A Slightly Different View of The Penn St. Scandal

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Friday July 20, 2012 · 8:39 AM PDT

2012/07/20 · 08:39

Over the last few months there have been numerous diaries concerning the pedophile scandal at Penn State University (PSU). The primary focus of almost every diary has been to place the majority of blame on Joe Paterno and the unmitigated power he and the football program held over PSU. Each diary, and the subsequent comments, then attempt to use the scandal as a reason to end the football program and destroy what little is left of Paterno's reputation.

I believe both Paterno and the football program deserve condemnation, however, it is my concern that this is a short-sighted focus allowing for many more responsible parties to escape scrunity.

If the goal is to simply take down the biggest name, or push an agenda that college football has become to powerful, than this attack has merit. However, if the goal is to determine how this scandal unfolded, and put in place practices and programs to prevent child abuse in the future, we need to broaden our examination of what occurred.

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