Penn State Students Bear Brunt of NCAA Sanctions for Cover-Up as Trustees Emerge Unscathed

DemocracyNow.org - The governing body of U.S. college sports Monday announced a series of unprecedented sanctions against Penn State University following an independent investigation into the widespread cover-up of child sexual abuse by former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The NCAA leveled penalties including a fine of $60 million, a reduction of student-athlete scholarships, and a vacating of all wins of the Penn State football team from 1998 to 2011. We're joined by Dave Zirin, sports columnist for The Nation magazine and host of Edge of Sports Radio. Zirin says the sanctions will punish Penn State students, while sparing top officials, including Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett -- who has drawn criticism for his handling of the Sandusky investigation while serving as the state's Attorney General and preparing for a gubernatorial run. "We're attacking 18-year-old scholarship athletes and making them pay the price when people in power have not really had to be affected by the horrible crimes that took place in Happy Valley," Zirin says. "I do not trust the NCAA to be [the] adjudicating body for the simple reason that their very existence ensures more cover-ups and more scandals in the future."

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