Posted on 08/27/2012 8:47:27 AM PDT by HonkyTonkMan
Stints in jail. Hefty fines and restitution. Clouded futures. The consequences of their bad behavior have been steep for the Penn State students who took to the streets and rioted in the chaotic aftermath of Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno's firing last November.
Perhaps none have learned a harder lesson than Justin Strine, a young man from central Pennsylvania whose planned career as an Army officer is over before it began — the casualty of his own split-second decision to put his hands on a news van, and a judicial system that considered him as guilty as classmates who did far worse that dark night in State College.
As the fall semester gets under way Monday, Strine has returned to campus, along with 15 other students found to have taken part in a nationally televised riot that caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage and embarrassed Penn State.
As he resumes his studies, nothing's the same for the 21-year-old from Hummelstown. He spent part of his summer in jail. Far worse: He's been kicked out of ROTC, his dream of carrying on his family's proud military tradition now out of reach.
"I'm losing everything I worked my entire life for," Strine said.
Strine's father, a career soldier, questions whether that's a just result.
"I had to stand by and watch my son plead guilty to something he didn't do," said Jim Strine.
Penn State sanctioned 32 students for their involvement in the riot, suspending 10 of them from one to three semesters and giving probation to the rest, university spokeswoman Lisa Powers said. Dozens of students were criminally charged, as well, and the guilty pleas have piled up over the last several months.
(Excerpt) Read more at xfinity.comcast.net ...
Unless you leading the mob, participating in a riot is an indicator that you aren't leadership material.
You need to lower your aspirations when you're working on Plan B.
That’s my thought as well. The guy’s father Issa CWO (helo pilot) and his sister a Senior Airman. He seems to be upset that he doesn’t get to be an occifer. Tough. He will be able to enlist and over several years prove that he’s grown up and earned a shot at a commission.
Will it matter if (when) it is found that Joe Paterno didn’t know there was a monster in his midst; that he was fired without cause, and that the students had a right to be angry? When the Freeh report is exposed for its unsubstantiated conclusions? When McQueary admits that he didn’t tell Joe exactly what he said he did?
Will it matter to the dead coach whose legacy is in shambles?
Will it matter to this kid?
Agreed. If he wants redemption, let him enlist, work his way up through the ranks and through outstanding performance, earn the right to reapply for officer training.
That is completely different from rioting in a town, tipping cars that beling to private parties, and defying police. And what makes this even more difficult from the Army's perspective was the context. The fact is that the national perception is that, at a minimum, JoePa did not take proper action when informed of child molestation. So it appears that the students were rioting in support of a guy who did something wrong, and failed in a duty.
He put the Army in a pretty tough position -- cadet arrested for rioting in support of JoePa. Ouch.
I agree that this cadet’s actions were criminal, and more serious than Army/Navy week rallies.
But, you didn’t address the last part of my post - West Point would give people arrested for DUI a second chance. And, DUI is clearly criminal, and deadly dangerous.
I suspect he was kicked out of ROTC, because his being in jail made it impossible for him to participate...and, some convictions may automatically call for dismissal.
However, the ex-Cadet has options to get back in. As somebody else mentioned, he could enlist, excel, and apply for OCS. Or, I suspect he could sit out a year, and re-apply to ROTC.
Unlike many on this thread, I am ‘ok’ with that. He was preparing to be an officer...but he isn’t one yet. I don’t know about ROTC; but, West Point has a whole system set up for discipline - area tours and demerits. The system is in place, because you people will eventually screw up.
If he gets another shot at it, he will be at least a year older, and hopefully more mature. Some of my old classmates are now Majors and LTC....but when they were young and dumb, they did some outrageously stupid things. They turned out alright, though. This guy could as well.
Will it matter if (when) it is found that Joe Paterno didn’t know there was a monster in his midst...
...come now...Joe chose not to know...
that he was fired without cause, and that the students had a right to be angry?
...perhaps he shouldn’t have been fired...room for a lot of opinions...but student’s having a right to be angry? They’re on campus to get an education, not get angry and act like idiots...
When the Freeh report is exposed for its unsubstantiated conclusions?
...you were an author of the report? You know that the conclusions are unsubstantiated? Or do you just want them to be?
When McQueary admits that he didn’t tell Joe exactly what he said he did?
...Joe acknowledged that what Mike told him was a man that Joe himself was responsible for being on campus in the first place, was with a boy in a shower, doing something of a sexual nature...you think Joe needed a videotape or something to show the slightest bit of interest in something that sinister?
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