Joe Paterno ousted from Penn State earlier today.
I understand that the inaction by Joe Paterno changed a few lives but are people so quick to say he was a horrible person for not doing enough. He even claims that in hindsight that he wishes he would have done more, but I don't think the decision of picking up a phone is such an easy one to make. You have to keep in mind the mentality of this type of issues differs from generation to generation. When Paterno was growing up this sort of thing was rarely talked about and you didn't talk about it as opposed to our generation which openly speaks about these issues. In addition was it his place to pick up the phone and follow up with the police for a sexual assault type case after he had reported it to his superiors? He already made one call to his superiors and based on what they saw, they made the executive decision or indecision.
The two things that I find the most interesting are the fact that this investigation is not over and everyone responsible was not ousted together (Curley and McQueary are still there at the time of this post). The second thing is something that I do not understand completely. Why is it that an inaction, effecting only a few people, overshadows the positive impact that Paterno had on the men and women surrounding Penn State for over 61 years?
