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VoiceofReason wrote:Should the former enron employees feel shame over what Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling did, even though they didn’t know?

Even if they didn't know, they lost their jobs when Enron went out of business as a result. It would have been reasonable for Enron employees to be angry at Skilling, Lay, and others involved at Enron and Arthur Andersen. It would have been rather less reasonable if they were angry at the regulators, or companies that refused to trade (associate) with Enron afterward. Similarly, it's reasonable for Penn State students and others to be angry at the Penn State administration, but less so to be angry at the National Collegiate Athletic Association or its members.

“To the best of my knowledge, the normal NCAA enforcement process has not taken place with Penn State. No investigation by enforcement representatives, no notice of allegations, no formal charges against the school. Nor has there been a Committee on Infractions hearing, wherein the school is afforded the opportunity to rebut any violations it is accused of, or a meeting of the committee to assess penalties.” Pat Forde-Sun, Yahoo Sports-Jul 22, 2012.

VoiceofReason wrote:“To the best of my knowledge, the normal NCAA enforcement process has not taken place with Penn State. No investigation by enforcement representatives, no notice of allegations, no formal charges against the school. Nor has there been a Committee on Infractions hearing, wherein the school is afforded the opportunity to rebut any violations it is accused of, or a meeting of the committee to assess penalties.” Pat Forde-Sun, Yahoo Sports-Jul 22, 2012.

I would think there's been no "normal enforcement process" because there's been no violation of NCAA rules. In the case of SMU being given the "death penalty", the NCAA had already sanctioned them for repeated recruiting violations, before handing down that extreme penalty. THAT is what the NCAA is entrusted with enforcing...violations of the NCAA rules. In SMU's case there was no criminal penalty for violating NCAA regulations...no one could be charged or arrested for breaking a criminal or civil statute, and there is no criminal/civil penalty for doing so...the NCAA was the only "authority" that had any say so in punishing them. That's not the case in the Penn State situation...all of the individuals involved, including administration and anyone else that helped cover it up, COULD be charged and face civil lawsuits, if not criminal charges. I think THAT'S why Penn State was so eager to accept whatever penalty the NCAA could dream up...they don't care if it's actually outside the NCAA's jurisdiction...they just want it to be a "done deal" and nip it in the bud.

VoiceofReason wrote:“To the best of my knowledge, the normal NCAA enforcement process has not taken place with Penn State. No investigation by enforcement representatives, no notice of allegations, no formal charges against the school. Nor has there been a Committee on Infractions hearing, wherein the school is afforded the opportunity to rebut any violations it is accused of, or a meeting of the committee to assess penalties.” Pat Forde-Sun, Yahoo Sports-Jul 22, 2012.

The NCAA proposed to Penn State that they (NCAA) use the Freech report as their investigation, and that Penn State agree that all of the allegations of wrong-doing did in fact exist as reported. That takes care of the "normal NCAA enforcement process, investigation, notice of allegations, and formal charges against the school. The Penn State administration (their new President) could have said "heck no, we do not agree with any of that" and let the normal process start, but that would have just prolonged the bad news for Penn State. By admitting to the charges presented in the Freech report, it's like a defendant in a criminal case pleading guilty at the arraingment, and hoping for a lighter sentence. Penn State got that lighter sentence - they could have been sanctioned even more harshly.

Whether you or I or Ford-Sun agree with what happened, remember that the representative of the school, the new President of Penn State, signed off on the NCAA's proposal. You can believe that the NCAA's proposal also weighed in for the school's attorneys as they get ready to defend the school against the myriad of civil lawsuits that have been, and will be, filed seeking civil damages from the university.

n5wd wrote:By admitting to the charges presented in the Freech report, it's like a defendant in a criminal case pleading guilty at the arraingment, and hoping for a lighter sentence. Penn State got that lighter sentence - they could have been sanctioned even more harshly.

Exactamente! Any whinging after the fact should be taken in that light.