The only person who had a worse day than Rick Perry was Joe Paterno.
I am married to a guy from UMD and Penn State. UMD folks hate Penn State because they generally beat them. However, I have never talked to anyone who didn’t have great respect for Joe Paterno, who has been head coach for the Nittany Lions for the past 46 years.
As of earlier today Paterno announced that he was retiring at the end of the season. Paterno is 85, born Dec.21, 1926. He is the winningest coach in football history. Tonight, he was out on his ear. His wishes to retire at the end of the season denied him by the board of trustees of Penn State. President Graham Spanier was also fired. He has a long distinguished record of improving the academic standing of Penn State over the decades.
At issue is the handling of gross sexual misconduct by assistant linebackers coach Jerry Sandusky. Paterno is not the subject of an investigation. Who is Jerry Sandusky? Click here. At least 8 men have come forward and claimed that they were sexually abused by Sandusky. The abuse had gone on over the past 15 years. The kids were part of Sandusky’s camp for youth. He has been retired for 10 years. It is the campus access he had during the past ten years that has toppled careers.
According to CBS News:
After hearing news of the firing, Paterno released a statement, saying: “I am disappointed with the Board of Trustees’ decision, but I have to accept it. A tragedy occurred, and we all have to have patience to let the legal process proceed. I appreciate the outpouring of support but want to emphasize that everyone should remain calm and please respect the university, its property and all that we value.”
Paterno was not accused of any legal wrong-doing. He followed the chain of command. However, what is in question is the question: did Paterno do everything morally and ethically correct? Apparently the board of trustees think not.
CBS also reports:
A source close to former Penn State Football Coach Joe Paterno tells CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian that the Paterno family is shocked and outraged over the university’s handling of the firing.
The source claims Surma lied at the press conference announcing Paterno’s firing when he said the board had informed Paterno by phone about its decision to terminate the head coach after 46 seasons.
Instead, the source claims a university employee hand-delivered a letter about the firing to the family home a mere 15 minutes prior to the press conference. According to the source, the reason for the letter was that the university employee said the board was unable to locate Paterno during the day.
The legendary football coach allegedly said upon hearing the news: “You give your life to this place and that’s how you’re treated.”
Expect Penn State to explode. Students have taken to the street. Joe Paterno is a revered hero in Lion Country. Alumni are supposedly furious. Paterno has been involved in Penn State athletics for 61 years. That’s a long time.
Does part of this seem like a witch hunt? Is Penn State embarrassed so they are just purging everyone from the athletic department? What a horrible end for Joe Paterno who has spent a lifetime helping young athletes.
I feel like Paterno was a sacrifice. That’s a shame. There is just no reason to associate this with Penn State. This was the screw-up of people, not the institution (and I could care less about Penn St)
I feel like he was sacrificed also but I also haven’t read the indictment from the grand jury.
I heard that will make a difference in how I feel.
I do think it has to do with Penn State. I am just not sure how.
Morning Joe is being a real AH on this as we speak. These folks don’t seem to realize that if you don’t see something yourself, you really aren’t at liberty to say but so much. That’s just society today.
I also don’t think Sandusky worked for Paterno when the locker room incident happened.
I don’t know…………..
I believe Penn State did the right thing. If it were Paterno’s grandson being sexually assaulted I imagine he would have handled it quite differently.
Yes, he did the “legal” correct action, but morally, nah, he should have followed up. HE was the “man in charge” of this deptartment, or so he built his reputation to be the big cheese.
The accusation and first hand details were about as daming as it gets, the only other evidence would have been video.
My impression is that he cared more for his football then the lives of innocent young boys. He should have vigorously followed up….period, end of story.
Let me add, there was also a “sting” operaton years ago by a sheriff and a mom and she got it on tape, a confession that Pandensky (sp?) had molested the boy. But why was he not prosecuted?
There are so many mistakes in this case it is horrifying, and I guarantee you, its all about protecting the “integrity” of football and its money making ability in colleges.
I am pretty unforgiving on this right now.
I still don’t understand why the man that actually witnessed it and told Paterno didn’t try to beat the ever loving crap out of the scumbag. What kind of person sees that and just reports it?
I agree with Cargo.
Elena, there is a bunch of information you and I don’t have. I also am unforgiving about sex abuse. However, we don’t know what Paterno was told and we don’t know what he told authorities or what he said later to Sandusky.
I like facts before I start condemning someone who wasn’t there at the time of an incident.
I want Sandusky to die in jail because he will be in there that long.
From what I have heard on TV, Paterno was told there was ‘horsing around,’ and he treated it as inappropriate horsing around, not rape. I really need more information to before I change my mind on Paterno. I have seen how people have been made to be fall guys over my life. Lefty Drisell comes to mind.
Suggest reading Tom Boswell’s piece on A1 of today’s WaPo.
Why do good people in leadership positions at great institutions sometimes
make such horrible mistakes? I never liked Penn State teams because of
their nasty habit of beating my favorite teams, but I respected them.
They followed NCAA rules and their players graduated at a rate far higher
than the norm – they not only won, they won the right way.
Now this.
I just this minute finished reading it. I don’t know….
For someone who obeyed the law, this sure is blowing up.
I just need to know more. What did he know and when did he know it and what was he told would be a good place to start.
We need to remember that when the shower incident happened, Sandusky wasn’t even an employee and did not work for Paterno. Sandusky had retired.
The great victims were, of course, the abused children and the monster
was clearly Jerry Sandusky.
Questions about how good decent people, including Joe Paterno and other
Penn St. officials, ended up becoming “enablers” in this tragedy is a story
that will be, and should be, studied for a long time.
99.99% of the Penn State “family” had nothing to do with the cover-up but their
beloved school will carry the scars of this incident for years — sadly made deeper
by a mob of unruly PSU students having a mass hissy fit last night.
The student riots are pretty much to be expected. That is not to imply I approve…just that I have always had close ties to universities and that just seems to be what happens.
I generally dislike board trustee members. They are usually political appointments and those that serve are often people not integral members of the university. Mrs. Kluge pops into my mind with her appointment to the UVA board of visitors. She was rich, famous, and a special friend of our former governor Doug Wilder. (cough-choke-cclearing throat)
I am not sure they didn’t act way too hastily.
Meanwhile, the graduate student who witnessed the locker room incident and who is a member of the coaching staff still has his job. I think the president and Paterno were fall guys.
I also said that Paterno was friends with Peter Benchley (Jaws). That is wrong. I meant to say William Peter Blatty, author of The Exorcist. They both attended Brooklyn Preparatory. Paterno is a year or two older.
Sorry about that. It must have been the name Peter that got me.
http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/uploadedFiles/Press/Sandusky-Grand-Jury-Presentment.pdf
This is why I believe that Paterno abdicated his role as the great coach and leader he built his life around. I don’t believe he is evil or should be treated like he a horrible person, but I do believe that college football can be all life consuming and the priority for him should have been following this crime to its bitter end. He isn’t guilty of a crime, but held a special role in that University and with that came added responsibility.
The graduate student saw this sick piece of crap raping a 10 year old boy. He panicked, called his dad, and the two of them subsequently told the entire horrible event directly to Paterno.
He knew all the facts, about as firsthand as you can get, even if you did not see it for yourself.
In my mind, they are all complicit, complicit in not wanting to damage the precious reputation of their school. It may not be illegal, but morally………..they are culpable. That is just my opinion.
@Elena,
I had not seen the grand jury report when I originally made my comments and said so. I may not ever get to all 23 pages and it certainly wasn’t in the cards this morning since I was up far too early fighting with this blog (the technicals, not the people). What I need to see is a time table.
I actually think that the media, as usual, went nuts and that the board of trustees went nuts. Why are they not removing themselves? Meanwhile the new coach worked for Sandusky and the grad student whose name is Mike McQueary are still employees of Penn State. McQueary did absolutely nothing when he saw the chcild being molested. He went and told Paterno who told his boss, Tom Curley.
Guess where Mike McQueary will be on Saturday. He .will be coaching the football game. It makes no sense, Joe Paterno worked 61 years for the school. They could have treated him with more dignity, allowed him the last game, etc. Doing that would have not changed a thing or lessened the impact on those poor kids.
http://espn.go.com/ There are about 10 stories here I haven’t gotten to see in their entirety.
this is weird:
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/DA-Who-Never-Charged-Sandusky-Has-Been-Missing-Since-2005-133615093.html
I agree with Elena. More should have been done with the info that was given to Paterno.
I support the university’d decision. The coach who witnessed the incident needs to be fired too and probably even charged with something like aiding or abetting. He did nobody any favors. He should’ve called 911 immediately and ended the entire affair right then and there.
You know Starry, I think it is easy to say what should have happened, and let’s hope you and I would have acted differently. But this was bigger then a graduate student, this was bigger than Paterno. I think collectively there was a conscious opting for denial and obfuscation.
After this man is seen with raping a child in the shower, the only punishment that is evident to all is he no longer has keys to the shower or locker room? Does that sound reasonable to anyone? If this were any one of those coaches children, I am sure this would have been handled differently.
I believe the bigger story is the role college sports plays in collegiate survival. For me this story may be as much about child rape as it is about the how critical sports can be to the needed money making machine of sports for universities.
McQueary will be coaching the game this Saturday.
Starry, its easy to say what we would or would not have done. There are still lots of missing facts.
I am disgusted with the trustees.
Moon,
Sorry you were up with the blog! UGHHHHH!!!!!
Did you read that there may have been a reason he “retired” in 99? He was investigated by the police in 1998 for taking a shower with her 11 year old sonand hugged him while they were naked. He was never charged, but I cannot fathom how the university would not have known. He retired in 1999. I wonder if the timing had anything to do with the incident. It seems to me that alot of people chose to turn a blind eye.
take a look at this story, I think the you know what is going to hit the fan when this investigation is done.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57321248/cops-sandusky-admitted-to-98-shower-with-boy/
It is being alleged now that Paterno had him retire quietly in exchange for not pursuing the 1998 allegations. Of course, the worst of the incidents happened 4 years after that. If true, Paterno’s a villian.
Another bizarre allegation is this. A few years ago some Penn State players got in trouble with the law for harassing someone on the telephone – the police got involved, and I think the story made the news. The person they were harassing? Supposedly, Sandusky. If true, even more evidence that people knew and that Paterno just wanted it kept quiet. He would surely have been very involved in knowing what his players were doing, that was reflecting badly on them and him.
Here’s the story, from 2005, that may well connect to this – http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2138628
“During the 2005 offseason, (Dan) Connor was charged with making prank phone calls to a former PSU assistant coach. Joe Paterno suspended the linebacker in August for his involvement in the incident, keeping him out of the lineup for the team’s first three games.”
Oh, never mind. Dan Conor said the coach he harassed wasn’t Sandusky.
Let this date go down in the annals of Moonhowlings history. I agree with Starry on something.
Actually, I probably would have let the defensive line work him over with Louisville Sluggers before calling 911.
And if you really want your blood to boil then read this: http://www.nesn.com/2011/11/jerry-sandusky-rumored-to-have-been-pimping-out-young-boys-to-rich-donors-says-mark-madden.html
This one is a real tough one. “Shoulda, coulda, woulda” comes to mind. In my research, the assistant coach retired because he was told by Mr. Paterno that he would never be head coach, when he was virtually promised it. I haven’t found out what the motivation was for the conversation.
Was it because of 1998? Quite possibly, but also remember that it was fully investigated in 1998 and criminal charges were not brought based on a decision by the prosecuting attorney for the county. Maybe the investigation did not produce any evidence that would have led to a conviction and maybe the coach deduced that even though the assistant could not be prosecuted, he wasn’t turning the team over to the person. But it is speculation.
Then you go forward and the assistant coach is no longer an employee but has access granted by the university (which it appears is not unusual at least at Penn State for “emeritus”). So an allegation comes to Mr. Paterno and he takes the action of advising his superiors, probably with an assumption that it will be investigated again since a similar thing was alleged in 1998.
Now in my background and having alerted investigators about what I saw as questionable activities (a nonsexual nature–a business one), I have been cautioned to not take any action that might jeopardize the investigation. So one silently waits for the investigation to conclude. I would also be completely in the dark about the status of the investigation and since Mr. Paterno was not the eyewitness, it would be reasonable to assume that the investigation would not discuss the matter with him. So he would be somewhere in the dark.
And since the previous investigation did not produce a criminal indictment, one could reasonably assume that the matter was being taken care of, especially since the person was no longer employed by Mr. Paterno. The last thing an investigator would like is for Mr. Paterno to see the former coach and say, “what gives?” Bottom line is that Mr. Paterno was not necessarily in the know on the results or status of the investigation nor would he be consulted at any time since he was not part of the chain, either as an eyewitness or a supervisor.
I know this sounds like I am taking Mr. Paterno’s side but I am not really. I am just proposing an alternative explanation of how it could have happened. I don’t know anything more than anyone else and we won’t know until more is definitively revealed.
Thanks for posting that Clinton. You said what I had been trying to say. There are some missing gaps where we don’t know what happened. Paterno followed the letter of the law. I think he probably didn’t do as much as he could have but I think there is also a lot we don’t know.
I think it was probably time for him to retire. I think he was treated shabbily in the end by a bunch of elitists who have no real vested interest in the school. It would be interesting to see how many of the trustees were simply political appointments. Joe was an old man, at the end of his career. He spent 61 years on that campus. I feel certain he didnt do everything exactly right but he did the legal thing. What difference would 3 more weeks have made? After 61 years, when you do everything right at least by the books, you should be entitled to leave with a little dignity.
I know that Mr. Paterno said that he probably should have done more in hindsight. But if the scenario I presented is anywhere near accurate, I am not sure exactly what more he could have done.
Certainly, since no action was really taken by the university other than to ban the person from using the campus, in hindsight, he probably feels like more should have been done and he is pointing at himself. But if you don’t really know what is going on in an investigation, and you make the assumption that the university is pursuing the issue (which you should), what really could he have done differently?
One could say he could have independently contacted the police if he hadn’t heard anything (which he could assume he wouldn’t have heard anyway) after he reported it to the athletic director. So what would have been his motivation in doing that, if he assumed that all of the legal steps were being done by PSU?
It is only because, in actuality, nothing was done and since it came out only recently, he rightly feels he should have done something more. But I bet he was just as much in the dark about where things stood as the general public other than knowing about the allegation originally.
I agree with you, Clinton. I have to confess, I have always like Joe Paterno and had a great deal of respect for him. He never got to be an arrogant AH like Bobby Knight or Woody Hayes.
I don’t know what else he could have done and we are also missing a great deal of information about what was going on when.
The Board of Trustees are scrambling all over themselves so nothing rubs off on them. There will be law suits. Did Virginia Tech survive them? Apparently.
Hindsight is 20/20. Standusky should stand trial and if convicted, go to jail. I believe the media has gone nuts and reported things that are not necessarily true or in order. I also think people in their outrage are shotgunning their punishment. Paterno got hit in spray. Lashing out without systematic reason doesn’t serve anyone.
I actually have no opinion about Mr. Paterno per se, like or dislike. I guess I just get tired of the lynch mob mentality that condemns someone without first determining if there was a reasonable alternative. To me, if I were confronted with the same set of circumstances as my scenario above hypothesizes, I am not sure that I would think that many reasonable people would not have done exactly the same thing. I was just listening to tv to some commentators that were actually proposing some nefarious motive like image protection for Mr. Paterno as though it were fact. I am one who tries to eliminate other plausible alternatives before I condemn. I can’t eliminate my scenario above without other facts.
Certainly if he is proven to be an enabler by not legitimately pursuing things a reasonable person would at the time, then I will join the chorus, but I am not there yet.
If I am proven wrong in my opinion, then so be it. It wouldn’t be the first time nor thankfully would it be the last time.
Understood. there is just too much missing information and too much lynch mentality.
The lynch mentality wont make up for the creepiness and criminality of sexually abused kids.
I would suggest that clearly defined laws be established and that higher education be subject to the same tough scrutiny that k-12 is when child abuse is involved.
Because most people at that level are technically adults, there probably arent the same legal mandates in place like in k-12.
@Moon-howler
Let me ask you a question. Let’s say that you were told by a grad student that your longtime assistant coach was having sex with a little boy in the shower, what would you do? Somehow from what I know of you on the blogs I don’t think you would just report it to some school official and then never bring it up again. I think you’d probably follow up on it and make sure it was taken seriously by John Q Law just like any decent citizen would.
Yet that’s not what Paterno did.
I’m not part of the lynch mob, I’m just pointing out that his behavior is very strange.
@Cato, when the grad student told Paterno, he had already given Sandusky the heave ho. Sandusky was no longer employed at Penn State in 2002.
I think McQueary and his dad were not being truthful to the grand jury. I cannot imagine a man admitting to the fact that he just walked out and left an adult raping a child. That’s why I think Paterno didn’t get the full story.
I also don’t think Paterno followed up. I think there was probably a culture of CYA in that school, like there is at many. Paterno needed to go at the end of the season. They need to get rid of everyone, pay off the victims, and start all over. it will take decades. Some legacy.
I was just thinking of someone I worked with. He made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. He literally squealed ‘pedophile. with every ounce of his being. However, I never witnessed anything tangible. But I still knew he was one. I heard things. I don’t think he raped anyone but there are degrees of inappropriateness.
Heck, if Moon found out, I think that there would be ambulances needed on scene….possibly the coroner.
I am sickened by the behavior of the rioting Penn State students. I am sickened by diehard Penn Staters posting their blind, knee-jerk support of Paterno. Maybe I just don’t “get” these schools where football is akin to religion.
@Emma, I am not a die hard Penn Stater. Far from it. Everyone in my family hates Penn State. I have a problem with how Paterno has been treated is all. I wanted him to be able to finish out the year, then leave. Obviously something was really rotten in the state of Denmark.
Football is religion. Not to me, but to many people. I fell through the bleachers enough as a kid to actually hate it. I was a kid of a jock. Strange how my father turned on it in his later years also.
I just think after 61 years and at age 85, he should have been allowed to finish the season.
I want Sandusky to die in jail.
Cato,
I am with you. How could he not have wondered why the only punishment was “taking his keys away”. After knowing about the 1998 incident, I can’t imagine doubting the story of the grad student.
I know it is easy to say what you think you would have done in that position, and since none of us were there, we will never know. Having said that, I would like to think if I had first or second hand knowledge of a very credible report about a child being raped, you bet I’d follow up, not because I was legally requried to, but because I was morally required to.
What we really don’t know is what Paterno was really told by the grad student. Fran kly, I find it hard to believe someone who would walk out after seeing a child being raped. What a freaking p****!!!!!! Hell, at my age, I would have gone over to them and tried to rescue the kid.
I actually don’t believe the graduate student and father. I think they reported some lesser event to Paterno and the other two. Something like ‘hosing around’ or ‘inappropriate play.’Why? What MAN would admit to walking out while a ten year old boy was being raped. Think about it for a minute. Something about this has bothered me for 24 hours.
Now….did everyone do what they could have done knowing that this creep was even horsing around or being too cozy with kids? No. And that is a huge problem. the only thing I want is for Paterno to go out at the end of the season. He is 85 years old and he devoted 61 years of his life to that school. What difference does 3 weeks really make?
We are also forgetting that pervs are sneaking and operate under rocks and out of sight. How many times have any of us known someone who you knew was a creep like that but you had no proof. one pops into my head instantly as I ask the question. Short of stalking the guy, there was very little anyone could do.
McQueary is not being truthful and that is why.
@Moon-howler I wasn’t referring to you, Moon, when I was talking about diehards. I left out the words “on Facebook” when I was talking about people posting. I can’t reconcile the blind allegiance of some of my friends with the fact that children were hurt. I’m sure there’s more to the story, but I tend towards zero tolerance when it comes to child abuse.
Do you know what I learned last night? They don’t even know who that poor child is! The police are trying to locate him. I wonder how much more that poor child suffered at the hands of Sandusky because there was not immediate action taken.
McQueary is not going to be on the sidelines or press box at the Penn State-Nebraska game. He has multiple death threats against him.
@Emma
I have zero tolerance but I also know the continual conflict between offense/the laws protecting kids and the confidentiality laws.
I have zero ties to Penn State. I never even went up to Beaver Stadium with Mr. Die-hard Terp. That is how disinterested I have been in the Penn State team. I have always respected Paterno is about it.
However, I have worked with people I felt certain were pedophiles or at least in their hearts were pedophiles. More than one, in fact. Unless you know a person has done something, what do you do? I could barely force myself to watch this person. You could see it but I never once personally witnessed one inappropriate act.
I know what I am saying doesn’t make sense. I guess you would have to be there.
It is a horrible series of events and I can almost bet that it is going on across the nation. In most cases, part of the code of secrecy is not really about secrecy. Its about the sneakiness of the pedophiles. They are very difficult to catch. You know they are out there and you just hope and pray they don’t do something to harm someone or embarrass you.
Families and institutions have the same dynamics going on.
On another note, my own father lost his job for raising a stink over an inappropriate relationship between a student and an adult who was in a power position at a school. He certainly poked a stick in the wrong eye but he had to do what he thought was right.
A board of director member of a private school was ‘courting’ a junior at the school. He bought her a baby blue convertible and gave her a good job while still in high school. It got even more interesting because he was a state delegate and did I leave out, probably 45 years old?
There are plenty of things in the grand jury report that should raise questions. I assume that the investigation continues. One of them is is what Ms. Howler mentioned about the actions of the graduate assistant, who according the grand jury was 28 years old when the main incident happened that got PSU into trouble. It does seem strange that if this man was so distraught by what he saw as he testified, why didn’t he report to police when after time had passed, there was no indication that PSU was doing anything. He after all was the sole eyewitness. But they lay all of the ills at the doorstep of Mr. Paterno.
I can understand that on the evening he saw it, he called his father and that evening decided to advise Mr. Paterno. I hope my adult son trusts me enough to be an adviser to him as well. But instead of calling Mr. Paterno that night (the incident was witnessed at 9:30), they wait until the next morning–I guess out of courtesy for a 84 year old man but there was no reported reason for the delay. Obviously, that was not the right thing to do. But even years later after his reported distraught state, he still let it drop? It does seem a bit curious about his actions and what he may or may not have said to Mr. Paterno and the other people at PSU.
Then we get to the Second Mile itself. There doesn’t seem, unless I missed it, to be any investigation of the Second Mile especially after three individuals testified that the Second Mile was notified immediately. Where were they for 8 years? Maybe this is still an ongoing investigation and more shoes will drop.
Unfortunately only the report was released rather than the testimony. But that is to be expected. I am not sure how much testimony is actually released. The actual testimony may be more telling.
I can’t imagine any 28 year old adult, especially the size of McQueary (football player size), not pulling some 60 year old naked pervert off of a 10 year old kid, kicking his ass in sideways, rescuing the kid and calling the cops.
Tell me one person who wouldn’t do that. Anyone that cowardly isn’t going to go brag to Paterno, Schultz or Curly that he left a 10 year old kid being raped. He is going to soften it a little and use words like sort of and maybe.
Why didn’t the father tell him to call the cops?
And we all need to be reminded that grand juries exist to determine if there is enough evidence to have trials. Anyone who would walk off and leave a 10 year old being raped might lie and have their father lie also.
My point is, if that is truly what McQueary witnessed, why didn’t he do something to stop it? I can’t move past this point.
So he was going to be out on the field while Paterno, Schultz and Curly and the University President are all fired. This makes no sense to me at all.
Something to consider– Paterno has been at Penn State University in a coaching capacity since before Bruce Springsteen was born. (Sept. 23, 1949)
Just some more information…
Mandated reporter laws do exist in Pennsylvania:
http://www.rainn.org/pdf-files-and-other-documents/Public-Policy/Legal-resources/2009-Mandatory-Report/Pennsylvania09C.pdf
After taking a look around (there is some more detailed information under Indiana, PA and other county mandated reporter info), I feel that all adults involved in this situation counted as mandated reporters. If your job means that you come in contact with minors at some time, or you are staff of a school…I think, even higher ed, you are a mandated reporter.
Now, in some places, it does say that a mandated reporter can report suspected abuse to an administrator in a position of higher authority, and that administrator will take over responsibility. It also says that the administrator has a duty to let the person who told him/her how things went. If things are not reported, there is nothing stopping the first mandated reporter from contacting ChildLine or other authorities directly.
My thoughts…
As a counselor, If a staff member, parent, etc. came to me and told me that they saw someone raping a child, I would not get their story and then report it to my superior, then hope that he/she reports. My protocol would be to call CPS, or more likely in a situation like that, the police, immediately with the reporting person standing by to talk to authorities. My role would be to facilitate the reporting person getting the information to police/authorities directly.
You could and should involve and inform your superior that a report is going to happen, but you do not need to leave it up to your superior. The point is for authorities to get direct information (not second or third hand) as soon as possible. It should never be about, “Well, I did my job by letting my boss know.” It should be about, “I am going to let my boss know that this is what I have to do…ethically speaking.”