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http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/23/us/penn-state-paterno/?hpt=hp_c1&hpt=hp_c2
The article...
State College, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- Gov. Tom Corbett ordered state flags to fly at half staff beginning Monday in honor of former Penn State University football coach Joe Paterno, who died Sunday.
The flags will remain there through sunset on the day of Paterno's funeral, according to Gary Miller of the governor's staff.
Arrangements for Paterno's funeral were pending Monday, a day after the death of the legendary Nittany Lions coach, whose stellar image was tarnished at the end by criticisms that he did not respond forcefully enough to allegations that a former assistant had molested a child in a shower at the university football complex.
Sunday night, students and Paterno fans braved freezing temperatures to attend a vigil on the lawn of the Old Main building on Penn State's campus. They held candles, locked arms and sang the school's alma mater to say goodbye.
"He's more than a coach; his family's more than a family," said Bethanna Edmiston, a local resident and alumna who met her husband at Penn State.
"It's extremely difficult for the whole Nittany nation," she said. "Unless you're part of Penn State, you just don't understand what it means."
Fans have also gathered at a makeshift memorial to Paterno at a statue outside Beaver Stadium depicting him, his index outstretched in a "No. 1 gesture."
Signs, flowers and candles surrounded the statue, along with photographs of Paterno. "You're our hero," one said.
Paterno's son, Jay Paterno, posted a message to Twitter on Saturday night saying that he had driven by the statue, and that the love and support inspired his father in his final hours.
The support has not been universal.
A group for survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests released a statement questioning the praise for Paterno, who critics say should have done more in 2002 when an assistant reported seeing former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky engaged in a sexual act with a young boy.
Paterno passed the report along to university executives, who are facing criminal charges, accused of misleading investigators and failing to properly report the alleged abuse. Paterno was not charged.
Sandusky faces more than 50 counts involving sexual acts with 10 boys dating back to 1994. He has pleaded not guilty.
The survivors' group, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said Monday that ignoring what it called Paterno's "egregious wrongdoing" was insensitive to victims of molestation.
"And publicly honoring Paterno sends precisely the wrong message to others who have or may hide child sex crimes -- if you achieve enough professionally, we'll overlook your role in enabling, ignoring or concealing heinous crimes against kids."
In his final interview, Paterno told the Washngton Post that he felt inadequate to deal with the issue.
"I didn't know exactly how to handle it and I was afraid to do something that might jeopardize what the university procedure was," Paterno told the Post. "So I backed away and turned it over to some other people, people I thought would have a little more expertise than I did. It didn't work out that way."
Paterno had coached at Penn State for 61 years, 15 of them as an assistant. He died less than three months after he coached his last game, an October 29 victory over Illinois that gave him 409 wins -- more than any other major college coach.
Under Paterno's 46-season tenure as head coach, the Nittany Lions won two national championships, went undefeated five times and finished in the top 25 national rankings 35 times, according to his official Penn State biography.
The article...
State College, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- Gov. Tom Corbett ordered state flags to fly at half staff beginning Monday in honor of former Penn State University football coach Joe Paterno, who died Sunday.
The flags will remain there through sunset on the day of Paterno's funeral, according to Gary Miller of the governor's staff.
Arrangements for Paterno's funeral were pending Monday, a day after the death of the legendary Nittany Lions coach, whose stellar image was tarnished at the end by criticisms that he did not respond forcefully enough to allegations that a former assistant had molested a child in a shower at the university football complex.
Sunday night, students and Paterno fans braved freezing temperatures to attend a vigil on the lawn of the Old Main building on Penn State's campus. They held candles, locked arms and sang the school's alma mater to say goodbye.
"He's more than a coach; his family's more than a family," said Bethanna Edmiston, a local resident and alumna who met her husband at Penn State.
"It's extremely difficult for the whole Nittany nation," she said. "Unless you're part of Penn State, you just don't understand what it means."
Fans have also gathered at a makeshift memorial to Paterno at a statue outside Beaver Stadium depicting him, his index outstretched in a "No. 1 gesture."
Signs, flowers and candles surrounded the statue, along with photographs of Paterno. "You're our hero," one said.
Paterno's son, Jay Paterno, posted a message to Twitter on Saturday night saying that he had driven by the statue, and that the love and support inspired his father in his final hours.
The support has not been universal.
A group for survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests released a statement questioning the praise for Paterno, who critics say should have done more in 2002 when an assistant reported seeing former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky engaged in a sexual act with a young boy.
Paterno passed the report along to university executives, who are facing criminal charges, accused of misleading investigators and failing to properly report the alleged abuse. Paterno was not charged.
Sandusky faces more than 50 counts involving sexual acts with 10 boys dating back to 1994. He has pleaded not guilty.
The survivors' group, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said Monday that ignoring what it called Paterno's "egregious wrongdoing" was insensitive to victims of molestation.
"And publicly honoring Paterno sends precisely the wrong message to others who have or may hide child sex crimes -- if you achieve enough professionally, we'll overlook your role in enabling, ignoring or concealing heinous crimes against kids."
In his final interview, Paterno told the Washngton Post that he felt inadequate to deal with the issue.
"I didn't know exactly how to handle it and I was afraid to do something that might jeopardize what the university procedure was," Paterno told the Post. "So I backed away and turned it over to some other people, people I thought would have a little more expertise than I did. It didn't work out that way."
Paterno had coached at Penn State for 61 years, 15 of them as an assistant. He died less than three months after he coached his last game, an October 29 victory over Illinois that gave him 409 wins -- more than any other major college coach.
Under Paterno's 46-season tenure as head coach, the Nittany Lions won two national championships, went undefeated five times and finished in the top 25 national rankings 35 times, according to his official Penn State biography.
