Penn State panic

Eli Huscher, Reporter 12/16/2011

Gerald Sandusky, by now a name synonymous with the devil or quite possibly something worse, has, on December 13th, waived his right to a preliminary hearing thus ensuring that his case will go to trial unless a plea agreement is reached. His affair with the law started on November 5, 2011, when a Centre County Grand Jury indicted him for over 40 counts of molestation of young boys. Now, due to the fact that he resides in the United States, he is technically innocent until proven guilty, but the evidence seems overwhelmingly piled up against him. Along with Sandusky being fired for his actions, legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, otherwise known as JoePa, was also fired for failing to report Sandusky’s actions sooner.

Paterno’s untimely firing was a result of his failure to mention a particular scene in the showers that was viewed by the assistant football coach Mike McQeaury. McQueary states that he saw a boy being forcibly molested in the showers by Sandusky, but when he reported it to higher officials, no significant action was taken. While the truth is presently unclear, it strongly suggests that Paterno overlooked the events to keep Sandusky as his defensive coordinator, a job at which he was thought to be quite capable. Gary Schultz and Tim Curley, school administrators, have also been called into court after Sandusky’s alleged endeavors, but that is only for perjury and failure to report critical information. Thus, their fines and/or jail time will be far less significant than Sandusky’s. They both are on $ 75,000 bail and have lost their passports, but do not face serious criminal charges.

Gerald Sandusky, does face serious charges. While he is currently free on bail, he faces life in prison if he loses the trial. He has maintained his innocence in a steadfast manner throughout the entire proceedings, but it remains to be seen whether or not that will convince a jury considering the public opinion towards him is dangerously low.

Sandusky’s actions are awful, not only in their sense of what he did (truly atrocious and mind-bogglingly mailicious acts if true), but also terrible in the sense of what they have done to Penn State as a community and as a school. Numerous people have been fired at his expense, and while his crimes merit such actions, it is disheartening that college football loses a legend in Joe Paterno for something his assistant coach did. John Le, a college football fan and former Penn State fan, says that while “I love Penn state, but it’s different now after what has happened.” Many of the students at Penn state were extremely aggrieved about what happened, holding candle vigils. Contrarily, a large percentage also felt that Paterno should not have been fired. People such as Zack Allen feel especially that “Joe Paterno was a good guy, and deserved, after his years of service, to leave in the manner that he wanted.”