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Enterprising Cheese

Mon, 14 May 2012 18:58:40 -0400

Sara Ganim (left, Photo Credit: Chris Knight) and Jerry Sandusky (Photo Credit: Patriot-News File)

If there’s a horse that’s been beaten this year it’s the Jerry Sandusky/Penn State sexual abuse scandal story. Now, Penn State traditionally had a lot of flack thrown their way purely because they are just easy to pick on because they are so big. But many tears were spent on many hoodies due to the work of a then 22-year-old reporter, and Penn State grad, who worked for over two years developing the story the old fashioned way. Her name was Sara Ganim and her work under central Pennsylvania’s Harrisburg Patriot-News carried the masthead into national recognition when major networks from across the country descended on Central Pennsylvania for those succeeding weeks after the story broke.

Knocking on doors and reading Penn State community threads led her to pursue the story and to eventually break the news that a grand-jury had been investigating the former coach for years on sexual-abuse allegations. Ganim’s first story on the subject actually broke in March 2010, nearly 20 months before the story blew up into what it is today.

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Brock's Blog: A Man Who Did To Little

Mon, 14 May 2012 18:50:32 -0400

Brock's Blog: A Man Who Did To Little:

bhebner:

A horrifying sex scandal at Penn State University has now swept the nation. One of the biggest outcomes of this was the firing of head coach Joe “JoePa” Paterno. Most people agree with the firing, but there are also some who don’t think he should have been fired. But when you let child molestation…

Space for Secularism: Penn State - Six Months Later

Sun, 13 May 2012 19:13:01 -0400

Space for Secularism: Penn State - Six Months Later :

secularstudentsucf:

I confess that, as a fan of college football, I was hesitant to investigate the sexual abuse scandal at Pennsylvania State University. It has been exactly six months since the media frenzy and in retrospect, it is easy to understand the impulse to avert one’s eyes: to imagine a mother and father…

The video above was shot on my phone while driving (I...

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:23:35 -0400

The video above was shot on my phone while driving (I don’t recommend this) to Penn State the day after the Sandusky scandal shook my alma mater. Nearly every radio station was talking about the shocking content of the Grand Jury Report. But this isn’t where my story of making No Act Of Ours begins.

On Nov. 10, I woke up and did what I do every morning. I opened up facebook to see what’s going on in the world and with my friends. I saw a bunch of posts with vague sentence fragments about Paterno, Sandusky, and the Board of Trustees. I thought, what happened at Penn State? I’m sure it’s nothing that serious. I’ll check it out when I get to work.

I jumped online and saw that Coach Paterno was fired, the president was asked to step down and that Jerry Sandusky is alleged to have sexually abused kids. I also saw that students took to the street to protest the firing of JoePa. OK, this is serious.

This is a huge story. It’s my alma mater. I grew up 30 miles from Happy Valley. This is going to tear this community apart.

Have you ever gotten an idea that doesn’t seem to come from you? It just seems to jump into your brain and you’re like, where did that come from? Well that’s what happened when I found myself lugging my camera gear to my car and heading to State College.

I called my cousin on the way down to see if I could crash on his couch. I called my mom to let her know what I was doing. She debriefed me on the allegations. I really didn’t know much about the story and that’s what made my split second decision scary. When I got there I saw that this wasn’t the place I had left many years ago. Happy Valley was occupied by camera vans and reporters.

The energy in the air was tense. Heavy. Chaotic. I wasn’t the only one who didn’t know what was going on. There were many more questions than answers.

I walked around that night talking with students. Most students wanted to talk. Some lashed out and asked me when I was going to leave. When they found out I’m a PSU alum and that I was there to get the student perspective they relaxed as much as they could.

Now it’s more than six months later and the funding trailer is up on Kickstarter. People are talking about the film online and so now it’s time for me to process this experience and talk about it. We’re trying to raise $28,000 in 45 days to cover the filming, editing, music, and promotion of the film. We’re at $4,380 with 35 days to go.

In these six months it’s become clear why I’m making this film and why I made that split second decision to join this community during these dark times.

I’ll talk about those reasons in my next post.

-K

Future Penn Stater on her past and the film.

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:19:48 -0400

blitzkreigkate:

I just watched a video on Kickstarter for a video about Penn Staters.

And I can’t imagine how much the scandal affected people on campus. It must have been crazy, overwhelming and emotional.

But it affected me differently.

Since April of last year, I knew that Penn State was the school for me. I just didn’t know if I would be accepted. I applied September 1st. I thought once I was accepted, if I was accepted at all, I would accept the offer. I went to Joe Paterno’s last home game. And two weeks later, it all went down hill. And I cried, and I cried and I cried some more. When I thought it wasn’t possible to cry anymore, someone would say something and tears began rolling down my face again.

Everyone asked me how I felt about the scandal or what my opinion was. Everyone knew Penn State was my school, and everyone thought I should have an opinion on the situation. I definitely said some things that I regret saying now. We discussed it day after day in Journalism class. Some of my classmates were saying things that weren’t true. I lashed out at people who said he should be fired, or even arrested. Every news outlet covered the story and there were so many horrible things, it was hard to digest. Sometimes you say things with your heart, and not your head. And those were a rough few weeks.

Then there was a point in time, where I didn’t know if I would end up going to Penn State, even if I were to be accepted. Before I was accepted - before the scandal - I knew I belonged at Penn State. At this point, how could I say no after I bought a million sweatshirts and not letting my friends hear the end of it?

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He wonders--Will Penn Staters will want this film made? Great question!

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:17:43 -0400

colecamplese:

I came across this Kickstarter project last night while reading a post by a high school senior coming to Penn State next year. The project is a feature film that aims to share the perspective of the students and the entire Penn State community in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky abuse scandal.

The story at Penn State is far from over and there are tough times ahead but I look forward to spending many more months there filming and following the story. This film is definitely not about taking sides but exploring the complexity of the situation and posing questions from the student’s perspective.

Right now the project is funded to the tune of 2% … $615.00 of the required $28,000.00. With 44 days left to go I wonder if it will get funded. My curiosity is fueled by the simple fact that I fear there are too many who might not want to see the film be made. I know I would very much like to see it happen and I will throw some money at it — hell I have funded kick starters for iPhone cases and other gizmos, so I feel like I’d like to help.

Honestly watching part of the trailer I got those same sick feelings I felt from the middle of November through Joe’s passing … it has only been recently that I have moved into a different mental and emotional state with all of this.

Back to that post I read from the high school senior … it is an emotional view into the mind of a young woman trying to come to terms with her own past and how hard her decision to attend PSU in the fall has been …

But the other side of me - the side that people don’t see, the side that has been through way more than most people could ever believe, the side of me that was physically and emotionally tortured for eight years - that side of me said not to go. That side of me said that it was bringing up too many emotions that I had already dealt with. I was protecting myself.

Her willingness to share these feelings and to stand up in the face of such terrible things has me feeling a bit better and ready to help get this project moving. The thing is that I needed to read her post to feel OK about helping with the Kickstarter. If you have doubts, watch the video and then read her post …

And now, I know that Penn State can only make this better. It won’t make me forget, because it won’t allow me to forget. I couldn’t just say “This isn’t a part of me; this isn’t who I am.” Because it is part of me, and it has shaped who I am today. Penn State has shaped who I am today, and will continue to shape who I am for the rest of my life. Even if its not the easy way out that I was looking for.

Former student of mine spreads the word about No Act Of Ours.

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:15:30 -0400

alrightinnit:

“No Act of Ours” // a documentary project by Kelly Dolak

Use Kickstarter to help my former professor (a Penn State graduate) out with this film project she’s been working on about how the community has reacted to and dealt with the scandals surrounding Jerry Sandusky and the late Joe Paterno. She’s been working on it for months with other Ramapo students, and they’ve done amazing work so far.

ABOUT THIS PROJECT

In six months Penn State University and the community have been through hell and back again. Jerry Sandusky, a former assistant football coach and founder of The Second Mile (an organization for kids in need), has been charged with 52 counts of child molestation and eight of the 10 victims were molested on Penn State property. Joe Paterno, the school’s father-figure and beloved head football coach for 46 seasons, was fired by the board of trustees and two months later he died. The university president stepped down. An investigation into Penn State is ongoing and the Sandusky trial is scheduled for early June. There are so many unknowns and this close-knit, loyal community is left to pick up the pieces and find ways to deal with questions of loyalty, morality, and betrayal emerging from this situation.

Pledges will get you nifty swag (yep) like custom designed hoodies and mugs. Go! Go! They need $28,000 by June!

People are getting the word out about the film. THANK YOU!

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:13:50 -0400

kindabella:

No Act of Ours Funding Trailer

This is an upcoming documentary about Penn State and the Sandusky Scandal. If you like what you see, please support this project by donating $5 tothe Kickstarter page for No Act of Ours.

You probably spent $5 on breakfast this morning, surely you can spend $5 on being part of making a movie come to life.