PSU Independent Investigation Report Released (Update)
From 1998 – 2011, former FBI Director Louis Freeh says the “tone at the top” of Penn State was “completely wrong.” Freeh was tapped by the Penn State Board of Trustees, last November, to conduct an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. More than seven months later, Freeh has dropped a 267-page bombshell in the form of his findings. The report includes 119-recommendations to help the school create a more open and compliant culture.
Freeh says the most saddening and sobering finding is the, “total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky’s child victims by the most senior leaders at Penn State.” Referring to ex-President Graham Spanier, former administrator Gary Schultz, Athletic Director Tim Curley and the late Joe Paterno – Freeh says the most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14-years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized.
The internal investigation uncovered a proposed action plan following Mike McQueary’s 2001 report of seeing Sandusky in the locker room showers with a young boy. That action plan initially included reporting the allegations to authorities. “After Mr. Curley consulted with Mr. Paterno, however, they changed the plan and decided not to make the report to the authorities,” Freeh explained at today’s news conference.
Freeh also says the four men cited in his report – Spanier, Schultz, Curley and Paterno – knew about a 1998 criminal investigation into alleged sexual misconduct by Sandusky, but did nothing. He calls it a callous and shocking disregard for child victims.
Schultz and Curley are currently awaiting trial on perjury charges; Spanier has not been charged; Paterno passed away in January.
Today’s report marks the beginning of a process for Penn State, according to Freeh. He says it’s critical that the University never forgets these failures and commits to an open, compliant and sensitive environment. In a q&a with the media in Philadelphia, today, Freeh did say that parents should feel comfortable sending their children to Penn State. He believes the institution has made considerable strides since November 2011.
The Penn State Board of Trustees is holding its regular meeting in Scranton later today. Penn State President Rodney Erickson is expected to offer remarks at that time.
Jerry Sandusky awaits his sentencing hearing from the Centre County Correctional Facility.
Officials Mull State Park Smoking Ban Pilot
Visitors’ complaints about cigarette butts on lakes and beaches have the Bureau of State Parks considering a smoking ban pilot program. “We have swimming beaches at many of our beautiful state parks with our lakes, and often you have these cigarette butts washing up. You have cigarette butts in the sand,” explains Department of Conservation and Natural Resources spokesman Terry Brady.
“We pride ourselves in trying to keep these swimming beaches clean of both goose excrement and cigarette butts,” Brady says. However, with parks personnel already stretched thin, the manpower used to pick up after some smokers could be better used elsewhere.
Brady notes that visitors’ concerns are driving consideration of the pilot, and that public sentiment will ultimately decide whether any trial run becomes permanent or statewide.
None of Pennsylvania’s 120 state parks has been identified as a smoking ban pilot site yet, and Brady tells Radio PA there’s no timetable for implementation. “It remains to be seen where this will go, but certainly our Bureau of State Parks will look into it.”
Tuition Increase for State System Schools Kept Around Inflation Rate
After the state budget kept funding level for the 14 state owned universities, the board of governors is keeping the tuition increase around the rate of inflation for the upcoming academic year.
Tuition will rise by 3%, marking the 5th time in the last 8 years the State System of Higher Education has held the increase at or below the rate of inflation. It means students will pay $188 more a year to attend classes at the schools.
Spokesman Kenn Marshall says the board and universities have worked hard to keep costs under control. He says they’ve made about 230 million dollars in cost savings over the last several years through a number of cost savings initiatives. Last year, tuition rose by 7.5% on the heels of an 18% reduction in state funding.
There will also be an increase in the technology fee; 10 dollars for resident students and 16 for out of state students. Other fees, such as room and board and meal plans, are set on a campus by campus basis.
Out of state students will also pay 3% more for tuition, but those rates vary from campus to campus and program to program.
Marshall says the Governor’s original budget proposal called for another 20% reduction in state funding. He says the system worked with the Governor and legislature over the last few months to get funding restored back to last year’s levels. He says without that, they would not have been able to hold tuition as low as they did.
Radio PA Roundtable 07.06.12
Radio PA Roundtable is a 30-minute program featuring in-depth reporting on the top news stories of the week. Professionally produced and delivered every Friday, Roundtable includes commercial breaks for local sale and quarterly reports for affiliate files.
Click the audio player below to hear the full broadcast:
[audio:https://s3.amazonaws.com/witfaudio/radiopa/Roundtable07-06-12.mp3]
Gov. Ready to Focus on Pension Reform This Fall
Fresh off his second budget cycle, Governor Tom Corbett wants to address Pennsylvania’s rising pension costs this fall. While the Republican majority did not invite Democrats to the table for budget negotiations this spring, Corbett says public pensions are a different matter altogether. “This is not a partisan issue… so we’ll probably be reaching out to them,” he explained during a recent q&a with the media.
Gov. Tom Corbett
The governor says it was interesting to see many Democrats supporting some aspects of the budget package – including education reforms and an ethane cracker tax credit.
The state’s pension obligation will increase another $500 – $600-million next year alone, and there’s no relief in sight until 2024. Without action, there will be less and less funding available for other state programs. “It’s not just a problem that we have at the state. Municipalities & school districts across the state have that problem, and there are problems like that across the nation,” Corbett says.
Numerous bills have been introduced in the House. Senate Republicans plan to act on a plan to move all new hires to a 401K-style pension plan where the employee bears the risk, not the employer (in this case the taxpayer).
But, Corbett knows there’s no silver bullet. “If there was, somebody would have found it already, we’d all be doing it.” He anticipates a thoughtful, cooperative discussion this fall.
Lawmaker Wants to be Sure Sandusky Doesn’t Keep State Pension
There has been no clear answer as to whether Jerry Sandusky can keep his state pension once he’s sentenced on child sex abuse charges. A state representative wants to change that. Sandusky was convicted last month on 45 counts and will be sentenced later this summer.
York County Democrat Eugene DePasquale is introducing legislation to ensure that the former Penn State assistant football coach and any other public official or employee sentenced for certain crimes against children would lose their state pensions. . It would disqualify public officials and employees convicted of certain crimes against children that require registration as a sex offender. The measure would be retroactive to June 1st.
Representative DePasquale says the current forfeiture law does include language regarding public school teachers and certain crimes against children, but does not spell out such offenses for other public officials or employees.
General Assistance Cash Grants to End Next Month
This will be the last month of state-issued checks for more than 60,000 needy and disabled residents who’ve been beneficiaries of General Assistance cash grants from the Department of Public Welfare.
The roughly $150-million dollar program has been on the chopping block since Governor Tom Corbett’s initial budget plan was unveiled in February. Late in the budget process a deal was reached to allow for one additional month of checks to be issued, so as to ease the transition, but the program will soon be eliminated.
“Some of them will end up on the streets, some of them will end up in emergency rooms, some of them will end up in jail,” says Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania Executive Director Liz Hersh, who fears many of these vulnerable citizens will be left with nothing.
State Sen. Vincent Hughes
Senate Minority Appropriations Chair Vincent Hughes (D-Phila.) has a district office right around the corner from a welfare office. “Everyone’s in a panic,” he says of the knowledge that their lifeline is being cut.
But Governor Tom Corbett says his administration is working to connect people losing these state-funded cash benefits to other programs. “From discussions with staff, we believe that some people probably are not exercising access to some areas that they might have access to,” Corbett explained to reporters during recent budget negotiations.