uni top admin. doesn't want to 'bother' Bd/Ttees w. matters like a coach showering & bear hugging little boy and way more,
top admin. sh have the fortitude to put the coach on the street and properly refer to off-campus LE and Pa child protection ag'y.

Long story, made short:
IMO, changing policies about who uses the facilities doesn't help, if top Uni admin people hear-see-speak no evil.
IMO, trustees retreat, 'training' and new Bd. P & P doesn't help, if top Uni admin cont's failing in future to provide info to the Bd.

I do not see how Bd/Tee sh/hv needed to consider JerSan's actions because top admin sh/hv addressed JerSan in 1998, 2002, etc. and Bd wd/hv had nothing to consider re JerSan in 2010, 2010, 2102.
But in more recent yrs, Bd sh/hv bn addressing top admin's coverup actions in prior yrs. And finally it did-- by firing them.

MOO, JMO, OMO, etc.
 
Rec Hall is a different building, and different showers, than the football building, Lasch Building, where Sandusky was. I have showered in Rec Hall, as a student, but I doubt it a student could have just walked into Lasch and showered.
 
to
J.J. in Phila

Thanks for pointing this out.

I thought the announced changes were formulated w. the classic, but oh-so-elusive goal --
so This Never Happens Again, but seems,
IMO, like this change has virtually no impact on or relevance to the problem they were trying to prevent.
Especially if the P & P changes do not apply to facilities and bldg where JerSan's crime occurred.

I'll go back to the link and reread. Maybe I misunderstood the point of P & P changes entirely.

Or maybe PennSt adminrs thought to selves --
We'll announce a series of P &P changes about facilities usage,
so the gen pub will think we are Taking Measures.
----------------------------------
Edit, after rereading linked article.
I'm seeing the same question from some commenters to that article, in essencse --
how does the change -- excluding the pub w/out Uni IDs --- make the bldg any safer for the students there-
when it was a coach employed by PennSt that committed the crimes?
 
al66pine said:
to
J.J. in Phila

Thanks for pointing this out.

I thought the announced changes were formulated w. the classic, but oh-so-elusive goal --
so This Never Happens Again, but seems,
IMO, like this change has virtually no impact on or relevance to the problem they were trying to prevent.
Especially if the P & P changes do not apply to facilities and bldg where JerSan's crime occurred.

I'll go back to the link and reread. Maybe I misunderstood the point of P & P changes entirely.

Or maybe PennSt adminrs thought to selves --
We'll announce a series of P &P changes about facilities usage,
so the gen pub will think we are Taking Measures.
----------------------------------
Edit, after rereading linked article.
I'm seeing the same question from some commenters to that article, in essencse --
how does the change -- excluding the pub w/out Uni IDs --- make the bldg any safer for the students there-
when it was a coach employed by PennSt that committed the crimes?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I fear that you are right. It is much like many people view the NCAA sanctions and the accreditation warning - it is about the appearance of taking strong and decisive action, even if those actions are largely symbolic.

Now in all fairness, the new access rules PSU announced may be good ideas from a security/liability standpoint; they wouldn't have made a difference in preventing Sandusky from raping children, but that doesn't mean it may not help prevent other crimes in the future.
 
Rlaub44 said:
Unfortunately, I fear that you are right. It is much like many people view the NCAA sanctions and the accreditation warning - it is about the appearance of taking strong and decisive action, even if those actions are largely symbolic.

Now in all fairness, the new access rules PSU announced may be good ideas from a security/liability standpoint; they wouldn't have made a difference in preventing Sandusky from raping children, but that doesn't mean it may not help prevent other crimes in the future.
Click to expand...

Well, it's not symbolic, but precautionary. No, it wouldn't have make a difference last time. It might the next time. I'm sure Sandusky was not the only predator, either on the planet or in Happy Valley.
 
Sanctions, president search on agenda for Penn State trustees weekend meeting

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...347790-eddb-11e1-b624-99dee49d8d67_story.html

The trustees office said on its website that public meetings would be held Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.

A copy of the agenda obtained this week by The Associated Press showed topics including the NCAA sanctions to be discussed Sunday.........
 
Trustee's Public Session: Now in progress

http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/trustees-public-session-now-in-progress-1119497/

The Penn State's Board of Trustees has announced a series of special meetings on Saturday and Sunday at the Penn Stater Conference Center and Hotel, where most activity will be public.

Public sessions of the meeting will be streamed live online. Various committee seminars also will be public. There are no items for action by the board at these meetings and a list of discussion items will be posted by 8 a.m. on Saturday for public viewing.................


Online streaming:

http://www.wpsu.org/live
 
Penn State board head warns of tough times ahead

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - The head of Penn State's board of trustees is warning of difficult times ahead as the school tries to make changes following the child sex abuse scandal..........

"There are some with differing opinions, some who say 'Fight back,'" she said. "While I'm respectful of those individuals, let me be clear: We must not and will not waiver in accepting responsibility and reality. We'll take decisive actions to right wrongs, change and improve processes and operations, and demonstrate values-based leadership in all we do."..........


Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/aug...ead-warns-of-tough-times-ahead/#ixzz24b87ZrFH
- vcstar.com
 
Penn State trustees agree on campaign to restore school's image

http://articles.philly.com/2012-08-...rt-jury-jerry-sandusky-child-graham-b-spanier

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Pennsylvania State University is going on the offensive to restore its battered image.

After months of reacting to one devastating development after another in the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal, university trustees Sunday charted a proactive strategy to rebuild faith in the campus.

The approach, outlined on the final day of the board's annual retreat, includes implementing several recommendations offered last month in an internal report on the university's handling of the crisis, as well as launching a media campaign to emphasize Penn State's achievements.


More at link.....
 
Survivors, Experts to Speak at Penn State's National Conference on Child Sexual Abuse in October

http://www.statecollege.com/news/lo...nce-on-child-sexual-abuse-in-october-1113157/

Survivors of childhood sexual abuse Sugar Ray Leonard and Elizabeth Smart are just two on a list of featured guests and experts who will speak at Penn State's National Conference on Child Sexual Abuse in October.

The Child Sexual Abuse Conference, titled Traumatic Impact, Prevention, and Intervention will be held Oct. 29-30 at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel. It will bring together some of the nation's top experts in child sexual abuse and child trauma research, prevention, and treatment for a public forum on this nationwide problem............

Registration as well as more information on the conference is available to the general public at protectchildren.psu.edu/.

"More than nine percent of children were victims of sexual abuse in 2010, according to the latest national survey, and this doesn't take into account severe under-reporting of this crime. Research shows that child sexual abuse affects children of all ages, both genders, and all ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds. No group of children is exempt. Nonetheless, it remains an issue that the nation finds difficult to talk about," said Kate Staley, a researcher at the Penn State Justice Center for Research, a co-organizer of the event.

More at link.....
 
A lot of attention was given to the criticisms leveled by Vicky Triponey against the "football culture" at Penn State. But a 2007 report on Judicial Affairs recommended the opposite of her stance while there:

The September 2007 report on Judicial Affairs, obtained by the Centre Daily Times, recommended changes — which then- President Graham Spanier implemented. They include in general leaving it to directors, advisers or coaches to decide whether students under disciplinary probation should be allowed to participate in sports and clubs rather than putting that in the hands of Student Affairs, which oversees the Office of Student Conduct.

...
Triponey, who left Penn State in 2007 after four years in the job, has been featured in several news stories following the Sandusky scandal, condemning interference from Joe Paterno in disciplinary matters involving football players and agreeing with the idea of a cultural problem. But her stance on who should decide whether athletes in trouble can participate in extracurricular programs — the person in her former position or the club or sport leader — runs counter to the 2007 report, a product of an independent faculty committee.

 
Reader said:
Survivors, Experts to Speak at Penn State's National Conference on Child Sexual Abuse in October

http://www.statecollege.com/news/lo...nce-on-child-sexual-abuse-in-october-1113157/

Survivors of childhood sexual abuse Sugar Ray Leonard and Elizabeth Smart are just two on a list of featured guests and experts who will speak at Penn State's National Conference on Child Sexual Abuse in October.

The Child Sexual Abuse Conference, titled Traumatic Impact, Prevention, and Intervention will be held Oct. 29-30 at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel. It will bring together some of the nation's top experts in child sexual abuse and child trauma research, prevention, and treatment for a public forum on this nationwide problem............

Registration as well as more information on the conference is available to the general public at protectchildren.psu.edu/.

"More than nine percent of children were victims of sexual abuse in 2010, according to the latest national survey, and this doesn't take into account severe under-reporting of this crime. Research shows that child sexual abuse affects children of all ages, both genders, and all ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds. No group of children is exempt. Nonetheless, it remains an issue that the nation finds difficult to talk about," said Kate Staley, a researcher at the Penn State Justice Center for Research, a co-organizer of the event.

More at link.....
Click to expand...

Hmmm, a conference on child sexual abuse. This should have been on the agenda for Penn State years ago..like maybe 1998. Too little too late. Also, the ones who really need to attend this event won't be there. One's dead, the two others are preparing for a trial. Sorry to be so negative about an important social subject.
 
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