Senate Says Penn State $60M Fine Must Stay in Pa.

Penn State's NCAA fine will be used for child sexual abuse prevention efforts, training of mandated reporters and other victim assistance efforts based in Pennsylvania.

HARRISBURG -- The state Senate has unanimously approved legislation sponsored by Senator Jake Corman (R-34) which would ensure that all proceeds from Penn State’s $60 million fine are used to fund programs within Pennsylvania.   Lehigh Valley Sen. Bob Mensch, R-24, is a co-sponsor of the bill. The bill passed 50-0. The fine -- which will go into an endowment for programs to prevent child sex abuse or help abuse victims – is one of a number of sanctions imposed on Penn State by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).  Penn State paid its first $12 million installment into an escrow fund in December but the NCAA has agreed not to disperse the money while a lawsuit filed by Corman is pending. Senate Bill 187 would require Penn …

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Penn State Names Athletic Integrity Officer

Julie Del Giorno, chief of staff at Moravian College, has been named the new Penn State athletics integrity officer.

  Penn State has issued the following press release: UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Julie Del Giorno, chief of staff at Moravian College and Moravian Theological Seminary in Bethlehem, has been named athletics integrity officer at Penn State. Del Giorno, whose position has been newly created, will be responsible for the development, implementation and oversight of policies and practices within the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics that ensure compliance and ethical conduct. She will begin work on a part-time basis in March and will commence full-time work in her position on April 1. "Julie is an outstanding choice for this position," said Penn State President Rodney Erickson. "As she begins her work here at Penn State, she will draw on more …

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Tom Corbett: Doing the Right Thing for the Wrong Reason

Gov. Tom Corbett's involvement in the Penn State child rape scandal continues to be controversial

By G. Terry Madonna & Michael L.Young It was a shocker. And it grabbed headlines, not just in Pennsylvania butacross the nation. Governor Tom Corbett in an abrupt turnabout is suing the NCAA for sanctions imposed on Penn State University in the notorious Sandusky scandal. But how should we interpret Corbett's now widely reported intentions? Are they the brilliant political strategy of a governor determined to right a wrong and defend his state against the bullying tactics of an out of control regulatory body? Or are they the desperate flailing of an embattled governor feverishly trying to rescue his own career from a political defeat some predict? What do you think of Corbett's NCAA lawsuit? Tell us in the comments section below. Certainly…

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Tell Us: Is Corbett Right to Sue NCAA?

Do you agree with Gov. Tom Corbett's decision to sue the NCAA over Penn State sanctions?

Gov. Corbett Sues NCAA Over Penn State Sanctions

The state of Pennsylvania is suing after the NCAA sanctioned Penn State.

  Gov. Tom Corbett announced Wednesday that he is suing the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its sanctions against Penn State University. Corbett called the sanctions arbitrary and illegal, saying they would hurt the university, the state and Pennsylvanians. What do you think of this lawsuit? Tell us in the comments section below. (Scroll to below the complete text of Gov. Corbett’s statement.) Press Release: Governor Tom Corbett today announced that he is suing the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), calling its sanctions against Penn State University arbitrary and illegal, saying they would result in irreparable economic damage to the university, the commonwealth and its citizens. “Penn State football has played …

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The Real Miracle on 34th Street: Santa Was Alone with a Child

What was Maureen O'Hara thinking when she let Kris Kringle tuck her daughter in?

There was the most amazing thing on television the other night. No, Survivors weren’t eating live snakes and the gang of “Jersey Shore” didn’t join a 12-step program.  Rather, Old Kris Kringle -- in civilian clothes – was sitting on the edge of the bed of a young Natalie Wood in the 1947 Christmas classic film “Miracle on 34thStreet” talking to the little girl who was tucked under the covers, ready for sleep. Why was that amazing? Because what mother in her right mind would allow a near-stranger alone with her child in a bedroom? Scenes like that oh-so-innocent one have gone the way of the dodo bird, as nearly extinct as heroes who casually smoke in TV dramas and sitcoms. But while we cheerfully say goodbye to glamorizing smoking on TV, …

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tamarya

9:16 pm on Thursday, December 13, 2012

Will try to comment nicely however schools expect parents to teach that stuff, and now you really cannot leave children unattended where we were most likely taught in school that stuff because we were unsupervised a majority of the day and night, when outside playing. And schools would rather teach our kids other things, not important stuff.   more ›

Auditor General Calls for Penn State Reforms In Wake of Sandusky Scandal

Pa. Auditor General Jack Wagner issues 124-page report on reforming Penn State following the Jerry Sandusky child rape scandal

  HARRISBURG - Auditor General Jack Wagner has called on the General Assembly and Gov. Corbett to take charge of reforming Penn State University in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual-abuse scandal, saying that the university’s board of trustees has shown little appetite for enacting the reforms necessary to enhance governance, improve transparency, and restore the university’s tattered reputation. “In spite of its public vow to accept in totality the Freeh Report and adopt its suggestions, the Board of Trustees has taken few substantive steps over the past year to reform itself,” Wagner said at a press conference today on the release of his report on Penn State governance-related issues. “It’s time for the General Assembly, the …

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Top PSU Officials Charged in Sandusky Scandal

Attorney General Linda Kelly announced that former Penn State University leaders Graham Spanier, Gary Schultz and Tim Curley are facing multiple charges in connection with an alleged cover-up of the child abuse of Jerry Sandusky.

By Melissa Daniels | PA Independent HARRISBURG — Three men who headed Penn State University are accused of covering up the horrific child abuse committed byJerry Sandusky. If found guilty, they could face not only prison time but potentially the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in retirement benefits. Attorney General Linda Kelly has announced five charges brought against former PSU president Graham Spanier, and additional charges to former senior vice president Gary Schultz and former athletic director Tim Curley. “This case is about three men who used their positions at Penn State to conceal and cover-up for years the activity of a known child predator,” said Kelly at a news conference here. All are facing perjury charges, among …

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Tell Us: Should Al Pacino Play Joe Paterno?

Is Al Pacino the best choice to play Joe Paterno in a film about the controversial Penn State coach?

  Several reports say Al Pacino will star in a biopic of late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno - although there's no formal deal in place, nor a script or director for the film yet. Is Pacino the best choice to play JoePa? Have you or will you read the book "Paterno" - or see the movie? Tell us in the comments section below. Pacino's manager will produce the film, which is to be based on a new best-selling biography "Paterno" by Joe Posnanski. Paterno died in January at 85 after being fired amid the Jerry Sandusky child rape scandal. There's no word on who might play Sandusky in the movie.

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AG: Lawmakers Should Make Penn State Comply with Freedom of Info Law

If the PA legislature follows Auditor General Jack Wagner's wishes, the embattled university will have to make public most of its internal documents.

By Jared Sichel | PA Independent HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s top auditor has a message for Penn State — things must change. Auditor General Jack Wagner has called on the Legislature to order the troubled university to comply with the state’s Right-to-Know law. “I would hope that this would be a priority in September, and the General Assembly could deal with it prior to the end of the legislative session in November,” Wagner said. The transparency law, which makes public most internal documents at government agencies, now applies to Pennsylvania’s 14 state-owned universities. But Penn State is an independently managed, “state-related” school, and thus exempt from giving the public access to internal documents, such as emails between top …

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