The Needs of the Few?

I am confused…..for months now we have been hearing about Sandusky and JoePa and the Freeh report and how we need to protect the children and now it comes down from the NCAA that Penn State wins from 1998 are wiped out and no bowl games for four years….can someone tell me how that is protecting the children?  People and a program that had NOTHING to do with the scandal are being punished, I must be slow because that seriously does not compute. 

I used to be a big Star Trek fan and there was always a line that Spock said that made complete sense to me, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one.”  Now we have the NCAA considering the needs of the few and hurting the needs of the many.  This is going to help the victims?  How?  Young men who played their hearts for their school for over 14 years are now the scapegoat for a sick twisted individual and mistakes made by others.  I am not getting this.

I am not excusing JoePa, but what gets me is that he is now dead and can be easily thrown under the bus for the cause.  His statue is now gone and his reputation is tarnished because he did too little.  So I guess he should have beaten Sandusky to a pulp?  Should he have fired him?  Yes, but did anyone stop to think that maybe Joe did not think that a man he had known all those years could do something like that.  How many of you have heard of or had it happen to you where a rumor or an accusation ruined your career or reputation forever or for even a little while on heresy?  Joe went to the people he thought would take care of the situation and THEY did nothing.  Should he have done more, probably, but to vilify him and then say he defrauded the university and the people?  Really?

Now those out for vengeance have drawn first blood.  They have stripped a PROGRAM because an INDIVIDUAL was sick.  That is plain wrong, inappropriate and devastatingly the move of a public with seriously misplaced anger.  Why aren’t you calling for all the monies that Sandusky and his family were given to be given back to the victims?  Why is the outrage not focused on him and the young assistant coach who reported Sandusky to his father and then to JoePa?

Not only does the situation make me sick that people like Sandusky exist, but those who want a school to suffer, a program to suffer, other kids to suffer, for the actions a few people makes me ill to my very core.  Serious evil exists in this world when people like Sandusky walk the earth, but it also exists when others want suffering of people who had no hand in the crime.

Throw the Dead Man Under the Bus

I have watched the whole Penn State scandal and then listened to the Freeh report this morning and I have to say that I am disappointed and a bit angry.  First of all let me put a disclaimer here so as to not be accused of making light of a serious situation.  As for what has gone on it's appalling to me that people would want to blame the dead man.  Joe Paterno is being painted as the bad guy in this whole sick twisted situation because he is not alive to defend himself and I find it pitiful that the Freeh Report came out as it did and the media is now eating it up that Paterno is a horrible human because he allegedly did nothing.  Why are we not blaming who actually committed the crime and the young man who witnessed behavior that was not in the least appropriate?  JoePa was allegedly told that Sandusky was dealing with young boys in a manner that no one would approve of,  he did his due diligence, he told the administrators and they chose to do nothing.  McCreary witnessed the acts and went to his father and then to JoePa.......why not to the police?  Social Services?  The parents of the child?  Yet JoePa is now the scapegoat and is conveniently not here to defend himself.  This opens the gate for survivors to sue the Paterno estate.  How is that going to wind up being fair?  Paterno's widow had nothing to do with this whole issue and she and her children have every right to live out the rest of their lives quietly and with dignity. 

We as a society are constantly looking for someone to point a finger at when something goes horribly wrong instead of taking responsibility for ourselves or placing it where it should go, on the individual who committed the act.  Joe Paterno gave decades of his life to that school and money to boot.  His players were expected to be upstanding young men and for years and years Penn State football was a respected program, now because one coach chose to sabotage his career, reputation and life we are all ready to sully a good man's story.  How are we much better than the hate mongers that we propose to despise?  Not much.

Get Your Facts Straight

Just out of curiosity I did a google search when one of the residents of Johnsontown created a picture of the present day train station and the old one.  Then the discussion moved to when that one had burned down.  What I found were not facts about that incident, but some disturbing blogs and ill thought out articles stating that Downingtown did not need a new train station because the present one was less than 20 years old.  Skimming some of the blogs it was evident that none of the writers had even seen the station in it's present state.  I wanted to set these people straight but I wasn't about to log on to every blog account out there or register for every news service that I could.  So I come here.

Yes, it's true the train station is only a little over 20 years old.  However, it is not ADA compliant and it is the only one on the R-5 line that is not.  The pass through tunnel smells like a urinal on good days and I try and stay away from it on really hot ones, and parking and traffic can be quite challenging on any given day the line is running.  The other misinformed bloggers also complained that D'town had 213 parking spaces.  What they did not mention is that there are quite a few people that are dropped off and or walk to the station from various parts of town.  The station is sometimes only a mile away from different sections of D'town.  It was also not mentioned that parking for the train station also limits the spaces available for Johnsontown Park goers to put their vehicles.

I will tell you that I am staying skeptical about the new station, but this is only because I am waiting to see what they propose to do with the old once it is built.  The west end of town tends to be a forgotten entity and it has taken the hard work of many residents to bring it to the forefront even in the small capacity that it is now being recognized and I am sure along with many residents of particularly Johnsontown we don't want an eyesore existing at one of the entrances to our little burg.  However with that being said I challenge these bloggers and news people to actually come and see the present station, watch the flow of traffic, see how many spaces are used and how many people walk, and then try and get a wheelchair up to the platform.  Then and only then can they accurately describe what our 20 year old station is like.  Don't speculate people, you don't do it well.