The No-Paterno Statue

Since Penn State's Trustees (11/9/2011 holdovers and their supporters) do not want a Joe Paterno Statue to symbolize academic and athletic excellence (in that order), here is a No-Paterno Statue for them instead.

Re: Emertius status for Alexander, Shaffer, and Strumpf

To: Penn State Trustees
cc: alumni networking, also posted at PennLive with this article.

"We can share different opinions on positions that individuals have taken," Eckel said, "but we should not be divided in recognizing the unselfish service that members have made."

What Keith Eckel refuses to acknowledge is that whatever honorable service Marianne Alexander, Carl Shaffer and Linda Strumpf might have rendered to Penn State in the past went straight down the sewer, along with Eckel's own service, when they scapegoated Coach Paterno and then lied about it in the bargain. A liar, at least by the standards of the 19th and early 20th century, was not a gentleman or a lady by definition. As another example, France's Marshal Petain was stripped of all the honors he rightly earned during the First World War (except for the title of Marshal of France, which could not be revoked) because of his collaboration with the enemy during the Second.

Somebody who scapegoats any employee, whether he coaches the Nittany Lions or sweeps the floor, also is without honor and is grossly unfit to hold any position of supervisory responsibility. Lying about the circumstances afterward is yet another dis-qualifier. Kenneth Frazier and Karen Peetz are similarly on record as lying to and on behalf of Penn State when they said Paterno was fired for failure of leadership (Keith Masser later testified in a deposition that he was fired for public relations reasons not for anything he had or had not done, but because his presence would be a distraction, and Frazier said pretty much the same thing.) Do they also scapegoat Merck and BNY employees, and/or lie to their employees, customers, stockholders, and suppliers? The fact that they did these things at Penn State puts ordinarily discourteous questions of that nature on the table.

The award of Emeritus status to Alexander, Shaffer, and Strumpf is a major disservice and insult to the Emeritus Trustees who rendered honorable service to Penn State, much as Nobel Peace Prizes for the likes of terrorist Yasser Arafat, charlatan Al Gore and, most recently, Barack Obama--do they now put Nobel Peace Prizes in Cracker Jack boxes?--devalues the award for people like Theodore Roosevelt, who really promoted world peace by mediating the end of the Russo-Japanese War, and humanitarians like Mother Teresa. (Irena Sendler, a Pole who risked her life to rescue Jews from the Holocaust, was passed over in favor of a phony like Gore.) It's like giving a first place trophy to everybody who showed up, which makes the first place trophy worthless for the competitor who actually came in first.

I see that Karen Peetz has not yet been awarded Emeritus status even though her "service" as Chairwoman technically entitles her to it. Maybe she hopes Penn State will forget she was ever an alumna, let alone a Trustee, which is probably best for her. To paraphrase what she herself said about Paterno while lying about him, her service has been marred and we have to step back and ask, what does that mean?

I remind Keith Eckel that he also is a proven (by Masser's and Frazier's depositions) liar, and therefore not a gentleman whose arguments deserve consideration, much less respect, by any person of honor and character. Finally, if Rodney Erickson and Tom Corbett were still ex officio members of the Board when it issued the knowingly defamatory statement about Paterno in March 2012 (to the effect that he was fired for failure of leadership), they also are liars and therefore not gentlemen.*

In the future, I hope the Board will not further insult former Trustees who have served with honor and dignity by awarding Emeritus status to the likes of Anne Riley, Paul Suhey, Jesse Arnelle, Joel Myers, and others.

William A. Levinson, B.S. ‘78

* If the Board released a dishonest statement to the effect that Paterno was fired for failure of leadership even though, as later admitted by Masser and Frazier, he was fired for public relations reasons, and Erickson and Corbett did not correct this statement, they are parties to it. That would be covered by the “tolerate those who do” aspect of the U.S. Military Academy’s Honor Code. The bottom line is that every single member of the Board as of March 2012, with the sole honorable exception who repudiated his actions, is a liar who is not entitled to anybody’s trust or respect.

The Cowards of Centre County

(with due credit to Kenny Rogers for the original)

Nobody knew he was the coward of Centre County
He'd never had to stand for what he knew was right.
His mama named him Rodney, but no one knew he was yellow,
When the time came for him to stand, he didn't dare to fight.

In November 2011, the Trustees gave Rodney the Lion
The time soon came for him to prove himself a man.
One day while he was working, Mark Emmert he came calling
He came to screw the Lion, n'there was only one of him.

Rodney opened up the door, and saw the battered Lion.
His guts turned to water, and he did not dare advance.
The tears poured down his cheeks while his body shook
His teeth chattered, he felt right sick and found he'd wet his pants.

"What ya gonna do, boy?" Mark Emmert he did challenge
"Ya ain't gonna do nothing, you stupid worthless clown."
"Now I need some help with this 'cause your alumni want a tussle,"
So Rodney walked over and helped Mark hold the Lion down.

"We need to move on," Karen Peetz she then insisted,
While Ken Frazier said "Let's choose the easy over the right"
"Just let the matter drop" Keith Masser then demanded
Said Keith Eckel, "I'd rather cringe than stand and fight"

Then Paul Suhey he came a-crawling
He said "Rodney, better let him have it all."
When Rodney left Old Main, Paterno's statue wasn't standing.
He said, "I've saved my own sorry ass" while Penn State took the fall.

Then the NCAA boys laughed when Wick Sollers walked into the courtroom;
One of them got up and met him half way cross the floor.
When Wick turned around they said, "Another coward's leaving,"
But you could've heard a pin drop when Sollers stopped and locked the door…

"Diddle About" performed by Karen Peetz, Kenneth Frazier, and Louis Freeh

"Diddle About" performed by Karen Peetz, Kenneth Frazier, and Louis Freeh (With due credit to The Who and the movie Tommy for the original)

Karen Peetz:

Do you think it's alright
To leave the Lion with Uncle Louie?
Do you think it's alright
Do we think he'll do the job right?
Do you think it's alright?

Kenneth Frazier:
I think it's alright

Louis Freeh (to Nittany Lion):

I'm your lying Uncle Louie
I'm glad no Trustee will challenge me
As I diddle about, diddle about, diddle about

Your Trustees left me here to mind you
Now I'm doing what I want to
Diddling about, diddling about, diddle about

My report's conclusions will help out
Mark Emmert so he can diddle about
Diddle about, diddle about, diddle about

Down with your reputation
Away with your $60 million
Diddle about, diddle about, diddle about

Erickson won't call me out while I diddle about
Diddle about, diddle about, diddle about

Diddle, diddle, diddle

The difference between Kenneth Frazier and Frank Hobbs (the bad guy played by Oliver Reed) is that Hobbs set fire to the Freeh Report (while Uncle Ernie was holding it) when he found out what Uncle Ernie had done to Tommy. https://youtu.be/hFhO7EU08Tg

Thank You, Karen Peetz and Kenneth Frazier

"Put it behind us and move on." That's what every self-respecting hit and run driver on earth wants to do after running somebody over while driving drunk.

Note, by the way, that Peetz violated the Board's Standing Orders by affirming the Freeh Report on Penn State's behalf without a vote of approval by the Board. Not only that, she failed to correct the NCAA when the NCAA cited Penn State's "acceptance" of Freeh's findings as an excuse to impose its sanctions.

Tell CECP What You Think of its Award to Kenneth Frazier

Tell CECP what you think at http://cecp.co/about-cecp/contact-us.html

To: CECP

cc: Penn State alumni networking

I was astounded to discover today that CECP had awarded Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier the Founder’s Award for “outstanding leadership that has made the world a better place through business.” (http://cecp.co/events/force-for-good-awards.html) CECP has apparently not been following events at Penn State where Mr. Frazier, in his role as a senior member of its Board of Trustees, helped cause tens of millions of dollars in damage to the University (NCAA sanctions, Freeh Report, payouts to Sandusky victims, and damage to Penn State’s reputation), got the University sued for defamation, scapegoated a subordinate and then lied about it, engaged in a racially-charged tirade during a public Board meeting and, per the Commonwealth Court’s opinion (4/09/2014) in State Senator Corman’s lawsuit against the NCAA, was derelict in his fiduciary duty for failing to contest the NCAA’s illegitimate sanctions against Penn State.

To begin with, Mr. Frazier joined his fellow Trustees in defaming (posthumously) Penn State Coach Joe Paterno as shown at http://giveto.psu.edu/s/1218/2014/index.aspx?sid=1218&gid=1&calcid=15638&calpgid=61&pgid=252&ecid=3519&crid=0

"While Coach Paterno did his legal duty by reporting that information the next day, Sunday, March 3, to his immediate superior, the then Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley, the Board reasonably inferred that he did not call police. We determined that his decision to do his minimum legal duty and not to do more to follow up constituted a failure of leadership by Coach Paterno."

"The Board spent hours on conference calls between Saturday, Nov. 5, and Tuesday, Nov. 8, discussing appropriate action and our fiduciary responsibility as the Trustees. On Wednesday evening, Nov. 9, we met in person in State College. At about 9 pm, we unanimously made the difficult decision that Coach Paterno’s failure of leadership required his removal as football coach."

However, when Mr. Frazier and his fellow Trustee Keith Masser had to testify under oath in State Senator Corman’s lawsuit against the NCAA, they admitted that the Board had fired Paterno solely for public relations purposes, rather than anything he had or had not done.

http://onwardstate.com/2015/01/19/board-chairman-still-thinks-paterno-wasnt-fired/

"The decision to remove Coach Paterno had nothing to do with what he had known, what he hadn’t done. It was based upon the distraction of having him on the sidelines would have caused the university and the current football team harm. It had nothing to do with what Coach Paterno had done, or hadn’t done.”

This means the CEO of the Merck Corporation not only scapegoated somebody who worked for him, he then lied about the circumstances to and on behalf of the organization to which he owed a fiduciary duty. Somebody who scapegoats any subordinate, whether it’s somebody who pushes a broom or the coach of the Nittany Lions, is not fit for any position of supervisory responsibility whatsoever.

Mr. Frazier, along with former Penn State President Rodney Erickson and Trustees Karen Peetz and Keith Masser, was named in former President Graham Spanier’s defamation lawsuit against Penn State. All four made public derogatory remarks about him while acting on Penn State’s behalf, and in violation of the terms of his separation agreement. Most CEOs have better judgment than to badmouth former employees, just as most employees have enough sense to not badmouth former employers. Mr. Frazier, however, participated in an exchange of E-mails that seemed to be intended to sabotage Dr. Spanier’s job search.

http://notpsu.blogspot.com/2013/03/ken-frazier-racist-remark-on-tape.html for Mr. Frazier’s racist tirade at a Board of Trustees meeting in March 2013. I’m pretty sure that, had a CEO who looks like me directed these words to an alumnus who looks like Mr. Frazier, with “George Zimmerman” in place of “O.J. Simpson,” he would no longer be either a CEO or a Penn State Trustee.

“If you cared about that, you are one of the few people in this country, that looks like you, who actually believes the O.J. Simpson not guilty verdict was correct. And you know you do."

In addition, somebody at the Merck Corporation tried to sabotage a Wikipedia entry on Mr. Frazier because Merck obviously didn’t want these remarks quoted. The repeated attempts to change the Wikipedia entry were traceable to the IP address of a computer at Merck.com.

There is also the matter of recent layoffs at Merck. If Mr. Frazier cut his own salary and bonuses, then he has exhibited good leadership. If he continued to draw a high salary and bonuses while discharging employees, he has pretty much sent the message that Merck’s remaining employees owe the company nothing more than a 9 to 5 work ethic and level of commitment. One of the few things in favor of his fellow Trustee, John Surma, was that Surma cut his own pay at U.S. Steel when he laid off employees some time ago.

This, ladies and gentleman, is what CECP just touted as a “force for good,” which suggests that a CECP award (like the Nobel Peace Prizes that were awarded to people who had done nothing to earn them or, even worse, to terrorists like Yasser Arafat) is worth about as much as the kind of prize you might find in a box of Cracker Jack.

Disclosure: I have a financial interest in Merck as a stockholder.

William A. Levinson, B.S. ‘78

PSU Trustees: Were you lying THEN, or are you lying NOW?

It speaks for itself.

Court Testimony Proves Penn State Trustees Scapegoated Paterno, then Lied About It

It is now easy to see why the controlling majority of Penn State's Trustees fought tooth and nail against the Corman and Paterno lawsuits against the NCAA, despite the benefits of those suits to Penn State. Trustees Kenneth Frazier and Keith Masser were forced to admit in sworn depositions that the Board, as of March 2012, not only scapegoated Coach Joe Paterno; they lied about it to the organization to which they owe a fiduciary duty.

This means every single member of the Board as of March 2012 not only scapegoated a subordinate--by itself cause to disqualify somebody for any position of supervisory responsibility--but then lied about it. Somebody who crosses this line--lying to the organization to which one owes a fiduciary duty--is ethically capable of lying to stockholders, clients, employees, customers, suppliers, and other organizational stakeholders.

Proof that the Board Scapegoated Joe Paterno

Here is what Kenneth Frazier, CEO of the Merck Corporation, had to say in his deposition in the Corman lawsuit against the NCAA. http://av.pasenategop.com/ncaa/discovery/depositions/ken-frazier/transcripts/frazier.pdf

Q. Were you in favor of the decision not to allow Coach Paterno to coach out the rest of the season.

 A. Ultimately, I was in favor of that.

Q. Initially, did you have some reservations?

A. I did.

Q. Just explain your thought process and how you became in favor of that decision.

A. Just as I said in the case of Mr. Curly, my initial feeling was, when I first heard about this, that the facts had not been established and we needed to be careful to make sure we understood the facts. As I was in -- in that 48-hour time period read the grand jury presentment, I reached the conclusion that given what had become public about the issues leading up to the presentment and given what was said in the presentment itself about Coach Paterno's testimony and about what the graduate student said to Coach Paterno, I felt that it would not send the right message if Coach Paterno was able to lead the football team out onto the field of play under those circumstances. So I didn't change my mind on the question of whether we had established all the key facts that related to Coach Paterno's involvement and/or responsibility. But I had reached the conclusion that, from the standpoint of what the University's values would be interpreted to be by the broader public, that what was known was sufficiently serious as it relates to child sexual abuse that it would send the wrong message about our values as a University if Coach Paterno were allowed to coach as though none of this had ever happened.

This is an open admission that the 11/9/2011 Board fired Joe Paterno not for anything he had done or hadn't done, but to appease public opinion. Keith Masser's deposition makes this even more explicit.

 http://onwardstate.com/2015/01/19/board-chairman-still-thinks-paterno-wasnt-fired/

“When pressed for a reason why Paterno was let go, Masser said: “The decision to remove Coach Paterno had nothing to do with what he had known, what he hadn’t done. It was based upon the distraction of having him on the sidelines would have caused the university and the current football team harm. It had nothing to do with what Coach Paterno had done, or hadn’t done.”

 These depositions establish as a fact that the 11/9/2011 Board of Trustees fired Coach Paterno solely to appease public opinion, and then the Board lied about this in subsequent statement in March 2012. The Board not only lied, it defamed Coach Paterno (had he still been alive) with the false statement that he had been fired for cause.

The Entire Board Lied to the Public and to Penn State

http://progress.psu.edu/resource-library/story/report-of-the-board-of-trustees-concerning-nov.-9-decisions

"While Coach Paterno did his legal duty by reporting that information the next day, Sunday, March 3, to his immediate superior, the then Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley, the Board reasonably inferred that he did not call police. We determined that his decision to do his minimum legal duty and not to do more to follow up constituted a failure of leadership by Coach Paterno. …At about 9 pm, we unanimously made the difficult decision that Coach Paterno’s failure of leadership required his removal as football coach."

That's very interesting because Mr. Frazier and Mr. Masser both testified that Paterno was not fired for any cause whatsoever, but to appease public opinion. The clarity we have from this evidence is that Penn State's Board of Trustees issued a dishonest public statement in March 2012, and that the service of the following individuals is now marred. And we have to step back and ask, what does that mean?

• Kenneth "people that look like you who think the O.J. Simpson verdict was correct" Frazier, the CEO of the Merck Corporation, lied (in March 2012) to the public and to the organization to which he owed a fiduciary duty. We have had our fill of this individual telling the Nittany Lion to shut up and take his Vioxx.
• Karen Peetz, President of BNY Mellon, is a liar. This is the individual who said Paterno's service was marred, and whose unauthorized affirmation of the Freeh Report's findings on Penn State's behalf gave the NCAA the fig leaf it needed to impose its illegitimate sanctions.
• John Surma, former CEO of U.S. Steel, is a liar.
• Tom Corbett, former Governor of Pennsylvania, is a liar.
• Keith Eckel is a liar.
• Keith Masser (current Board Chairman) is a liar.
• Every single other member of the Board who was a party to the statement above is a liar.

 These people and their colleagues were given every possible opportunity to make right the harm they caused the University, but they chose instead to put personal agendas ahead of a Penn State agenda (State Senator John Yudichak's assessment). As a result, evidence has now come out that shows they not only scapegoated an employee, but also lied about it. So, here we are.