Can someone help me understand why the students at Penn State are rioting tonight?

[Electric Monk]

re: MAYHEM AT PENN STATE: Rioting Students Flip Over News Van, Take To Streets By The Thousands
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2275383


The university president and the football coach retired / resigned / got fired for covering up a decade long pedo scandal. I got that part.

But, are the students rioting because those two got canned? Or because they covered it up for so long? Because the coach will still coach four more games? All of the above, or maybe something else?


edit to add: Because the coach won't still coach four more games? Because the school's rep now made their various studies / degrees in fields having nothing to do with football worth less?

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. Because they are young and stupid.

It is my hope that someday they will regret it. To be honest it seemed more like a party in some ways. An opportunity for them to get out, be seen, get on TV.

[Joe the Revelator]

27. You sound like the right wing bashing OWS.

[ScreamingMeemie]

29. And, from your own OP...I've got my own opinion on what you sound

like, dear. :hi:

[Rebubula]

37. You are amazing

Seriously - what the fuck is your problem?

Are you related to Joe or a Penn State Alum?


JOE KNEW A MAN WAS RAPING KIDS ON SCHOOL PROPERTY AND LET IT CONTINUE!

I think that you may be the 1st ignore I ever do...not because I cannot deal with your words - but knowing you are here is making me ill.

Defending the defenders of a rapist defender....kind of wobbles the mind.

Please stop now...

[butterfly77]

41. Thanks for posting...

my thoughts precisely,WTF IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE!!!

[Nye Bevan]

46. So we are never allowed to criticize young people anymore? No matter how stupidly they behave?

Because it reminds you of people "bashing OWS"?

[liberalhistorian]

61. And you, my friend, in other threads

have been defending those who covered up these CRIMES against CHILDREN and actually blaming the media for causing it. Which I still can't wrap my head around.

[frazzled]

2. Probably because they're all drunk

and care about football more than anything else.

My assumption is that they are upset over the firings of the coach and president. But mostly probably just drunk.

[struggle4progress]

13. Probably most are not drunk. The drinking age is Pennsylvania is 21; most of the

50K Penn State students will be undergrads younger than that; hard liquor is available only through the state stores; and for beer you have to go to a package store, where you probably have to buy a keg or a case; moreover, State College is a rather small town, and any place that regularly violated the alcohol laws would be busted pronto

[melissaf]

18. You have soooo never been to State College

on a football weekend, have you? That place is awash with kegs. When I was sixteen, a friend and I were walking past a frat house, in the daytime, and got offered beers by some of the guys at the party. Oh, yeah, these students are loaded.

[struggle4progress]

26. Actually, I've been to State College many times over the years. I've bought alcohol at the

state store there more than once, and once the guy there threatened to call the cops on me for buying alcohol for a minor cuz he thought the woman I was with was underage (though she wasn't); I've bought at package stores there; and I've been in a lot of the bars near campus. I've tailgated outside the stadium before games. I've strolled by the line of frats down from the lion statue. And, of course, you are right that there is plenty of underage drinking there, even though it is illegal. But on a Wednesday night in the middle of the fall semester, you will not find thousands and thousands of drunk undergrads

[melissaf]

30. Yeah, I'm not sure about that, either...

I think Wednesday night is quickly becoming the new Thursday night for keggers, etc. I'm not saying EVERYONE's drunk. I just wouldn't put it past a good chunk of the rioters to have had a few before taking to the streets.

[JoePhilly]

42. Just saw your post .... matches my post down below .... PSU is a non-stop party.

That's the first time I'd ever encountered a "beer kiss".

A girl would fill her mouth with beer, kiss you, and transfer the beer to you. And you'd keep kissing.

Great way to meet girls. Or maybe catch mono :rofl:

[eShirl]

20. as a former college student, I can't help but chuckle at this post

[ScreamingMeemie]

21. What the ones above me have said and I will add that, in a town like

State College, MIP charges can bring in a lot of money, so blind eyes can be turned until the purchase is made and consumed.

[rpannier]

22. Really?

I went to Washington State University...16,000...and people bought alcohol for underage students all the time and no one was busted.
In fact, I've found through friends of mine, you are less likely to be busted in a small college town because the University is such a powerful force

[JoePhilly]

40. Bwahahahaha!!!!! I went to a PSU game some years ago, we never even went in to the Stadium.

The parties in the parking lot were ENDLESS. And no one carded you. People knew what happened on any given play based on the sound from the stadium.

And the "off campus" apartments all had kegs going 24/7.

Penn State is a huge PARTY school.

[Nye Bevan]

47. HA! That's like saying that *everyone* on I-95 *must* be driving at 55 mph or less.

Because that's the legal speed limit, after all.

[snooper2]

52. you are talking about Pennsylvania not Connecticut

:)

[Hosnon]

65. The drinking age is rarely any real impediment to drinking. nt.

[Speck Tater]

3. There weren't any good toga parties on campus tonight?

Just a guess.

[spanone]

4. they think sports trump humanity

[rufus dog]

5. Becuase they picked a college based upon the football team

nothing else makes sense.

[valerief]

6. The Pope said that Paterno should not have been fired.

Birds of a feather and all.

[melissaf]

24. Seriously??

The Pope maybe should have kept his mouth shut on this one.

[Electric Monk]

28. I doubt it. The pope doesn't care about college football.

[formercia]

43. Link please.

I could not find anything.

[valerief]

50. Sorry. I forgot my sarcasm tag. nt

[MADem]

7. They're up to their ASSES in college loans, at a school that will forever be known as

PEDOPHILE STATE.

So they're pissed. Every time they write that payment check (or see it on their direct debit statement), they'll remember that they went to a school with a tarnished brand name.

It only takes one jerk to shit in the punch and ruin it for everyone.

Not the brightest bulbs on the tree, though, are they?

[Electric Monk]

10. Hmm, yeah, I hadn't thought of that angle. Guilt by association, sort of.

But, this riot just makes that even worse? :shrug:

[MADem]

14. Drinking never helps the thought process, but it always seems like a good idea at the time,

apparently!

[SunSeeker]

25. You nailed it, MADem. They only care about themselves. Like the

graduate assistant who saw Sandusky raping the 10-year-old in the gym shower and, instead of pulling Sandusky off the boy and/or calling the cops, waited until the next day and only reported it to Paterno. Sickening. If Paterno had just reported Sandusky to the police and told the Penn Board to immediately compensate the victim, Penn wouldn't now be known as Pedophile State. And because these idiot students are rioting over the firing of "JoePa" (name sounds creepy in hindsight now, doesn't it?) instead of picketing in front of the Penn admin building demanding prosecution of all who enabled Sandusky, they will continue to be known as Pedophile State. And rightfully so.

[Bill McBlueState]

8. respect for Joe Paterno

They're thinking of the guy who donated millions to the campus library, struck the right balance by putting academics ahead of athletics, never got implicated in a recruiting scandal, won 409 football games, and so on.

It's hard to just turn on a guy you've respected for so long, even given the heinous nature of the coverup.

[Bill McBlueState]

17. on the other hand,

I'm watching the coverage on ESPN and a lot of them are just giant drunks.

[TorchTheWitch]

58. It's only hard for people with no compassion or empathy

or are enormously in denial.

[Brother Buzz]

9. Paterno is gone, like now

Paterno said in a statement Wednesday that he would retire after the season, but the university's board of trustees met Wednesday night and decided Paterno would not be allowed to continue as coach. Assistant coach Tom Bradley has been named interim coach.

[Joe Bacon]

11. Because Football is the religion in Pennsylvania.

I lived there for years. People live and breathe Football.

[TorchTheWitch]

59. bullshit, and I've lived here my whole life

and sitting right here still. Nobody but people who are generally heavily into football give a rat's butt about it just like anywhere else. Don't be tarring all Pennsylvanians with that stereotype brush.

[kestrel91316]

12. They value winning football games more than the mental and physical well-being of

vulnerable children, I guess.

[LynneSin]

15. Those students embarrass Penn State and they embarrass Pennsylvania

And I pray that none of them ever find out that one of her future kids ends up in the hands of a child molester

[handmade34]

38. they are young and ignorant

and I second your sentiment

"...I pray that none of them ever find out that one of her future kids ends up in the hands of a child molester"

[melissaf]

16. I just posted about this in a different thread,

but I think it bears repeating. I grew up in State College but did not go to Penn State. The students riot pretty much on a regular basis, sometimes for very little reason other than drunkenness. But in this case, I think there's more to it than just drunken idiocy (although I'm sure that's part of it).

I think after this news broke and it was clear Joe was leaving, the students were guaranteed to riot, no matter when or in what manner Joe left (retirement, firing, etc.). Joe is pretty much the whole reason why State College has any existence outside Pennsylvania, at least as far as mainstream culture goes. Penn State is out in the middle of nowhere. A LOT of these students come from even further out in the middle of nowhere, and they've structured their whole identity around Joe and a winning football team. So when that's yanked out from under them, yeah, they're going to riot. When you've got free-flowing booze and a massive loss of group identity, where's all that negative energy going to go?

I have to think the board of trustees expected this, and I just hope no one gets hurt and the town doesn't get taken apart. But, yeah, I could see this coming for miles and miles. It may not even end tonight, either.

[Rhiannon12866]

23. Thanks so much for the insider analysis!

Helps me understand what's going on, since I was out for most of the day. I've often wondered what students do now, since they're bound to drink, and when I was in school the drinking age was 18... :hi:

[struggle4progress]

19. Mob psychology. You got some big national story, with some protestors

against the cover-up, and a bunch of news vans; people gather around to see what's going on; crowds make noise, which attracts more people and the crowds grow. Suddenly you got 10K people jammed together, wondering what to do next. Hoards have a dynamic all their own: people pick up on what other people are doing and go along. Let's head downtown! Look how freaked out the news guys in that truck are! Let's rock their truck! ...

[no_hypocrisy]

34. + 1,000

[Electric Monk]

31. I would like every student involved in the riot to write a 1000 word essay explaining themselves.

[melissaf]

32. They can,

if you post one on they can download from the internet.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

33. The students who are rioting are the ones who don't belong in college in the first place

After many years of teaching, I came to the conclusion that college has become a holding tank for 18 to 21 year olds above a certain income level.

They go to college whether they have the intelligence or the inclination to handle college level work.

They would be much happier learning a skilled trade and being real adults instead of sitting through lectures that don't interest them in courses that don't interest them and nowadays won't even get them a job.

College has become what high school was in the pre-World War II era. (Before the Great Depression, only the academic kids went to high school. Others quit after eighth grade and got jobs. With no jobs, more young people decided to stay in high school, since it was free and there were no jobs anyway.)

[dixiegrrrrl]

35. I tend to agree with you, based on my college experience.

When I went to college as a 25 y/o divorced single parent, in the early 70's, I found that the majority of classmates were younger and not that interested in academics. It was a plus for those of us who were serious about our education, we ended up high on the grade curve.
I also found over time that there was "degree inflation".
Jobs that one could get with a High School Education now required a BA, and BA level jobs required a Master's or equivalent, etc.

[handmade34]

39. so astute

"a holding tank for 18 to 21"

I was a Residential Director for a spell and, yup... but until we (society) offer apprenticeships and real training that is the reality

[coalition_unwilling]

68. +1,000,000,000 x 1,000,000,000 - I really wish you would make

this an OP of its own. Higher education has become a way for many of the children of the middle class to secure their credentials for the mandarin-style society and a way to prolong adolescence, but has very little to do with 'education' in the broad sense of the term or with 'critical thinking' (one of the by-products of said education).

[booley]

36. has anyone bothered to ask them?

Crazy question I know.

However the responses so far seem to be nothing but people's stereotypes of college students. And that does absolutely nothing to answer the OP's question.

Surely there is someone at or near Penn state on DU.

[MadBadger]

49. If I had to guess, they feel like Joe Paterno is part of their family

I know he isnt, but I imagine thats what they are feeling. And because of this, some of them are overlooking what was done (or not done) and have reacted out of anger to them feeling he was disrespected by the Board.

[ejbr]

44. If I had to guess,

it would be because they feel Paterno did what he was required to do: report the incident to his "superior". Presumably, these students believe that is all he needed to do in order to maintain any semblance of moral standing. I am guessing that they think that Paterno figured that nothing came of the case because Sandusky was never fired or arrested.

Still, I find it hard to believe that Paterno did not hear of more incidents. These students, however, must believe Joe Pa was ignorant of anything other than how to win ball games. These students must be asked a question though: why would a grad student make up such an accusation? And if it wasn't made up, what responsibility would you hold for someone who knows about the "alleged" abuse of a child when the alleged abuser remains in the presence of children?

[TorchTheWitch]

62. Sandusky WAS 'fired' and he has been arrested

Sandusky was forced to retire following the 1998 investigation and barred from stepping into Paterno's shoes. He has also FINALLY been arrested following the grand jury decision that brought this whole story to light in the last several days. What the hell are these jackasses rioting for if they're only "figuring" this or that about Paterno when all the details have been plastered all over the tv news and print media in the area and they should know as much or more than any of us here.

Damn, I can't even believe all the EXCUSES being made here for the abominable behavior of these students! What a disgrace!

[ejbr]

63. I hear ya....n/t

[Safetykitten]

45. I'm going with young, stupid, and well...republican.

[Nye Bevan]

48. Believe it or not, not everything is a political issue (nt)

[coalition_unwilling]

69. Ah, but everything IS political - n/t

[sarge43]

51. I suspect for many of them just an excuse to behave badly. n/t

[closeupready]

53. When they become parents, they will be ashamed of this behavior.

And most will become parents, and I wish no bad or misfortune on anyone.

But when you yourself have a 10-year-old at home, and you look at the charges in light of that, somehow, you think rioting here is not only inappropriate but bizarre and scary.

I mean, who would raise children who grow up to be college students who chant, "We don't care!" You can't make this stuff up, though I wish in this case, it were just a work of fiction instead.

[Taverner]

54. Because they don't give a shit that children were molested - the "Winningest" coach was fired

They are doing it for the Gipper

[closeupready]

55. Children were raped, not just molested. In my mind (and I think legally), that's much worse.

Meaning there was penetration, not just touching and fondling.

[Taverner]

56. Yes, you are correct

[Brickbat]

57. Young, stupid, misguided, bored, feel like they've got nothing else to do, and it's fun to riot.

[liberalhistorian]

60. Because they care more about

their precious goddamned fucking football team over the horrendous sexual abuse of young boys, who will be scarred for life, and the years-long cover-up by adults who were supposed to protect them but instead protected themselves and their precious fucking football team. Because they have their heads up their asses, just like all the other defenders.

[Electric Monk]

66. It's sad, if true, but I think you may be on to something.

[Blue_Tires]

64. those are just students who haven't read the grand jury report yet

i heard a couple of them interviewed and they had NO perspective on the case whatsoever...they actually thought Paterno was getting scapegoated for the actions of someone else

[onpatrol98]

71. That's my guess...

Most don't really have the details of the case, and they should find out more before defending. I think there are probably kids there for a variety of reasons. Some because of what they believe he means to them, maybe some think he's now an old man being railroaded, some just for the party. Some of these kids are away from home for the first time. Not all are rich and many are not nearly a cynical as I am in my old age. Some of them simply act more from their own gut. I think many will regret this.

[Avalux]

67. From the mouths of the PSU protestors (not all were violent):

Three of them were interviewed on local tv and explained why they were there. They'd all read the grand jury report.

They expressed their sadness for the victims and agree JoPa should go but wanted him to be able to finish out the season. They don't think he deserved to be fired immediately and that it was done due to the media frenzy for blood. They don't want what's happened to negate all the good things he's done for the school and the community.

Calling PSU students a bunch of drunks and making fun as some are doing here doesn't help the situation.

IMHO, these kids just realized there is no Santa Claus and feel betrayed. They want things to go back to the way they were but know it will never be the same. It doesn't excuse the behavior of some of them, but it's a reasonable explanation for it.

I know how they feel, as a Penn State alum.

For me, I have to focus on my own personal experiences there and those profs and others who made a difference in my life. That's the only way I can overcome the embarrassment.

[chaska]

70. Because sports is for morons.