OT: The State News Editorial just tore into the MSU administration
These kids are a great example of how student journalists should respond to a situation like this.
http://statenews.com/article/2018/01/editorial-jan-24
January 26th, 2018 at 9:24 AM ^
It just goes to show you how much smarter the students are than the people who run the place.
Bravo to this editorial board. It could not have been said better.
I say axe every one of these coaches and admiminstrators. Fire them before they come out with another "choose the wrong words" spin on their criminal enabling of these sexual crimes.
January 26th, 2018 at 9:55 AM ^
Or resigning and slinking off into the sunset, I would prefer public shaming first. Maybe put people like Simon, Hollis, Klages and Ferguson in a stock and have the victims throw rotten tomatoes at them. Show it live on a YouTube channel. Afterwards have them clean public toilets around campus for three months. Then kick their assets out.
January 26th, 2018 at 9:57 AM ^
January 26th, 2018 at 10:19 AM ^
Exactly.
They have little to lose, so they can call it like they see it.
"The Emperor has no clothes."
January 26th, 2018 at 5:07 PM ^
and well stated. They are correct in everything they say. This could be a stain that last forever, or people can continue to step up and do what is right and try to fix this thing before it's too late.
Even if they weren't a rival I would hope some serious house cleaning would take place as what happened there is disgusting.
January 26th, 2018 at 9:25 AM ^
Day late, Dollar short. Maybe State News needs to be proactive and realize that all of their staff missed the "situation" that 100's of women were mollested while the "journalists" played news.
Seriously, we call PSU Pedo State and wanted them gone from the B1G, but nobody gives a fuck about MSU.
January 26th, 2018 at 9:29 AM ^
January 26th, 2018 at 9:29 AM ^
I mean, they were some of the first folks to report on it and have easily been the most aggressive in calling for leadership change since this news broke, but I guess it's cool to shit on them too?
January 26th, 2018 at 10:50 AM ^
The most stupid comment posted on the internet this year (so far).
January 26th, 2018 at 11:30 AM ^
January 26th, 2018 at 9:25 AM ^
It's great to see that the majority of the students and alumni are standing up for what is right here and not trying to push things to the side like so many prominate people have at MSU.
Great article that holds nothing back and calls out everyone.
January 26th, 2018 at 9:28 AM ^
FOX Sports has ignored this story, probably because of their multimedia rights deal with MSU.
Given how terribly MSU administrators have behaved at every turn, it wouldn't surprise me if they nudged their partner on this one.
Kudos to the State News team on their coverage as well as students who have been putting pressure on the administation. They've shown great leadership in the face of a leadership failure.
January 26th, 2018 at 9:35 AM ^
is still staggering about the Nassar-MSU things is that the Michigan sports media is still giving them cover. I hear non-stop on local sports radio and television that "wait, back up, this isn't a 'Michigan State' thing so let's not go down that road." Really? It is completely 100% a Michigan State thing.
Don't admonish Michigan grads and fans who are calling Michigan State's leadership and culture a disgrace as though they are using it as "part of the rivalry," that doesn't even make any sense. They don't seem to understand that by shifting the focus they are promoting the same lack of accountability that landed MSU here in the first place. They say things like "we would be covering this and discussing this regardless of where it happened." Well, yeah, OK, but it happened at Michigan State, so how is that statement even meaningful or relevant? What does it even mean? (And by the way, you weren't covering, really at all, until the victim impact statements made it national news and you had no choice but to do so).
It should not surprise me, though. Local media has been giving MSU cover for years while destroying Michigan at every opportunity. So, I guess in this situation they are probably trying to cover for their lack of honest and balanced reporting as well.
January 26th, 2018 at 9:36 AM ^
Michigan Sports media isn't touching this one until it draws in basketball or football directly.
If it does.
January 26th, 2018 at 9:41 AM ^
are covering it, but their coverage amounts to vague-faux-token outrage immediately followed by a fierce and unrelenting defense of the Michigan State athletic department. There are Michigan State grads calling into these shows to tell the hosts that their coverage of it is dishonest and insufficient. Unreal.
January 26th, 2018 at 10:07 AM ^
In a linked article on that site the mayor of East Lansing is calling not only for the resignation of the trusteees but also Izzo and Dantonio. The thought is they are powerful figures in the AD and could have drawn attention to the situation for address but instead ignored it as well. Interesting to see how far that goes. Not sure if those two will be caught up in it, but lots of people need to be shown the door.
January 26th, 2018 at 10:17 AM ^
If this turns into a major investigation that turns up damning details about how the athletic department as a whole treated sexual assault reports and those details include Dantonio and Izzo turning a blind eye in their respective sports and rosters, then I'll get behind that movement.
But they're coaches of unrelated programs. Think of Jim Harbaugh. You don't think he has enough on his plate that now he's responsible for policing the olympic sports and investigating their problems? That's not their place. That's not their jobs. They probably should have done a little more homework before coming out with public statements on the matter and not thrown unconditional support behind the school president. That was a bad look. I'm not firing them for that.
January 26th, 2018 at 9:44 AM ^
I am not sure I understand what your complaint is here John.
If you are arguing against people who criticize all the coverage, then I agree with you wholeheartedly. My God, this was the front-page story of the New York Times. People who want to turn it into a parochial UM-MSU thing are just that, parochial, and not in good way, but in a very short-sighted way.
January 26th, 2018 at 9:59 AM ^
complaint here is that almost nobody is making it into a UM-MSU thing, but the local media is treating it is though that, and not the actual facts of the story, is what is resulting in such intense and critical media coverage. It is a blatant form of deflection, and it sounds like they may have actually tricked you a little bit. The coverage of the story is not a "UM-MSU thing. It is not being "sensationalized" or "politicized." All of those rationalizations are code to convince people that the story is not as big of a deal as it really is as it pertains to Michigan State's role in the events and the (on-going) coverup. It is part of what has enabled Michigan State to this point and continues to do so.
January 26th, 2018 at 10:54 AM ^
This State News editorial does a good job of assigning blame to the people at the top and MSU will continue to be tainted by this horrible situation. However, we need to stop acting like the students and alumni of MSU are materially different than those at UofM. We are literally neighbors, family members, and many people have been and will be affiliated with both institutions. Let the investigations continue and hand out punishment to those who deserve it. In the end it will be best for everyone, including UofM, that MSU reforms, hires new and capable admins that work towards healing the community and putting in place the structures that will prevent, not only this, but any abuse to happen.
January 26th, 2018 at 11:17 AM ^
a pretty assinine response. I was discussing the local media coverage of the event. I was not addressing the students and alumni of Michigan State, and was specifically discussing local media coverage. Most college educated people in my family and extended family went to Michgian State. Bad post and you should feel bad.
January 26th, 2018 at 11:24 AM ^
However, we need to stop acting like the students and alumni of MSU are materially different than those at UofM.
This is beating up a straw man. Our argument is not that everyone there is bad (many are clearly horrified by all this), but that their leadership became corrupted and created an environment in which a monster like Nassar could thrive.
January 26th, 2018 at 10:46 AM ^
Small sample size and all that, but FWIW Simonson (Huge) was very harshly critical of MSU's entire leadership last night on his show. Yes, I know most people think he's an idiot, but he wasn't pulling any punches.
(No, I don't make a point of listening to him—WTKA carries his show at the end of the day, and that's what station my car radio is frequently tuned to).
I had breakfast this morning with a good friend who is an MSU alum, and he is completely and totally disgusted and outraged by the actions/non-action of the MSU idiots who enabled Nassar. He says the other MSU people he knows all feel the same way. They're all saying that their customary donations to MSU are a thing of the past until a new group of leaders are brought in who will deal with the situation responsibly and appropriately.
January 26th, 2018 at 9:36 AM ^
It's a good editorial, but they should have gone a bit further and called for the firing of the AD and the former dean of the school of Osteopathic Medicine.
January 26th, 2018 at 10:04 AM ^
There are so many people that seem so much more culpable than Lou Anna Simon, and she rightly deserved a ton of blame herself.
But Hollis is more directly in line to handle this type of situation than Simon is. And with the assault situation with the football players this off-season, the Payne & Appling stuff, I can't understand how he skates around free of blame. Just one of those situations seems like it should draw a spotlight on an Athletic Director. The combination is damning.
And where in the world is Kathie Klages, who actively told a victim to keep quiet about her assault? And the board members who reviewed these accusations only to give Nassar's penetration techniques a fucking stamp of approval?
I'm sure it's all coming in time, but calling out Tom Izzo and "Captain Red Lock" Dantonio is a waste of breath. They've already proven they don't give a shit.
January 26th, 2018 at 11:07 AM ^
Also, they may have wanted to call out the trainers who have been named repeatedly in reports who ignored the complaints, as well. Not leadership types, but damn well a key part of the horror that occurred.
My hunc,h completely without any real knowledge, is that these trainers were told how to handle any complaints about Nassar by deflecting blame and discouraging victims from taking action. There MUST be some reason they are still employed by MSU. Me thinks they might have lots of dirt to unload.
January 26th, 2018 at 9:46 AM ^
In just about every group, there is always at least one moron.
January 26th, 2018 at 10:19 AM ^
January 26th, 2018 at 9:47 AM ^
January 26th, 2018 at 11:26 AM ^
Yeah man. Have you seen the new Breslin renovations?
January 26th, 2018 at 9:55 AM ^
Hits all the points, just hard enough.
We'll see if people in charge will listen.
January 26th, 2018 at 10:38 AM ^
Their current BoT has to go first.
January 26th, 2018 at 10:36 AM ^
on the Nassar case today. It seems to me in reading articles like this and others from the national media that more focus is put on USA Gymnastics than on MSU. Maybe it's because the former is easier for the media to go after and MSU is a huge, complex organization where blame is harder to afix. Maybe more articles like the State News one will help fan the flames of outrage among the national media.
January 26th, 2018 at 10:42 AM ^
it is more of a stroy when celebrity olympic gold medalists got abused
January 26th, 2018 at 11:22 AM ^
January 26th, 2018 at 10:43 AM ^
Watching Dantionio emerge unscathed after letting the football program turn to a cesspool, I knew MSU didn't care or would actively cover up/withhold to protect their interests.
I hope they get crushed because I don't think they'll take care of the their issues if left to their own devices.
January 26th, 2018 at 10:53 AM ^
January 26th, 2018 at 11:44 AM ^
Why did the editorial board let off the gas half way through? It started great, but turned into an MSU love fest. I was hoping they would have targeted the BoT and Hollis (he hadn't resigned when this was written). But they didn't...
Still, a nice read - I hope the snowball keeps rolling over the enablers...
January 26th, 2018 at 12:35 PM ^
Not a bad piece by The State News, but the sports editor abstaining on the editorial board vote looks pretty weak. Maybe he fell asleep in the meeting, but it seems to me he just didn't want to be officially associated with an editorial that calls out Mork and Izzy for having "failed miserably" as leaders.
January 26th, 2018 at 12:36 PM ^
MSU needs to clean house. There are probably a lot of other schools who need to take a hard look at their institutional culture and make some changes to reduce the chance of a scandal like this. I hope UM isn't in that group, but in any case we always need to promote transparency and accountability and ensure that no one person has too much power.
January 26th, 2018 at 1:27 PM ^
Excellent article.
This is honestly one of those situations where I've turned to national media to provide perspective. They're not clouded by potential intrastate biases, and the IndyStar led the charge.
It's good to see local media catching up.
January 26th, 2018 at 4:32 PM ^
This article shows why students should have more input into issues like this than they do at most schools. An adult sitting in an admin office doesn't know half as much about what is going on with students as the students themselves do.
I hope they listen to their students a lot better than they listened to all the young women who complained about being sexually assaulted and were pretty much told to "shut up and go home."