November 8, 2011 11:29 PM
- Text
1. Mississippi's "Personhood Amendment" fails at polls
Christi Chandler, left, and Stacy Hawsey, both of Madison and supporters of the Personhood Amendment promote their initiative as they waver signs at drivers in the midst of last minute campaigning Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011 in Madison, Miss. (AP Photo)
(CBS/AP) JACKSON, Miss. - Mississippi voters Tuesday defeated a ballot initiative that would've declared life begins at fertilization, a proposal that supporters sought in the Bible Belt state as a way to prompt a legal challenge to abortion rights nationwide.
The so-called "personhood" initiative was rejected by more than 55 percent of voters, falling far short of the threshold needed for it to be enacted. If it had passed, it was virtually assured of drawing legal challenges because it conflicts with the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a legal right to abortion. Supporters of the initiative wanted to provoke a lawsuit to challenge the landmark ruling.
The measure divided the medical and religious communities and caused some of the most ardent abortion opponents, including Republican Gov. Haley Barbour, to waver with their support.
CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston reported earlier that the vote could set a precedent for the nation. The major concern for many regarding the strict law and new anti-abortion tactic was its possible affect on fertility treatments, especially for people like Atlee and Greg Breland.
"When I was 28-years-old, Greg and I were diagnosed with infertility," Atlee said. They used in vitro fertilization to conceive their 5-year-old twin girls. Atlee had worried the proposed state constitutional amendment could limit fertility treatments for other Mississippi couples.
"I don't want Mississippians to have to go Washington, D.C. or New York or California to have infertility treatment," she said.
Opponents said the measure would have made birth control, such as the morning-after pill or the intrauterine device, illegal. More specifically, the ballot measure called for abortion to be prohibited "from the moment of fertilization" — wording that opponents suggested would have deterred physicians from performing in vitro fertilization because they would fear criminal charges if an embryo doesn't survive.
Supporters were trying to impose their religious beliefs on others by forcing women to carry unwanted pregnancies, including those caused by rape or incest, opponents said.
Mississippi votes, when does life begin?
Doctors call Mississippi "personhood" initiative dangerous
The politics of personhood in Mississippi
Amy Brunson voted against the measure, in part because she has been raped. She also has friends and family that had children through in vitro fertilization and she was worried this would end that process.
"The lines are so unclear on what may or may not happen. I think there are circumstances beyond everybody's control that can't be regulated through an amendment," said Brunson, a 36-year-old dog trainer and theater production assistant from Jackson.
Hubert Hoover, a cabinet maker and construction worker, voted for the amendment.
"I figure you can't be half for something, so if you're against abortion you should be for this. You've either got to be wholly for something or wholly against it," said Hoover, 71, who lives in a Jackson suburb.
Mississippi already has tough abortion regulations and only one clinic where the procedures are performed, making it a fitting venue for a national movement to get abortion bans into state constitutions.
Keith Mason, co-founder of the group Personhood USA, which pushed the Mississippi ballot measure, has said a win would send shockwaves around the country. The Colorado-based group is trying to put similar initiatives on 2012 ballots in Florida, Montana, Ohio and Oregon. Voters in Colorado rejected similar proposals in 2008 and 2010.
Barbour, long considered a 2012 presidential candidate before he ruled out a run this year, said a week ago that he was undecided. A day later, he voted absentee for the amendment, but said he struggled with his support.
"Some very strongly pro-life people have raised questions about the ambiguity and about the actual consequences — whether there are unforeseen, unintended consequences. And I'll have to say that I have heard those concerns and they give me some pause," Barbour said last week.
Barbour was prevented from seeking re-election because of term limits. The Democrat and Republican candidates vying to replace him both supported the abortion measure.
Specifically, the proposed state constitutional amendment would've defined a person "to include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning, or the functional equivalent thereof."
The state's largest Christian denomination, the Mississippi Baptist Convention, backed the proposal through its lobbying arm.
The bishops of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi and the General Conference of the United Methodist Church opposed it.
Bishop Joseph Latino of the Catholic Diocese of Jackson, a church traditionally against abortion, issued a statement neither supporting nor opposing the initiative. The Mississippi State Medical Association took a similar step, while other medical groups opposed it.
Mississippi already requires parental or judicial consent for any minor to get an abortion, mandatory in-person counseling and a 24-hour wait before any woman can terminate a pregnancy.
From left, Stephen Harris and Kristin Sutton cheer during a rally to repeal Senate Bill 5, Nov. 8, 2011, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP)
Penn State football coach Joe Paterno leaves the Louis and Mildred Lasch Football Building on the school campus in State College, Pa., Nov. 8, 2011. (AP Photo)
The so-called "personhood" initiative was rejected by more than 55 percent of voters, falling far short of the threshold needed for it to be enacted. If it had passed, it was virtually assured of drawing legal challenges because it conflicts with the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a legal right to abortion. Supporters of the initiative wanted to provoke a lawsuit to challenge the landmark ruling.
The measure divided the medical and religious communities and caused some of the most ardent abortion opponents, including Republican Gov. Haley Barbour, to waver with their support.
CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston reported earlier that the vote could set a precedent for the nation. The major concern for many regarding the strict law and new anti-abortion tactic was its possible affect on fertility treatments, especially for people like Atlee and Greg Breland.
"When I was 28-years-old, Greg and I were diagnosed with infertility," Atlee said. They used in vitro fertilization to conceive their 5-year-old twin girls. Atlee had worried the proposed state constitutional amendment could limit fertility treatments for other Mississippi couples.
"I don't want Mississippians to have to go Washington, D.C. or New York or California to have infertility treatment," she said.
Opponents said the measure would have made birth control, such as the morning-after pill or the intrauterine device, illegal. More specifically, the ballot measure called for abortion to be prohibited "from the moment of fertilization" — wording that opponents suggested would have deterred physicians from performing in vitro fertilization because they would fear criminal charges if an embryo doesn't survive.
Supporters were trying to impose their religious beliefs on others by forcing women to carry unwanted pregnancies, including those caused by rape or incest, opponents said.
Mississippi votes, when does life begin?
Doctors call Mississippi "personhood" initiative dangerous
The politics of personhood in Mississippi
Amy Brunson voted against the measure, in part because she has been raped. She also has friends and family that had children through in vitro fertilization and she was worried this would end that process.
"The lines are so unclear on what may or may not happen. I think there are circumstances beyond everybody's control that can't be regulated through an amendment," said Brunson, a 36-year-old dog trainer and theater production assistant from Jackson.
Hubert Hoover, a cabinet maker and construction worker, voted for the amendment.
"I figure you can't be half for something, so if you're against abortion you should be for this. You've either got to be wholly for something or wholly against it," said Hoover, 71, who lives in a Jackson suburb.
Mississippi already has tough abortion regulations and only one clinic where the procedures are performed, making it a fitting venue for a national movement to get abortion bans into state constitutions.
Keith Mason, co-founder of the group Personhood USA, which pushed the Mississippi ballot measure, has said a win would send shockwaves around the country. The Colorado-based group is trying to put similar initiatives on 2012 ballots in Florida, Montana, Ohio and Oregon. Voters in Colorado rejected similar proposals in 2008 and 2010.
Barbour, long considered a 2012 presidential candidate before he ruled out a run this year, said a week ago that he was undecided. A day later, he voted absentee for the amendment, but said he struggled with his support.
"Some very strongly pro-life people have raised questions about the ambiguity and about the actual consequences — whether there are unforeseen, unintended consequences. And I'll have to say that I have heard those concerns and they give me some pause," Barbour said last week.
Barbour was prevented from seeking re-election because of term limits. The Democrat and Republican candidates vying to replace him both supported the abortion measure.
Specifically, the proposed state constitutional amendment would've defined a person "to include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning, or the functional equivalent thereof."
The state's largest Christian denomination, the Mississippi Baptist Convention, backed the proposal through its lobbying arm.
The bishops of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi and the General Conference of the United Methodist Church opposed it.
Bishop Joseph Latino of the Catholic Diocese of Jackson, a church traditionally against abortion, issued a statement neither supporting nor opposing the initiative. The Mississippi State Medical Association took a similar step, while other medical groups opposed it.
Mississippi already requires parental or judicial consent for any minor to get an abortion, mandatory in-person counseling and a 24-hour wait before any woman can terminate a pregnancy.
2. Voters across nation stick largely by incumbents
From left, Stephen Harris and Kristin Sutton cheer during a rally to repeal Senate Bill 5, Nov. 8, 2011, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP)
(CBS/AP) For all the frustration surrounding the economy, voters refused to throw incumbent parties out of governors' and most big-city mayors' offices, and they turned back an Ohio law that aimed to ease grinding budget problems by restricting the union rights of public employees.
In the heart of the Bible Belt, a Mississippi initiative that would have defined life as beginning at fertilization also went down to defeat, ending a plan to use it to challenge Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that established the right to abortion.
Across the nation, voters' last major judgments of 2011 were sure to be closely analyzed for any clues about the public's political mood just two months ahead of the first presidential primary and nearly four years into the worst economic slowdown since the Depression.
Special Section: Campaign 2012
Kentucky's Democratic governor easily won another term, and Mississippi voters kept their governor's office in GOP hands — decisions that suggested many Americans were not ready to abandon the parties in power.
In Ohio, a hotly debated new law that severely limited the bargaining rights of more than 350,000 teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public employees was repealed with more than 60 percent of the vote. The defeat was a stinging blow to Gov. John Kasich and cast doubt on other Republican governors who have sought union-limiting measures as a means to curb spending.
"Ohio sent a message to every politician out there: Go in and make war on your employees rather than make jobs with your employees, and you do so at your own peril," AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said.
Kasich congratulated his opponents and pledged to consider his next steps carefully.
"I've heard their voices. I understand their decision, and frankly, I respect what people have to say in an effort like this," he said, adding that the vote requires him "to take a deep breath" and "spend some time reflecting on what happened here."
The disputed law permitted workers to negotiate wages but not pensions or health care benefits, and it banned public-worker strikes, scrapped binding arbitration and eliminated annual raises for teachers.
The outcome will no doubt be studied by presidential candidates as a gauge of the Ohio electorate, which is seen as a bellwether. No Republican has won the White House without Ohio, and only two Democrats have done so in more than a century.
Elsewhere on the ballot, Ohio voters approved a proposal to prohibit people from being required to buy health insurance as part of the national health care overhaul. The vote was mostly symbolic, but Republicans hoped to use it in a legal challenge.
The governors' races were of keen interest to both parties. Ten states will elect governors next year, and governors can marshal get-out-the-vote efforts crucial to any White House candidate. The first presidential primary is Jan. 10 in New Hampshire.
In Kentucky, Gov. Steve Beshear was easily re-elected despite high unemployment, budget shortfalls and an onslaught of third-party attack ads. He became the second Democrat to win a governor's race this year, after West Virginia's Earl Ray Tomblin.
In Mississippi, voters picked Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant to succeed Haley Barbour, who could not run again because of term limits. Bryant beat Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny Dupree, the first black major-party nominee for governor in Mississippi.
The Mississippi measure to define life as beginning at fertilization would have been the first victory in the country for the so-called personhood movement, which aims to make abortion all but illegal. Similar attempts have failed in Colorado and are under way elsewhere.
The proposal divided the medical and religious communities and caused some of the most ardent abortion opponents, including Barbour, to waver in their support.
Opponents said the measure would have made some forms of birth control, such as the morning-after pill or the intrauterine device, illegal. And they worried that it could have deterred physicians from performing in vitro fertilization for fear of criminal charges if an embryo did not survive.
In Arizona, state Sen. Russell Pearce, architect of the tough immigration law that put the state at the forefront of the national debate, was ousted after a recall attempt led by a fellow Republican.
Other votes of note:
— Hundreds of cities held mayoral races, including some of the nation's largest. In San Francisco, interim Mayor Ed Lee had a strong lead in early returns and would become the city's first elected Asian-American mayor if he wins. But it could be days before final results are known because of a complicated system in which voters rank their top three candidates.
In Philadelphia, Democratic Mayor Michael Nutter trounced a little-known Republican challenger.
Phoenix elected Democrat Greg Stanton, a former city council member, as its new mayor after a campaign focused on pulling the nation's sixth-largest city out its economic and foreclosure slump.
Incumbent mayors also prevailed in Baltimore and Indianapolis.
— Comic-turned-politician Robert Farmer lost his bid to become Kentucky's agriculture commissioner. Farmer told hillbilly jokes that upset some people, and he had no farming experience. In Ohio, another comedian, Drew Hastings, a fixture on "Comedy Central," became mayor of tiny Hillsboro.
— In Maine, voters repealed a new state law that required voters to register at least two days before an election. The decision restored Election Day voter registration, which had been available for nearly four decades. A proposal to allow casinos in certain communities was rejected.
— Washington state voters approved a plan to end the state-run liquor system and allow large stores to sell alcohol. The proposal was bankrolled by giant retailer Costco, which spent more than $22 million, making it the costliest initiative in Washington history.
— Atlanta overwhelmingly approved Sunday alcohol sales, clearing the way for shoppers to buy liquor in stores as soon as New Year's Day.
— Oregon held a special primary to replace Democratic Rep. David Wu, who resigned in August after being accused of an unwanted sexual encounter with an 18-year-old woman. Wu was the fourth member of Congress to quit this year in a sex scandal.
In the heart of the Bible Belt, a Mississippi initiative that would have defined life as beginning at fertilization also went down to defeat, ending a plan to use it to challenge Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that established the right to abortion.
Across the nation, voters' last major judgments of 2011 were sure to be closely analyzed for any clues about the public's political mood just two months ahead of the first presidential primary and nearly four years into the worst economic slowdown since the Depression.
Special Section: Campaign 2012
Kentucky's Democratic governor easily won another term, and Mississippi voters kept their governor's office in GOP hands — decisions that suggested many Americans were not ready to abandon the parties in power.
In Ohio, a hotly debated new law that severely limited the bargaining rights of more than 350,000 teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public employees was repealed with more than 60 percent of the vote. The defeat was a stinging blow to Gov. John Kasich and cast doubt on other Republican governors who have sought union-limiting measures as a means to curb spending.
"Ohio sent a message to every politician out there: Go in and make war on your employees rather than make jobs with your employees, and you do so at your own peril," AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said.
Kasich congratulated his opponents and pledged to consider his next steps carefully.
"I've heard their voices. I understand their decision, and frankly, I respect what people have to say in an effort like this," he said, adding that the vote requires him "to take a deep breath" and "spend some time reflecting on what happened here."
The disputed law permitted workers to negotiate wages but not pensions or health care benefits, and it banned public-worker strikes, scrapped binding arbitration and eliminated annual raises for teachers.
The outcome will no doubt be studied by presidential candidates as a gauge of the Ohio electorate, which is seen as a bellwether. No Republican has won the White House without Ohio, and only two Democrats have done so in more than a century.
Elsewhere on the ballot, Ohio voters approved a proposal to prohibit people from being required to buy health insurance as part of the national health care overhaul. The vote was mostly symbolic, but Republicans hoped to use it in a legal challenge.
The governors' races were of keen interest to both parties. Ten states will elect governors next year, and governors can marshal get-out-the-vote efforts crucial to any White House candidate. The first presidential primary is Jan. 10 in New Hampshire.
In Kentucky, Gov. Steve Beshear was easily re-elected despite high unemployment, budget shortfalls and an onslaught of third-party attack ads. He became the second Democrat to win a governor's race this year, after West Virginia's Earl Ray Tomblin.
In Mississippi, voters picked Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant to succeed Haley Barbour, who could not run again because of term limits. Bryant beat Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny Dupree, the first black major-party nominee for governor in Mississippi.
The Mississippi measure to define life as beginning at fertilization would have been the first victory in the country for the so-called personhood movement, which aims to make abortion all but illegal. Similar attempts have failed in Colorado and are under way elsewhere.
The proposal divided the medical and religious communities and caused some of the most ardent abortion opponents, including Barbour, to waver in their support.
Opponents said the measure would have made some forms of birth control, such as the morning-after pill or the intrauterine device, illegal. And they worried that it could have deterred physicians from performing in vitro fertilization for fear of criminal charges if an embryo did not survive.
In Arizona, state Sen. Russell Pearce, architect of the tough immigration law that put the state at the forefront of the national debate, was ousted after a recall attempt led by a fellow Republican.
Other votes of note:
— Hundreds of cities held mayoral races, including some of the nation's largest. In San Francisco, interim Mayor Ed Lee had a strong lead in early returns and would become the city's first elected Asian-American mayor if he wins. But it could be days before final results are known because of a complicated system in which voters rank their top three candidates.
In Philadelphia, Democratic Mayor Michael Nutter trounced a little-known Republican challenger.
Phoenix elected Democrat Greg Stanton, a former city council member, as its new mayor after a campaign focused on pulling the nation's sixth-largest city out its economic and foreclosure slump.
Incumbent mayors also prevailed in Baltimore and Indianapolis.
— Comic-turned-politician Robert Farmer lost his bid to become Kentucky's agriculture commissioner. Farmer told hillbilly jokes that upset some people, and he had no farming experience. In Ohio, another comedian, Drew Hastings, a fixture on "Comedy Central," became mayor of tiny Hillsboro.
— In Maine, voters repealed a new state law that required voters to register at least two days before an election. The decision restored Election Day voter registration, which had been available for nearly four decades. A proposal to allow casinos in certain communities was rejected.
— Washington state voters approved a plan to end the state-run liquor system and allow large stores to sell alcohol. The proposal was bankrolled by giant retailer Costco, which spent more than $22 million, making it the costliest initiative in Washington history.
— Atlanta overwhelmingly approved Sunday alcohol sales, clearing the way for shoppers to buy liquor in stores as soon as New Year's Day.
— Oregon held a special primary to replace Democratic Rep. David Wu, who resigned in August after being accused of an unwanted sexual encounter with an 18-year-old woman. Wu was the fourth member of Congress to quit this year in a sex scandal.
November 9, 2011 10:02 AM
- Text
3. Paterno retiring amid child abuse "tragedy"
Penn State football coach Joe Paterno leaves the Louis and Mildred Lasch Football Building on the school campus in State College, Pa., Nov. 8, 2011. (AP Photo)
(AP) Updated at 11:06 a.m. ET
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Penn State football coach Joe Paterno will retire at the end of the season, his long and illustrious career brought down because he failed to do all he could about an allegation of child sex abuse against a former assistant.
"This is a tragedy," Paterno said. "It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."
Paterno has been besieged by criticism since former defensive coordinator and one-time heir apparent Jerry Sandusky was charged over the weekend with molesting eight young boys between 1994 and 2009. Athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz have been charged with failing to notify authorities after an eyewitness reported a 2002 assault.
Cops: Sandusky admitted to '98 shower with boy
Fans rally for Joe Paterno amid questions
Paterno on abuse scandal: "We were all fooled"
Paterno decided to retire at age 84, in the middle of his 46th season with the Nittany Lions. He won 409 games, a record for major college football, but now, the grandfatherly coach known as "Joe Pa," who had painstakingly burnished a reputation for winning "the right way," leaves the only school he's ever coached in disgrace.
"I am absolutely devastated by the developments in this case," he said. "I grieve for the children and their families, and I pray for their comfort and relief."
But Paterno might not be able to execute his exit strategy as the school's board of trustees is still considering its options, which could include forcing Paterno to leave immediately.
Paterno has been questioned over his apparent failure to follow up on a report of the 2002 incident, in which Sandusky allegedly sodomized a 10-year-old boy in the showers at the team's football complex. A witness, Mike McQueary, is currently receivers coach for the team but was a graduate assistant at the time.
Paterno told the athletic director, Tim Curley, who has since stepped down and has charged with lying to the state grand jury investigating the case. The Penn State vice president has also been charged, and the university president could follow.
But in the place known as Happy Valley, none held the same status as Paterno. And in the end, he could not withstand the backlash from a scandal that goes well beyond the everyday stories of corruption in college sports.
"If this is true we were all fooled, along with scores of professionals trained in such things, and we grieve for the victims and their families," Paterno said Sunday, after the news broke, in a prepared statement. "They are in our prayers."
The coach defended his decision to take the news to his athletic director. Paterno said it was obvious that the graduate student was "distraught," but said the graduate student did not tell him about the "very specific actions" in the grand jury report.
After Paterno reported the incident to Curley, Sandusky was told to stay away from the school, but critics say the coach should have done more — tried to identify and help the victim, for example, or alerted authorities.
"Here we are again," John Salveson, former president of the Pennsylvania chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said in an interview earlier this week. "When an institution discovers abuse of a kid, their first reaction was to protect the reputation of the institution and the perpetrator."
Paterno's requirement that his players not just achieve success but adhere to a moral code, that they win with honor, transcended his sport. Mike Krzyzewski, the Duke basketball coach, said in June for an ESPN special on Paterno: "Values are never compromised. That's the bottom line."
His sudden departure leaves both his fans and detractors toask who the real "Joe Pa" was.
Was he a gentle once-in-a-lifetime leader with a knack for molding champions?
Or was he simply another gridiron pragmatist, a detached football CEO, his sense of right and wrong diluted by decades of coddling from "yes" men paid to make his problems disappear.
It will be a debate for years, and history will decide whether the enduring image will be that of Paterno surrounded by all those reporters as he hurried to practice this week, or his signature look on the sidelines.
Rolled-up khakis. Jet-black sneakers. Smoky, thick glasses. That famous Brooklyn accent that came off only as whiny as he wanted it to be.
"Deep down, I feel I've had an impact. I don't feel I've wasted my career," Paterno once said. "If I did, I would have gotten out a long time ago."
Along the road to the wins record, Paterno turned Penn State into one of the game's best-known programs, and the standard-bearer for college football success in the East.
source:http://www.cbsnews.com/
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Penn State football coach Joe Paterno will retire at the end of the season, his long and illustrious career brought down because he failed to do all he could about an allegation of child sex abuse against a former assistant.
"This is a tragedy," Paterno said. "It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."
Paterno has been besieged by criticism since former defensive coordinator and one-time heir apparent Jerry Sandusky was charged over the weekend with molesting eight young boys between 1994 and 2009. Athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz have been charged with failing to notify authorities after an eyewitness reported a 2002 assault.
Cops: Sandusky admitted to '98 shower with boy
Fans rally for Joe Paterno amid questions
Paterno on abuse scandal: "We were all fooled"
Paterno decided to retire at age 84, in the middle of his 46th season with the Nittany Lions. He won 409 games, a record for major college football, but now, the grandfatherly coach known as "Joe Pa," who had painstakingly burnished a reputation for winning "the right way," leaves the only school he's ever coached in disgrace.
"I am absolutely devastated by the developments in this case," he said. "I grieve for the children and their families, and I pray for their comfort and relief."
But Paterno might not be able to execute his exit strategy as the school's board of trustees is still considering its options, which could include forcing Paterno to leave immediately.
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Paterno has been questioned over his apparent failure to follow up on a report of the 2002 incident, in which Sandusky allegedly sodomized a 10-year-old boy in the showers at the team's football complex. A witness, Mike McQueary, is currently receivers coach for the team but was a graduate assistant at the time.
Paterno told the athletic director, Tim Curley, who has since stepped down and has charged with lying to the state grand jury investigating the case. The Penn State vice president has also been charged, and the university president could follow.
But in the place known as Happy Valley, none held the same status as Paterno. And in the end, he could not withstand the backlash from a scandal that goes well beyond the everyday stories of corruption in college sports.
"If this is true we were all fooled, along with scores of professionals trained in such things, and we grieve for the victims and their families," Paterno said Sunday, after the news broke, in a prepared statement. "They are in our prayers."
The coach defended his decision to take the news to his athletic director. Paterno said it was obvious that the graduate student was "distraught," but said the graduate student did not tell him about the "very specific actions" in the grand jury report.
After Paterno reported the incident to Curley, Sandusky was told to stay away from the school, but critics say the coach should have done more — tried to identify and help the victim, for example, or alerted authorities.
"Here we are again," John Salveson, former president of the Pennsylvania chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said in an interview earlier this week. "When an institution discovers abuse of a kid, their first reaction was to protect the reputation of the institution and the perpetrator."
Paterno's requirement that his players not just achieve success but adhere to a moral code, that they win with honor, transcended his sport. Mike Krzyzewski, the Duke basketball coach, said in June for an ESPN special on Paterno: "Values are never compromised. That's the bottom line."
His sudden departure leaves both his fans and detractors toask who the real "Joe Pa" was.
Was he a gentle once-in-a-lifetime leader with a knack for molding champions?
Or was he simply another gridiron pragmatist, a detached football CEO, his sense of right and wrong diluted by decades of coddling from "yes" men paid to make his problems disappear.
It will be a debate for years, and history will decide whether the enduring image will be that of Paterno surrounded by all those reporters as he hurried to practice this week, or his signature look on the sidelines.
Rolled-up khakis. Jet-black sneakers. Smoky, thick glasses. That famous Brooklyn accent that came off only as whiny as he wanted it to be.
"Deep down, I feel I've had an impact. I don't feel I've wasted my career," Paterno once said. "If I did, I would have gotten out a long time ago."
Along the road to the wins record, Paterno turned Penn State into one of the game's best-known programs, and the standard-bearer for college football success in the East.
source:http://www.cbsnews.com/
TOP 3 TV NEWS STORIES
1. Penn State coach Joe Paterno has announced that he will retire at the end of this his 46th football season. The Penn State board meets tomorrow to discuss the plan to handle the situation. Paterno may be fired or ask to leave following this meeting. President of the school and Paterno failed to notify the proper authorities, when they discovered that one of their assistant football coaches had sexual relations with a young boy. There have been more than 40 counts of rape or sexual abuse of a minor.
2. Herman Cain will continue to campaign for the 2012 U.S. presidency, and is expected to take part in an upcoming republican debate even though a second victim has announced she will speak publicly about his sexual misconduct with her. Political analyst say he should step down before he damages the replublican reputaion.
3. The European debt crisis claims another victim. The Italian economey is in trouble of entering a recession. Financial analyst say Italy has a credibility problem which is effecting their chances of any help. The European people have no confidence in the market, or that there is any chance that the current leadership can solve the debt problem. The dow was down 3% today as a result of this crisis in Italy. If Italy should enter a recession, this will slow down the economic recovery in the United States.
source: CBS Evening News at 6:30 Channel 6
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