11/11/11

“Riot”

I constructed Riot from the pages of AM New York, a free daily newspaper designed for morning commuters. The whole paper is designed to be read in the span of a subway ride, so it is usually pretty sparse with information.

Today’s cover story was about Joe Paterno and the child-sex-abuse scandal at Penn State. There was one  photo of several students who were standing in support of victims of sex abuse. I had heard about the student riot, but I had assumed that the student protest was against Jerry Sandusky, the former assistant coach at the center of this controversy. It had not occurred to me that a campus would riot over a head football coach being fired.  Of course, I went to Bennington College and was tenured at Antioch College, so maybe I’m a bit naïve when it comes to college football.  Despite my background, I do feel that Paterno made a huge mistake and deserved what he got. I believe he put sports before the safety and welfare of children.