Quote:
Originally Posted by Lothar
Gladly. Granted, the NCAA is not subject to the same standards as out criminal justice system. The NCAA and member schools can make their own agreements as to what authority exists to levy penalties.
However, my point was that we live in a country that was founded on the notion that individuals are held accountable for their actions, or inaction, in this case. That, unfortunately, is giving way to more emphasis on "the collective". So now, large groups are punished for the actions of a few to "make an example of them".
I guess punishing "Penn State" has more impact than punishing an AD, chancellor, University President, etc. However, the notion that punishment should be levied because crimes were committed to benefit the program is a twisted one, when many in the program had no idea that it was being done on their behalf.
For example, if some crazed lunatic assassinates a candidate for office because he wants another candidate to win an election, this does not make the other candidate responsible for the crime and warrants no punishment other than for the lunatic that acted as an individual.
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I understand your position, but that can't be applied in every example. In the case of PS, the president of the university and key staff, the athletic dept. and others in power or non-restrained freedom to report the incident; they did nothing or not enough to stop the individual and thus condoned the illegal activity. In so doing, they, in effect for over 20 years, systematically incorporated this into the school's standard operating procedures. Same as if they were running a legal front (higher education) for illicit money-laundering or harvesting organs from human cadavers.
However, the payoff was not in illicit profits but instead millions from business-as-usual ticket sales, ad endorsements, TV profit sharing, alumni support, adulation and awards from students, parents, athletes, media and peers..... and their own job security.
A situation where no one should question where the buck stops. I already posted a message with the main players. They were in charge of the enterprise. Let's hope they are brought to justice.
Sherwood