SIAP: Article from Lansing rag defending Lou Anna Simon by attacking PSU (link)
- Thread starter NittPicker
- Start date
And watch how small the settlements from MSU are going to be. More along the lines of the church payouts, not penn states ridiculius gifts.
I see Graham has time to play on the Twitter machine - but not give me a phone call like he promised. He said he’d call me over a week ago.
If only they adopted the Freeh recommendations that Simon and her peers shoved down PSU's throat, Nassar could have been stopped no later than their 2014 investigation. Freeh recommendations:
3.4.1 Ensure that the University President, General Counsel and relevant members of senior staff thoroughly and forthrightly brief the Board of Trustees at each meeting on significant issues facing the University.
6.5 Establish a policy to request assistance from other law enforcement agencies in sensitive or extraordinary cases or where a conflict of interest may exist.
Simon pointed her finger and snubbed her nose at PSU in 2012 instead of adopting best practices at MSU that could have stopped Nassar.
Some of those in the PSU community have pointed out the hypocrisy regarding punishments from the Big Ten and the NCAA. I certainly understand that.
But I was struck far more by Lou Anna Simon's words in January 2017 after the Nassar scandal broke. Viewed one way, they were hypocritical in regards her stance on PSU after the Freeh Report was published. However, her more recent words simply reflect she's become more educated on predators like Nassar and Sandusky. One thing I can definitely state is that she didn't get that education from the Freeh Report. The Freeh Reports's complete lack of educational explanation of how "nice-guy" aquaintance offenders operate (and the blame it placed on a community) was its biggest failing.
The Nassar scandal certainly doesn't lessen the sins of Sandusky. Whatever that means with regard to a wider community. But now Michigan State is experiencing for itself a similar sninppet of the what the Sandusky scandal did to Penn State: large nets of wide blame thrown on people throughout a community.
Here's what Lou Anna Simon said in September 2012.....
Here's what she said in January 2017....
Aren't there lessons here that apply from both the Nassar and Sandusky scandals that we can learn from.
When a so-called community's culture is blamed, the only thing that happens is that anyone outside that particular community thinks it could never happen to them or in their community. Lou Anna Simon's comments after the Nassar scandal broke revealed this very point. It also showed she's capable of learning - but only after it happened in her community. I attribute that to the failings of the Freeh Report.
And whatever this culture thing is that allows predators and pedophiles to roam free has got to be fixed.
The very first thing that has to stop is the blaming of these things on some community's culture.
It's not any one insular culture. These kinds of reactions to predators like Nassar or Sandusky would happen in any culture; they do happen in far more communities than anyone wants to imagine.
When a so-called community's culture is blamed, the only thing that happens is that anyone outside that particular community thinks it could never happen to them or in their community.
Take the example of Kathy Kleges. She thought she knew Nassar. She gave him the benefit of the doubt. She couldn't believe he was a sexual predator.
Why do we never give people on social media, whom we've never met in real life, the benefit of the doubt?
Why do we never give the subjects of media stories, whom we've never met in real life, the benefit of the doubt?
Why do we give people in our lives that we (think we) know the benefit of the doubt?
“Nice-Guy” Offenders
The second commonly misunderstood phenomenon is the nice-guy offender who seems to love and is often loved by children. Acquaintance offenders are frequently described as “nice guys” and “pillars of the community,” and quite often they actually are, in all other respects. Many have qualities that are much admired by particular groups (e.g., regular and “faithful church atten-dance,” many hours of community service, or an exemplary military career).
Many individuals do not prevent or recognize the sexual victimization of a child by a respected member of society because they cannot believe a man who is otherwise good, spiritual, generous, or seems to truly care for children could be a child molester; even a plea or jury verdict of guilt may be rejected by such supporters. Some accept the general proposition that such individuals can be child molesters, but just not the particular nice guy that they person-ally know and like.
- Lanning, 2014
But I was struck far more by Lou Anna Simon's words in January 2017 after the Nassar scandal broke. Viewed one way, they were hypocritical in regards her stance on PSU after the Freeh Report was published. However, her more recent words simply reflect she's become more educated on predators like Nassar and Sandusky. One thing I can definitely state is that she didn't get that education from the Freeh Report. The Freeh Reports's complete lack of educational explanation of how "nice-guy" aquaintance offenders operate (and the blame it placed on a community) was its biggest failing.
The Nassar scandal certainly doesn't lessen the sins of Sandusky. Whatever that means with regard to a wider community. But now Michigan State is experiencing for itself a similar sninppet of the what the Sandusky scandal did to Penn State: large nets of wide blame thrown on people throughout a community.
Here's what Lou Anna Simon said in September 2012.....
"Nobody's perfect," Simon said. "People make mistakes, and some of those are purposeful and premeditated, and if you just take the Penn State experience, pretty pervasive. Other times, people just make mistakes, and we have to have a violations structure and framework that tries to sort through that in the labels of what the NCAA does. Right now, it doesn't because 'major' and 'minor' don't make a lot of sense.
"The purpose is to try to incentivize people doing the right thing, and the right thing is saying something when you see something and doing something after you said something. It's really that simple."
"The purpose is to try to incentivize people doing the right thing, and the right thing is saying something when you see something and doing something after you said something. It's really that simple."
Simon said she worries about ethics in college sports and at Michigan State as well. She reminded school employees by email last month of their obligation to report sexual abuse and assault. She said everyone from janitors to student-athletes have been spoken to about the issue.
Here's what she said in January 2017....
“When something happens you look back and you can see pieces of things that might have been a clue but at the time that they occurred. They may not have been so have evident… So for me the lesson of all of this is that wherever you are a university, a community, an organization this is going to happen and you have to educate. You have to try to make sure that people speak up when they know something but also recognize that not everything is knowable at the time and there’s always an assumption that you could have known it. You should have known it. But what you all you can do is act as aggressively and as decisively as you can when you do know it.”
Aren't there lessons here that apply from both the Nassar and Sandusky scandals that we can learn from.
When a so-called community's culture is blamed, the only thing that happens is that anyone outside that particular community thinks it could never happen to them or in their community. Lou Anna Simon's comments after the Nassar scandal broke revealed this very point. It also showed she's capable of learning - but only after it happened in her community. I attribute that to the failings of the Freeh Report.
And whatever this culture thing is that allows predators and pedophiles to roam free has got to be fixed.
The very first thing that has to stop is the blaming of these things on some community's culture.
It's not any one insular culture. These kinds of reactions to predators like Nassar or Sandusky would happen in any culture; they do happen in far more communities than anyone wants to imagine.
When a so-called community's culture is blamed, the only thing that happens is that anyone outside that particular community thinks it could never happen to them or in their community.
Take the example of Kathy Kleges. She thought she knew Nassar. She gave him the benefit of the doubt. She couldn't believe he was a sexual predator.
Why do we never give people on social media, whom we've never met in real life, the benefit of the doubt?
Why do we never give the subjects of media stories, whom we've never met in real life, the benefit of the doubt?
Why do we give people in our lives that we (think we) know the benefit of the doubt?
“Nice-Guy” Offenders
The second commonly misunderstood phenomenon is the nice-guy offender who seems to love and is often loved by children. Acquaintance offenders are frequently described as “nice guys” and “pillars of the community,” and quite often they actually are, in all other respects. Many have qualities that are much admired by particular groups (e.g., regular and “faithful church atten-dance,” many hours of community service, or an exemplary military career).
Many individuals do not prevent or recognize the sexual victimization of a child by a respected member of society because they cannot believe a man who is otherwise good, spiritual, generous, or seems to truly care for children could be a child molester; even a plea or jury verdict of guilt may be rejected by such supporters. Some accept the general proposition that such individuals can be child molesters, but just not the particular nice guy that they person-ally know and like.
- Lanning, 2014
It happened on her watch at MSU and as president of the NCAA, she is doubly responsible.
Is he just trying to distract from the topic at hand, defend a pedophile... or both?
The above quote makes her sound even more stupid. It wasn't the case at MSU that bits and pieces of information were there but which weren't put together. Rather, there were multiple first hand reports made to the university of a team doctor committing sexual assaults against female students. Gee Lou Anna, don't you think those types of things are much more than clues which may not have been so evident??
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Damn, @JmmyW. That was a powerful post. I have to admit, I'm struggling to let MSU off the hook. After everything Lou Anna Simon did to bury us, and everything MSU fans did to pile on our grave, it's hard to walk away without an eye for an eye. I'm still inclined to agree with @demlion that Lou Anna Simon owes personal, heartfelt apologies to Sue Paterno and the Penn State community. And the most tragic part of this story is how nobody's learned a damned thing from Jim Clemente's report. Everyone wrote it off and dismissed it as "the Paternos' rebuttal to the Freeh report." As such, this vicious cycle will repeat itself over and over and over into eternity.
lou anna simon doesn't get a pass with me. Grandstanding, hypocritical bitch.
It is a powerful statement, Jimmy.
There is way way that Lou Anna Simon can make a very strong step to recover from this, but I suspect her ego and the advice of counsel will not permit it.
LAS could say, " I called the Penn State case 'purposeful, premeditated....and pretty pervasive.'" I was dead wrong, and in my overweening desire to blame PSU, I missed a golden opportunity to educate my own community and reform its culture while scores of young women were abused by our employee. I got groomed, just like the people at Penn State, and part of the reason why is that I tried to use the PSU case to advance another agenda.
Well, now I know what it feels like. I resented those who called for my head, but given what I said in 2012, I cannot fault them. I was wrong. They are right. We need to fix this. We need to educate the country about nice guy offenders."
Damn. That's some fine reporting by Madison - right along the lines of Sara Ganim.
It's too bad she didn't use those investigative skillz to oh....I dunno...flip thru the Freeh report and watch his grandstanding July 2012 press conference and discover that while Freeh was ignoring his own FBI's research on Nice Guy Offenders in that "report" - young women were on a plane to the London Summer Olympics to be abused by Nice Guy Larry Nassar.
I did not realize it, but the first complaint about Dr. LARRY predated the 1998 incident INVOLVING Jerry.
Where was LAS in 1997?
Where was LAS in 1997?
I’m too cynical. I think Lou Anna saw what was coming, and she made this statement in the hope that people will cut her some slack. This, to me, was just a preemptive move to buy her some empathy when the dam broke.
It'll be interesting to see if MSU tries to settle any lawsuits filed against them on behalf of the gymnasts. Can't imagine what reasonable defense they can build for not taking action against Nassar earlier.
Let's review.
When she took over at the NCAA as Executive Committee Chair, Ms. Simon said this:
"Nobody's perfect," Simon said. "People make mistakes, and some of those are purposeful and premeditated, and if you just take the Penn State experience, pretty pervasive.
Simon was also the representative from the Big Ten Conference when historic penalties were delivered in 2012.
So when a victim is in her Title IX office complaining of the following ---> Nassar cupped her buttocks, massaged her breast and vaginal area. She said he became sexually aroused. She told them she had to remove his hands from her to finally make him stop. In July 2014, the Title IX office dismissed her claim but thanked her for bringing it to their attention. This Title IX office, which investigates gender discrimination claims including allegations of sexual assault and harassment, determined she didn't understand the "nuanced difference" between sexual assault and an appropriate medical procedure.
I have to wonder, if this same female complained about the above conduct done to her by a fellow MSU student, would the Title IX office have been so complacent? Most women if asked, would tell you the unwanted massaging of their breasts and vagina by a male, whose then becomes sexually aroused, is not "nuanced".
It's assault.
It's also critical to note that this ONE instance of this lone female complaining about Nassar's conduct provided more single evidence of a crime than Mike McQueary EVER did in ANY one of his ever-evolving stories, and more than Louis Freeh ever did in 267 pages of his PSU report.
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