Time Out

With the end of the year approaching, I am mulling over when to use my remaining paid vacation days for the year. I used a total of ONE of those days thus far, so not only do I need to decide when to go on vacation, but where to go. I thought about visiting my sister, who lives in the States, but I also have friends who live south of the border as well; perhaps I should make an extended road trip to visit them?

I always wanted to visit a college town as well, drop in on a class, and see how the folks in the United States learn and educate the country's best and brightest. INSERT OBLIGATORY RANDOM COLLEGE FOOTBALL HIGHLIGHT:

While we are on the subject of collegiate athletics, I have difficulty stomaching the ongoing developments in the Jerry Sandusky/Penn State University child abuse scandal. I am a youth sponsor serving in my hometown church, so trust and safety are very important. What goes through someone's mind when he is victimizing or taking advantage of another person in his care? While those in authority, who knew about the abuse, can wheel and deal out of any legal trouble, all are morally at fault for staying quiet for the sake of sponsorship, and maybe a few extra dollars. Penn State's trustees cleaned house and fired most, if not all, the administrative authorities in charge at the school, which included the most notable on campus, football head coach Joe Paterno, who recently set the NCAA record for wins as a head coach. Penn State was one of my favourite schools, and during my days in university I would play football video games and play as the Nittany Lions; today, even weeks after the story broke, I'm not so sure how to feel about the institution.

More important, however, is the state of the children and their families. Their childhood and trust will be forever marred by years of abuse and neglect, and along with the physical scarring there is no telling what psychological impact this will have on them growing up. NCAA authorities penalized football programs over the years for lesser crimes, but the Penn State situation cuts to the core of human decency and social responsibility. Whatever decision the NCAA or the courts render, it will definitely not be enough to repair the damage caused to those boys who attended Sandusky's development camps on the Penn State campus all those years.