Myers Moves On

Incumbent trustee Joel "We have to move on" Myers has moved on, as the Alumni of Penn State have voted his pathetic butt off the board for the first time in 33 years.  According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

Alice Pope, a psychology professor at St. John’s University, had 10,025 votes; Al Lord, the former CEO of Sallie Mae, 9,516; and Bob Jubelirer, a former Pennsylvania state senator, 8,101. All three candidates ran on platforms that included the need for the university to reassess past decisions made regarding the firing of Joe Paterno, the Freeh Report and the NCAA sanctions.  

“With nine new alumni members I would hope that there is a recognition by the existing board that is there that it’s important we work together,” Mr. Jubelirer said. “And there’s only one way that’s going to be effective: We have to get to the truth. Due process does matter. I heard that man in Hershey, (trustee) Ken Frazier, a year ago in March say it didn’t matter. Like hell it doesn’t matter.”

Notable candidates who lost to Mr. Lord, Mr. Jubelirer and Ms. Pope include Joel Myers, who had been an alumni trustee for the past 33 years, and Upward State candidates Dan Cocco, Julie McHugh and Matt Schuyler. None of those candidates garnered more than 4,000 votes. 

I was afraid Mr. Myers would benefit from voters splitting their votes with Upward State candidates and free-lancers like Ryan Bagwell, whom I personally supported with my vote.  But the Alumni would not be denied.  They crushed Mr. Myers and his platform of "moving on."  I'm not holding my breath that the remaining Board members from 2011 have learned anything from this crushing defeat of Myers, but they will have to deal with an increasing number of representatives that do not want to simply move on at the expense of truth and justice.

Also coming out of today's BOT meeting is this gem:  the Food Sciences building which houses the famous Penn State Creamery will henceforth be known as the Rodney A. Erickson Food Sciences Building.

Bon appétit!

Donations Up Despite Dismay

The Centre Daily Times notes that donations at Penn State are up 15% over the previous year, despite " a year filled with turmoil and alumni angst."

That’s the second-highest figure in that category in university history, Kirsch said. It is eclipsed only by $274.8 million in the 2010-2011 fiscal year, when alumnus Terry Pegula donated more than $100 million toward a hockey arena here and NCAA Division I hockey programs . 

Of the $237.8 million in cash for this past fiscal year, alumni contributed $87.6 million of the total, Kirsch said. That is up 19 percent from the previous year, when alumni gave $70.9 million. 

While the alumni donations are up, the number of alumni who donated is down almost 5 percent. The fiscal year that just ended saw 72,111 alumni give money to the university, but the year before, 75,593 alumni gave.

This has prompted some on the message boards in Nittany Nation to question the sanity of those who still give money when the Board of Trustees continues to push a "move on" agenda without any regard to truth and members continue to shirk their own responsibility in the whole scandal.

Oooh Rodney, you almost had it!

One poster writes:

I am proud to skew the data. I was a contributor, so I am in the count. I taped a penny to the annual fund card with a note that substantially more will follow when there is real governance reform.

I loathe this BoT. How could anyone donate?

Unfortunately, as angry as we are about how the BOT handled this whole mess, withholding donations is simply not a practical method for effecting change.  Loyalty to Penn State transcends the mistakes that may have been made (I qualify this as the trials of Schultz, Curley, etc. are still pending) and the mistakes that were made (e.g. the way Joe Paterno was sacrificed to the media) and not all donating alumni give a hoot about the football program.  The situation is eerily analogous to Catholics who continue to donate to their church despite horrendous allegations of abuse by individual priests.  An effort like this would have as much chance of success as organizing everyone to withhold paying taxes in protest of the government until Congress agreed to stop wasting our money.  The theory is good, but the real-world application is impossible.  But I digress.

First of all, ask yourself this . . . who is hurt by decreased donations?  Students.  If you think for one minute that Rodney Erickson will have his salary cut because of diminished donations then you live in a dream world.  You need to look no further than financial institutions which gave lucrative bonuses to CEO's as the government bailed those same institutions out of bankruptcy. 

I will be the first to admit that my contribution to Penn State is almost purely based on the personal benefit of retaining and purchasing football tickets.  I have no shame in admitting that the amount of money I would donate if I were not a football fan would be significantly less.  I have plenty of other worthy charities, schools, and organizations to support thank you very much.  And when I sit in Beaver Stadium and look around me, I am not alone in this.

What gain would there be for an empty stadium, assuming it were possible to convince every ticket holder not to renew?  Again, who is hurt?  Penn State still has their TV contract and Big Ten money.  The student-athletes would suffer.  Recruiting would suffer.  The coaches would suffer--maybe even prompting O'Brien to leave over the lack of support.  Are you willing to risk that to make a statement about the Board of Trustees????  The fans would suffer, denying themselves the stadium experience and perhaps risking their seats for future years with no restrictions and a team perhaps competing for a national title.  And if you think for one second that Rodney Erickson, John Surma, Karen Peetz or Keith Masser will suffer, then you are truly delusional and perhaps dangerous.

So what say you?  If you have donated previously, did you continue to donate?  Did you stop because of the leadership vacuum at Penn State?  If you withheld money, do you feel your voice has been heard?

So Long, Suhey!

The alumni have spoken.  Both incumbents, Stephanie Deviney and Paul Suhey were ousted from the Board.  All three of the candidates endorsed by PS4RS won. (Note to future hopefuls . . . get on the good side of PS4RS.)

Here are the results of the voting with around 33,000 votes cast:

1.  Barbara L. Doran, '75, New York, NY ? 15,085
2.  William F. Oldsey, '76, Basking Ridge, NJ ? 13,940
3.  Edward "Ted" B. Brown, III, '68, State College, PA ? 11,403
4.  Paul V. Suhey, '79, Boalsburg, PA ? 4,521
5.  Ted J. Sebastianelli, '69, State College, PA ? 3,188
6.  Robert C. Jubelirer, '59, '62 JD, Boalsburg, PA ? 3,030
7.  David K. Mullaly, '69, '72g, Annapolis, MD ? 2,996
8.  Kathleen A. Pavelko, '75, '79g, New Cumberland, PA ? 2,732
9.  Vincent J. Tedesco, Jr., '64, State College, PA ? 2,250
10.  John W. Diercks, '63, '67g, '75g, State College, PA ? 2,133
11.  Stephanie Nolan Deviney, '97 JD, Exton, PA ? 2,026
12.  Amy L. Williams, '80, Wayne, PA ? 1,987
13.  O. Richard Bundy, III, '93, '96g, South Burlington, VT ? 1,976
14.  Pratima Gatehouse, '96, '10g, Short Hills, NJ ? 1,869
15.  Ben J. Novak, '65, '99g, Ave Maria, FL ? 1,863
16.  Thomas A. Conley, '01, Washington, DC ? 1,788
17.  William J. Cluck, '82, Harrisburg, PA ? 1,695
18.  Mark S. Connolly, '84g, West Chester, PA ? 1,375
19.  Eugene J. Bella, '63, Murrysville, PA --  1,362
20.  Ryan M. Bagwell, '02, Middleton, WI ? 1,360
21.  Darlene R. Baker, '80, Warminster, PA ? 1,321
22.  Doreen Ulichney Schivley, '78, State College, PA ? 1,184
23.  J. Andrew Weidman, '78, Reading, PA ? 1,118
24.  Scott T. Kimler, '83, Ladysmith, BC Canada ? 1,084
25.  Gregory "Sandy" S. Sanderson, '00, Pittsburgh, PA ? 1,012
26.  Christopher R. Owens, '06, Mechanicsburg, PA ? 1,003
27.  Christopher J. Bartnik, '91, '96g, Chantilly, VA -- 995
28.  Patrick J. Howley, '12, Baltimore, MD -- 980
29.  Matthew A. Bird, '80, Gettysburg, PA -- 887
30.  Charles R. Mazzitti, '80, Elizabethtown, PA -- 849
31.  Rudolph K. Glocker, '91, '93g, Henderson, NV -- 771
32.  John M. Mason, Jr., '70, '72, Auburn, AL -- 753
33.  Robert J. Hooper, '79, Burlington, VT -- 752
34.  Jeffrey N. Goldsmith, '82, Harrisburg, PA -- 675
35.  Robert P. McKinnon, '90, Hastings on Hudson, NY -- 509
36.  Robert J. Bowsher, '86, San Diego, CA -- 495
37.  Robert N. Grimes, '80, Potomac, MD -- 460
38.  Gregory A. Slachta, '66, Ridgeland, SC -- 444
39.  Frederik O. Riefkohl, '87, Annapolis, MD -- 414

I am actually surprised Suhey managed to come in fourth, but at least the margin of victory was overwhelming.  I am saddened that David Mullaly didn't win--and disappointed he didn't get more support.

But the message is pretty clear:  the alumni are NOT happy with the way the current Board--or at least those that were present in November of 2011--handled the scandal and the after-math.  The vast majority don't want to return to the status quo and "move on."  We want the cowardly bastards that fired Paterno by phone without ever getting his side of the story first OUT.  And if we have to do it 3 per year because the egomaniacs can't do the right thing and step down themselves, then so be it.

Mission accomplished this year.

On the Campaign Trail

The Penn State Board of Trustee Election is nearing.  I believe balloting will occur between April 10 and May 2, 2013. 

So who are you going to vote for?

PS4RS has made suggestions of who NOT to vote for . . .

Bill Schackner calls this ad an "attack ad" and Suhey and Deviney responded thusly:

"As someone who played for Joe Paterno and was a captain, I know full well that he did a lot of tremendous things for the university and inspired generations of students and alumni," he said. "But as a trustee, I have a responsibility to focus on the entire university and its many challenges in helping to educate our more than 96,000 students. That's where my focus is."

Ms. Deviney, an Exton, Pa., attorney who is the board's vice chairwoman, said: "Negative campaigning doesn't achieve a single thing for the students who look to Penn State for a world-class education. ... I'm not going to engage it."

Call it an attack, call it negative, but the bottom line is this:  IT IS THE TRUTH.

The current BOT simply does not get this.  Penn Staters will NOT be able to MOVE ON until truth is established (not some high-priced opinion that has little to no truth in it) and not until the wrong against Joe Paterno is righted.

The Board of Trustees did not handle this well.  And unfortunately, apparently, none of them have the BALLS to resign.  AND EVERYONE WHO VOTED TO FIRE PATERNO MUST GO.

So it is up to us--the ALUMNI--the strength of this fine University--to do what those trustees won't do.  Three by three, we will OUST the people that fiddled while Beaver Stadium burned.

Anthony Lubrano has posted the three candidates he supports this year--three people he thinks will work with him to effect change.  His choices are Bob Jubelirer, Bill Oldsey and Barb Doran.  The latter two are also endorsed by PS4RS along with Edward "Ted" Brown III.

I personally, am rather leery of Bob Jubelirer by virtue of the fact that he was a career politician who ultimately got caught with his hand in the cookie jar and lost after voting legislators a controversial pay raise.

So I will probably go with Doran and Oldsey because I believe in Anthony Lubrano and support his position.  For my last vote, I will be casting ballot for DavidM.

You can follow David Mullaly on Facebook.

Here is some information about David:

David Mullaly ’69, ’72: Alumni Trustee Candidate
An Alumni Trustee Needs to Represent The Alumni!
*I have been active in defending Penn State’s interests.

• I organized two rallies on Penn State’s main campus asking for resignations from the current Board of Trustees; featured speakers included Franco Harris, Anthony Lubrano, Eileen Morgan, and others.

• I enlisted the help of twenty alumni volunteers to visit with thousands of tailgaters before the OSU game to encourage them to keep demanding changes in the leadership at Penn State.

• I helped to create, fund, and promote the distribution of thousands of free“I am Penn State, and I VOTE!” bumper stickers before the PA Attorney Generalelection, and continue to offer them to alumni to encourage PA legislators tosupport BOT structural reform.

*I have the time to devote to the trustee position that most candidates don’t.
*I am eager to work with reform trustees Lubrano and McCombie to challenge the current “leadership” on the Board.
*I have no other significant loyalties or agendas which could challenge my devotion to Penn State.
*I am willing to “go public” whenever necessary to protect Penn State’s best interests, and I’m willing to speak to groups of all sizes.
* I believe that the alumni need to be fairly and genuinely represented by the trustees they’ve chosen. I plan an alumni “listening tour” if I am fortunate enough to be elected.

Personal Background:
*BA (1969) and MA (1972) from Penn State
*Two years of doctoral course work at Northwestern
*Thirty years teaching experience at both Northwestern and at a suburban Chicago high school
*Taught on all high school grade and ability levels, including AP English
*Two dozen of my best students ultimately graduated from Penn State
*Served on multiple curriculum committees and was involved in hiring interviews
*Coached high school soccer team for ten years
*Organized a Chicago-area banquet for Joe Paterno and then-coach Dick Harter
*My wife is a 1970 Penn State graduate, and our one son graduated from PSU in 1997.

If You Are Not A Member Of The Alumni Association, and Need An Alumni Trustee Ballot:
Alumni can request a ballot by sending an email to BOT@psu.edu<mailto:BOT@psu.edu> and provide
-complete name at time of graduation (maiden name included)
-year of graduation
-college and major
-current email address
-mailing address
For more information:
www.facebook.com/DavidMullaly4PSUTrust
www.stateyou.com

In a personal correspondence with David, he wrote:  (The text in red is my emphasis--what I think is crucial)

Voting for me can provide two things: a strong statement and a vocal advocate. Many alumni believe that the current board members need to hear a strong statement from the alumni. One such statement would accompany the defeat of the two incumbents. Another would be my election by the alumni. I organized two rallies on campus last fall encouraging the resignations of most of the trustees, and Karen Peetz called our demands—without mentioning our names--“anarchy.” Imagine her shock if she saw Suhey and Deviney voted out, and the organizer of those rallies elected to the board.

What do we know for sure?
 

*I am the only public activist candidate on the ballot.

*I am the only candidate discussing the importance of an alumni trustee caucus on the BOT.

*I am the only candidate who has pledged to have a listening tour of every alumni group I can visit between the election and the beginning of the new trustee term.

*I am the only candidate who has proven himself to be willing to speak publicly in defense of Penn State.

*I believe I am the only candidate to contact every PSU chapter with a valid email address in the entire world.
 

Ask yourself this question: "Where has that person been, what has that person done since the scandal broke over a year ago?" Is it simply election time, or has that candidate done anything to be an advocate for Penn State?

 

Who are you voting for???

New Trustees Elected

Anthony Lubrano, Adam Taliaferro and Ryan McCombie are now on the Penn State Board of Trustees.

From NPR:

Alumni elected lawyer Adam Taliaferro, who played for the late coach Joe Paterno; prominent donor and outspoken board critic Anthony Lubrano; and retired U.S. Navy captain Ryan McCombie.

Election results were announced Friday following more than three weeks of online voting that drew a record turnout of at least 37,000. The new trustees begin their three-year terms July 1.

—Adam Taliaferro, attorney, of Swedesboro, N.J. Former defensive back for Paterno who became well known for his courageous recovery from a career-ending spinal-cord injury suffered his freshman year in 2000 during a game at Ohio State. Now an attorney in Cherry Hill, N.J., the 2005 graduate also won election last year as a freeholder in Gloucester County, N.J.

Taliaferro has said that fellow alumni have told him the biggest issue is transparency. He pledged to make information and access to trustees more easily available. Taliaferro has offered more measured responses when asked about the trustees' actions in November.

—Anthony Lubrano, financial services executive, of Exton. Among the 86 candidates, the 1982 graduate has been the most vocal critic of the board and its ouster of Paterno. Lubrano has said the election is about "governance," and that the board was ill-prepared to handle the scandal. Lubrano distributed a petition calling for "due process" for Paterno. He has the endorsement of Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship, an alumni watchdog group.

—Ryan McCombie, retired U.S. Navy captain, of State College. The 1970 graduate cites his experience in contingency planning and crisis management from his days in the military as strengths in helping the university get through the scandal. McCombie said in his position statement that the trustees must lead "with integrity and by example," but he did not specifically criticize the board's actions in November. His supporters dotted the State College area with campaign yard signs.

The trustees race once generated little interest in the general public, let alone the more than 557,000 Penn State alumni across the country. Fewer than 12,000 voted last year; this year's race drew more than 37,000 votes to shatter the previous record set in 1990 by about 10,000 votes.

Congratulations and Good Luck in mving Penn State forward past this disaster!