I saw this story and thought about posting. After reading it through though, there were no real revelations. Big universities, including our own, are corporations with brands to protect, customers to attract, etc. All that requires image management. What the story describes goes on at every university every day. In the PSU case, obviously, the scale of the damage control is a function of the scale of the damage, which is huge. PSU is chernobyl and it will take many years before it is once again habitable.
The longer term effect is the further erosion of public faith and trust in anything. It joins a string of events in which public heroes are exposed as cheaters and creeps - Pete Rose, Tiger Woods, and now the shining city on the hill, PSU. No spin control can repair that damage. Sad.
Your outstanding statement is exactly why exposing these memos are important. They show PSU doesn't give a crap about the abused kids, it's all about the donor money and they think by trying to show "humility and regret" they can make this thing go away. Wait until Sandusky goes to trial, then it gets really ugly and disgusting. Showing sincere regret and letting your actions show your sincereity are more important than trying to "manage" the news or the story. These memos really make them look really bad and phony.
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