Laugh-In's Alan Sues Dies at 85 (omg!)

Laugh-In regular Alan Sues has died. He was 85.

Sues died Thursday night while watching television at his home in West Hollywood, his longtime friend Michael Gregg Michaud told the Los Angeles Times.

"He had been in failing health the last couple of years, but it was nothing you could put your finger on; just old age," Michaud said. "Mentally, he was funny and 'on' as usual. He was a delightfully funny man, with a wonderful career that spanned six decades."

See other celebs we lost this year

Born and raised in California, Sues studied theater and made his Broadway debut in Elia Kazan's Tea and Sympathy in 1953. He then joined the improv group The Mad Show, which led to his Laugh-In casting.

During his run on the show from 1968 to 1972, Sues was noted for play loud, flamboyant and clownish characters, including Big Al, an effeminate sportscaster obsessed with ringing a bell, and Uncle Al the Kiddies' Pal, an unendingly drunk children's entertainer.

Outside of Laugh-In, Sues appeared in such TV shows as?The Wild, Wild West?and?The Twilight Zone, in the memorable episode "The Masks," in which a wealthy old man forces his greedy heirs to wear masks at a party or else be cut off from their inheritance.

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His film credits include Move Over, Darling and The Americanization of Emily.

In the '90s, Sues toured for four years with Singin' in the Rain, playing the Elocution Instructor.

Sues is survived by his ex-wife, Phyllis Sues, to whom he was married from 1953 to 1958.

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Quantum Entanglement of Macroscopic Diamonds

New submitter ananyo writes "A pair of diamond crystals has been linked by quantum entanglement ? one of the first times that objects visible to the naked eye have been placed in a connected quantum state. 'This means that a vibration in the crystals could not be meaningfully assigned to one or other of them: both crystals were simultaneously vibrating and not vibrating (abstract). Quantum entanglement ? interdependence of quantum states between particles not in physical contact ? has been well established between quantum particles such as atoms at ultra-cold temperatures. But like most quantum effects, it doesn't tend to survive either at room temperature or in objects large enough to see with the naked eye.'"

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/gUXdaTfcXkM/quantum-entanglement-of-macroscopic-diamonds

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Will Burying Mass Quantities of Carbon Dioxide Relieve Our Global Warming Pains? [Science]

Whenever I have something laying around my room and I don't wanna deal with it, I just toss it under my bed. . That mentality has to work for carbon emissions, right? BoingBoing's Maggie Koreth-Baker has a great article about an imaginative, if not entirely permanent, idea for addressing climate change: bury CO2 underground. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/vLMY_unG9Yw/will-burying-mass-quantities-of-carbon-dioxide-relieve-our-global-warming-pains

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Iranian diplomats leave UK after expulsion

Iranian diplomatic staff board an IranAir Airbus aircraft at London's Heathrow Airport before the aircraft departs for Tehran, Friday Dec. 2, 2011. Roughly two dozen Iranian diplomats and their dependents are leaving Britain on Friday, expelled by the U.K. government in retaliation for recent attacks on the British Embassy in Tehran.(AP Photo) UNITED KINGDOM OUT - NO MAGAZINE - NO SALES

Iranian diplomatic staff board an IranAir Airbus aircraft at London's Heathrow Airport before the aircraft departs for Tehran, Friday Dec. 2, 2011. Roughly two dozen Iranian diplomats and their dependents are leaving Britain on Friday, expelled by the U.K. government in retaliation for recent attacks on the British Embassy in Tehran.(AP Photo) UNITED KINGDOM OUT - NO MAGAZINE - NO SALES

Iranian diplomatic staff board an IranAir Airbus aircraft at London's Heathrow Airport before the aircraft departs for Tehran, Friday Dec. 2, 2011. Roughly two dozen Iranian diplomats and their dependents are leaving Britain on Friday, expelled by the U.K. government in retaliation for recent attacks on the British Embassy in Tehran.(AP Photo) UNITED KINGDOM OUT - NO MAGAZINE - NO SALES

Boxes are seen in a removal lorry taken from what is believed to be the residence of Iranian Diplomats, in London, Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. Britain ordered Iranian diplomats off its soil, pulled its diplomats out of Iran and backed new sanctions on the Islamic republic after Iranian protesters stormed and ransacked the U.K. embassy compounds in Tehran on Tuesday. Writing on box at right in Farsi reads: "Consulate Affairs" and "London". (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Removal men carry packages from what is believed to be the residence of Iranian Diplomats into a removal lorry in London, Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. Britain ordered Iranian diplomats off its soil, pulled its diplomats out of Iran and backed new sanctions on the Islamic republic after Iranian protesters stormed and ransacked the U.K. embassy compounds in Tehran on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Removal men carry a package from what is believed to be the residence of Iranian Diplomats into a removal lorry in London, Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. Britain ordered Iranian diplomats off its soil, pulled its diplomats out of Iran and backed new sanctions on the Islamic republic after Iranian protesters stormed and ransacked the U.K. embassy compounds in Tehran on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Iran prepared a high-profile welcome for its diplomats expelled Friday from London in retaliation for attacks on British compounds in Tehran that Western leaders claim were sanctioned by Tehran's ruling elite.

The official reception planned for the roughly two dozen diplomats and their families ? including a rare invitation to foreign media to cover the airport event ? apparently was designed to send a message that Iran will not seek quick measures to heal the most serious diplomatic fallout with the West since the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy after the Islamic Revolution.

Germany, France and the Netherlands have recalled their ambassadors, and Italy and Spain summoned Iranian envoys to condemn Tuesday's storming of the British Embassy and residential complex.

Britain withdrew its diplomatic staff and their families, shuttered its ransacked embassy and ordered the Iranian diplomats expelled by Friday afternoon.

The larger blow may be to Iran's relations with the West and others. The diplomatic freeze from Europe, including key trading partner Germany, further isolates Iran just weeks after a report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency that alleged Iran was making strides toward mastering critical elements for atomic weapons.

Iran claims its nuclear program only seeks reactors for power and research. But the current breakdown in relations with the West could embolden hard-liners who want a tougher stance against the International Atomic Energy Agency, which they accuse of being manipulated by the U.S. and allies.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Iran will certainly "retaliate" for the British expulsions.

The British Foreign Office said "all diplomatic staff of the Iranian Embassy in London took off from Heathrow airport" on Friday afternoon. They were to be welcomed back by a group of Iranians early Saturday at the Tehran airport, Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency reported.

The offer for foreign media to cover their arrival stands in sharp counterpoint to an order Thursday banning non-Iranian outlets from reporting on rallies in front of the now-vacant British diplomatic sites in the capital without specific permission.

Britain's ambassador to Iran, Dominick Chilcott ? now back in Britain ? offered new details about the attacks, saying the experience had been "frightening."

"We had no idea how it was going to end," he said, describing how the mob trashed rooms, damaged furniture, scrawled graffiti and tore up a portrait of Queen Victoria, as staff took shelter in a secure area of the embassy.

"It felt like very spiteful, mindless vandalism, but it wasn't quite mindless," Chilcott said. "They removed anything that was electronic ? mobile telephones, personal computers ? anything that might give information about who you were talking to or what you were doing."

He said seven staff at a separate residential compound that was also attacked were seized and "quite roughly handled" by the invaders.

Hard-liners in Iran have said the attack was an outpouring of the wrath of the Iranian people who believe Britain is a hostile country seeking to damage and weaken the Islamic Republic. Mohammad Mohammadian, a representative of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, praised the attackers, saying they had targeted the "epicenter of sedition."

Iranian government officials, meanwhile, said the storming of the embassy by angry protesters was unexpected and Iranian police intervened to protect the British diplomats and get the attackers out of the buildings.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague has led the accusations that the rioters had a green light from Iranian authorities, including the powerful Revolutionary Guard. On Thursday, he said the attacks were "clearly premeditated" by high-ranking officials.

The demonstrations had been organized by hard-line groups on university campuses and Islamic seminaries and included denunciations of the latest sanctions on Iran over its nuclear efforts. Such major anti-Western rallies are rarely allowed to occur without official approval and often include state-backed forces including a paramilitary group known as the Basij, which is part of the vast security network controlled by the Revolutionary Guard.

Images broadcast around the world showed demonstrators tearing down Union Jack flags, brandishing a looted picture of Queen Elizabeth II and tossing out looted documents.

The deepening tensions with Britain and others may also trigger further rifts within Iran.

For months, Iran's ruling system has ordered arrests and intimidation against political allies of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has sharply fallen from favor after challenging decisions by the head of the theocracy, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ahmadinejad has remained silent since the attacks, but his supporters have raised questions about whether Iran's interests are served by a diplomatic battle with the West.

___

Associated Press writers David Stringer, Jill Lawless and Cassandra Vinograd in London contributed to this report. Vinograd can be reached at http://twitter.com/CassVinograd.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-02-Iran-Britain/id-bfb06974d62c4f3c8cc25e6613989f17

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Trail of 'stone breadcrumbs' reveals the identity of one of the first human groups to leave Africa

Trail of 'stone breadcrumbs' reveals the identity of one of the first human groups to leave Africa

Thursday, December 1, 2011

A series of new archaeological discoveries in the Sultanate of Oman, nestled in the southeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, reveals the timing and identity of one of the first modern human groups to migrate out of Africa, according to a research article published in the open-access journal PLoS ONE.

An international team of archaeologists and geologists working in the Dhofar Mountains of southern Oman, led by Dr. Jeffrey Rose of the University of Birmingham, report finding over 100 new sites classified as "Nubian Middle Stone Age (MSA)." Distinctive Nubian MSA stone tools are well known throughout the Nile Valley; however, this is the first time such sites have ever been found outside of Africa.

According to the authors, the evidence from Oman provides a "trail of stone breadcrumbs" left by early humans migrating across the Red Sea on their journey out of Africa. "After a decade of searching in southern Arabia for some clue that might help us understand early human expansion, at long last we've found the smoking gun of their exit from Africa," says Rose. "What makes this so exciting," he adds, "is that the answer is a scenario almost never considered."

These new findings challenge long-held assumptions about the timing and route of early human expansion out of Africa. Using a technique called Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) to date one of the sites in Oman, researchers have determined that Nubian MSA toolmakers had entered Arabia by 106,000 years ago, if not earlier. This date is considerably older than geneticists have put forth for the modern human exodus from Africa, who estimate the dispersal of our species occurred between 70,000 and 40,000 years ago.

Even more surprising, all of the Nubian MSA sites were found far inland, contrary to the currently accepted theory that envisions early human groups moving along the coast of southern Arabia. "Here we have an example of the disconnect between theoretical models versus real evidence on the ground," says co-author Professor Emeritus Anthony Marks of Southern Methodist University. "The coastal expansion hypothesis looks reasonable on paper, but there is simply no archaeological evidence to back it up. Genetics predict an expansion out of Africa after 70,000 thousand years ago, yet we've seen three separate discoveries published this year with evidence for humans in Arabia thousands, if not tens of thousands of years prior to this date."

The presence of Nubian MSA sites in Oman corresponds to a wet period in Arabia's climatic history, when copious rains fell across the peninsula and transformed its barren deserts to sprawling grasslands. "For a while," remarks Rose, "South Arabia became a verdant paradise rich in resources ? large game, plentiful freshwater, and high-quality flint with which to make stone tools." Far from innovative fishermen, it seems that early humans spreading from Africa into Arabia were opportunistic hunters traveling along river networks like highways. Whether or not these pioneers were able to survive in Arabia during the hyperarid conditions of the Last Ice Age is another matter ? a mystery that will require archaeologists to continue combing the deserts of southern Arabia, hot on the trail of stone breadcrumbs.

###

Rose JI, Usik VI, Marks AE, Hilbert YH, Galletti CS, et al. (2011) The Nubian Complex of Dhofar, Oman: An African Middle Stone Age Industry in Southern Arabia. PLoS ONE 6(11): e28239.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0028239

Public Library of Science: http://www.plos.org

Thanks to Public Library of Science for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/115614/Trail_of__stone_breadcrumbs__reveals_the_identity_of_one_of_the_first_human_groups_to_leave_Africa

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Kids returned to dad in TV-show disappearance case

>>> the nearly two-week old disappearance of a florida mother , we'll talk to the suspect's attorneys in a moment. first janet shamlian in florida.

>> reporter: there are new developments in the case involving the children of michelle parker, the 3-year-old twins were reportedly questioned by police and sometime after that questioning late yesterday they were removed from the home of their father, dale smith , who had been caring for them and who has been identified as the only suspect in this case. there is an emergency temporary custody hearing set for later today for two children who have been asking for their mother now for almost two weeks.

>> is that a train?

>> reporter: michelle parker's 3-year-old twins nor longer with their father, dale smith , her ex-fiance and the man police say is the only suspect in michelle 's disappearance. the little boy and girl were taken away from smith by the state tuesday and spent the night with their grandmother, michelle 's mother . a hearing today will determine who will care for them, as the search for their mom continues.

>> i want dale to do the right thing, i want him to take a polygraph test . i want him to tell us where she is, if he knows where she is.

>> reporter: the 33-year-old parker, a popular bartender was last seen dropping off the twins at smith's home november 17th , the same day the couple appeared fighting over an engagement ring on a taped episode of "the people's court." smith's newly hired lawyers faced reporters tuesday, defending his client's refusal to take a polygraph.

>> it's a damned if you do and daned if you don't scenario taking the polygraph. we have no witnesses, we have no dna, we have no suggestion of anything except somebody with a history that people don't like.

>> reporter: a long history. smith was dishonorably discharged from the marines in 2003 , after he was court-martials and convicted of drug possession and domestic violence . according to police reports the victim of that domestic violence was smith's second wife, shannon, who died just a few months later in what was ruled an accidental drug overdose . in the '90s, smith was charged with a number of crimes including burglary, trespassing, and aggravated battery , but was only convicted of battery, serving ten days in jail. with michelle , the relationship was described as rocky.

>> i felt somebody grab me, and yank me around.

>> reporter: in 2009 she sought a restraining order against smith when the twins were just infants. it was never granted, citing a lack of evidence. now two years later, parker is missing, and her twins, too young to even understand, are missing their mother . and those children are with their grandmother, michelle 's mother , this morning. she says she intends to seek temporary custody of those kids while this investigation continues, and in terms of their investigation, matt, authorities say in the past few days, not much is new. back to you.

>> janet shamlian , thank you very much. mark know jaime and rajan joshi are the attorneys representing dale smith . good morning to both of you.

>> good morning.

>> child protective services comes in last night and take the dwinz away, 3 years old, a boy and a girl. what was the reason they gave your client or you for taking those children out of his custody?

>> well, we still haven't received that. we had a suspicion they were going to do this in the middle of the night , the night before, and actually went, i actually went to the house at about 2:00 in the morning and they were down the street, so we thought something was up, didn't like the way it smelled. shooed them away, and they had these subpoenas on 3 1/2-year-old children who would be under contempt of court if they didn't appear, so the 3 1/2-year-olds to give a statement, although they had already given statements previously. so it smelled fishy, we thought something was up.

>> clearly this is connection with the fact your client, dale smith , has been named the primary suspect in the disappearance of his ex-fiance. have police told you exactly why they have made that distinction?

>> no, they haven't given any specifics and to our knowledge there is no evidence other than conjecture and speculation. you know, you have the basic reason, because he refuses to take a polygraph, which most people should not take polygraphs. they're not even reliable and not one court in the country accepts them as reliable.

>> let me argue it from a court of public opinion perspective here, mark, and if my wife, the mother of my children, were missing and i knew i had absolutely nothing to do with it, i might take a polygraph just to clear my name, so police could move in the right direction to find the mother of my children. how would you argue that?

>> well, very simple. they're not reliable. they're not scientifically reliable. if they were, one court in the entire country would accept it. we watched so much trash tv thinking that polygraphs are the end all and be all of whether somebody is telling the truth or not.

>> is your client cooperating with police right now? is he still talking to investigators?

>> not right now but he was very cooperative in the beginning. he actually talked to them three times, went there voluntarily, and it seems like his cooperation actually you know is working against him.

>> your client has a troubling resume, let me go through a little of this, dishonorably discharged from the military, convictions for drug possession , arrest for burglary, trespassing and aggravated battery and michelle tried to get a restraining order taken out against him, unsuccessfully i should mention. what is it about dale smith i don't know that would help me understand him better?

>> the one thing about dale smith he's changed his life around, he's working, a productive member of society, he's taking care of his children, paying child support . ever since the mother has been gone he's been a wonderful father to the children, and very caring and actually has been wanting to have people come in and look for her.

>> he was, according to most reports that i've read, the last person to see his ex-fiance, michelle . what does he think happened to her?

>> he's not the last person to see her. whoever abducted her or whoever did something with her was the last person. they left, we know from a timed video, from a neighbor, that she pulled in to his place at 3:18 that afternoon. at 4:30, he was at his father's place. if you run a time line on this, it's physically impossible for him to have done what is being suggested. they lived clear across town, there were two vehicles involved, and in an hour and 12 minutes, he was supposed to, with the children present, to have met her, killed her, disposed of the body, gone clear across town, dropped off one vehicle, scraped off all the lettering on the vehicle, then brought the vehicle back and then ended up at his parents at 4:30, an hour and 12 minutes later.

>> we'll await further development nbs ts in the case. mark nejame and rajan joshi thank you very much.

>> thank you.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45490296/ns/today-today_people/

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Penn State pledges $1.5M for sex-crimes groups

FILE - This Nov. 5, 2011 file photo provided by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General shows former Penn State football defensive coordinator Gerald "Jerry" Sandusky, who sexually abused a boy more than 100 times, then threatened his family to keep him quiet about the encounters, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 that details new accusations not included in criminal charges against him. (AP Photo/Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, File)

FILE - This Nov. 5, 2011 file photo provided by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General shows former Penn State football defensive coordinator Gerald "Jerry" Sandusky, who sexually abused a boy more than 100 times, then threatened his family to keep him quiet about the encounters, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 that details new accusations not included in criminal charges against him. (AP Photo/Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, File)

Penn State President Rodney Erickson, left, responds to a question as Acting Executive Vice President and Provost Rob Pangborn, center, and Vice President for Student Affairs Damon Simons look on during a town hall forum organized by students at the university's main campus, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011, in State College, Pa. The event served as an open discussion between students and the administration about the school's recent sexual abuse scandal, which has resulted in the departures of school President Graham Spanier and longtime football coach Joe Paterno. (AP Photo/John Beale)

Penn State President Rodney Erickson speaks at a town hall forum organized by students at the university's main campus, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011, in State College, Pa. The event served as an open discussion between students and the administration about the school's recent sexual abuse scandal, which has resulted in the departures of school President Graham Spanier and longtime football coach Joe Paterno. (AP Photo/John Beale)

Penn State President Rodney Erickson, left, responds to a question as Acting Executive Vice President and Provost Rob Pangborn, center, and Vice President for Student Affairs Damon Simons look on during a town hall forum organized by students at the university's main campus, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011, in State College, Pa. The event served as an open discussion between students and the administration about the school's recent sexual abuse scandal, which has resulted in the departures of school President Graham Spanier and longtime football coach Joe Paterno. (AP Photo/John Beale)

Penn State President Rodney Erickson, right, gives his opening remarks as T.J. Bard, president of the University Park Undergraduate Association, and Peter Khoury, president of The Council of Commonwealth Student Governments, look on during a town hall forum organized by students at the university's main campus, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011, in State College, Pa. The event served as an open discussion between students and the administration about the school's recent sexual abuse scandal, which has resulted in the departures of school President Graham Spanier and longtime football coach Joe Paterno. (AP Photo/John Beale)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) ? Penn State will donate $1.5 million in bowl proceeds to a pair of groups that work with sex-crime victims, a gesture aimed at healing the school's battered image in the wake of child sex charges against a former assistant football coach.

University President Rod Erickson promised the donation the morning after he and other administrators faced pointed questions at a student-organized town hall forum.

Erickson told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday that the Big Ten bowl revenue, which usually goes back to the athletic department, will go instead to the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.

"This presents an excellent opportunity for Penn State to raise the national visibility of this issue," Erickson said. "Our students and fans are focused on a cause to play for, to cheer for."

Also Thursday, Jerry Sandusky's lawyer said he has not discussed pleading guilty with his client and that the former coach continues to maintain he is innocent of the charges against him.

Joe Amendola said he would consider "possible alternatives" with Sandusky if new charges are filed that involve more victims than the eight boys covered by the 40 pending criminal counts, but that Sandusky has never considered a plea in his case. Sandusky, 67, is awaiting a preliminary hearing.

Amendola said the topic of a guilty plea came up as a "what if" question from a reporter about potential additional charges.

"My answer to the 'what if' question was analogous to saying, if weather forecasters were predicting a blizzard next week, which they are not, I would have to at least consider the possibility of postponing my scheduled trip to Philadelphia," Amendola said in an email.

In another development, lawyers for a young man described in a grand jury report as a victim of sexual abuse by Sandusky said Thursday they had settled a legal action regarding a charity's assets.

Harrisburg attorneys Ben Andreozzi and Jeffrey Fritz said the settlement protected the claim their client plans to assert to the assets of The Second Mile, a nonprofit for at-risk children Sandusky founded in 1977.

"We intend to initiate a civil lawsuit seeking damages from the organizations and individuals responsible for the sexual assaults upon our clients," the lawyers said in a release. "However, our priority at this time is to support our clients, including Victim No. 4, who will be testifying against Mr. Sandusky at the preliminary hearing."

Andreozzi and Fritz said that under terms of the settlement, The Second Mile has agreed to obtain court approval before transferring assets or closing and give their client the ability to weigh in before a judge regarding any distribution of assets.

The Second Mile released a statement calling the agreement a reiteration of its existing legal liabilities and saying it does not include a finding of liability.

The Second Mile said earlier this week that its donors should consider giving their money instead to the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, the latest sign that the charity may not be around much longer. The Second Mile said its December programs would go on as scheduled, however.

The Wednesday night forum on Penn State's main campus came on the heels of fresh sex abuse allegations against Sandusky, who was accused in a lawsuit of sexually abusing a young boy more than 100 times after meeting him through his charity.

The state police commissioner has criticized school leaders for failing to do more to alert authorities to the allegations, and Erickson told about 450 attendees at a crowded auditorium at the student union building that ethics would be raised "to a new level so that everyone at the university understands not just the legal thing to do, but the moral thing to do, so that we learn to do the right thing the first time, every time."

Students appeared grateful to get answers more than three weeks after Sandusky was charged Nov. 5, hopeful it would aid in the arduous healing process.

"I think this is a good start for a lot of good things that can happen at the university," said student Andrew Comes, 21, following the two-hour forum. "It's a singularly bad event, but there can still be positive repercussions and good things happening from it."

Administrators sought to reassure students worried about the unintended ramifications of the scandal, such as the reputation of a Penn State degree.

After several questioners mentioned they felt shamed by the scandal, vice president Henry Foley, as part of an answer about the school's top three priorities, told students to focus on academics and to "recognize that none of you are guilty. ... You may feel shame, but none of you are guilty. Just keep doing what you came here to do."

The scandal has resulted in the departures of head coach Joe Paterno and university President Graham Spanier. Athletic Director Tim Curley has been placed on administrative leave, and Vice President Gary Schultz, who was in charge of the university's police department, has stepped down.

Schultz and Curley are charged with lying to the grand jury and failure to report to police. They also maintain their innocence and have a preliminary hearing later this month.

Erickson told reporters after the forum that Spanier was on sabbatical and that as a tenured faculty member would have the right to teach if he so desired.

Several students also asked about the treatment of Paterno, who was the only school leader fired in the scandal's aftermath. Erickson said afterward he could not offer a detailed answer because it was the trustees' decision.

He reiterated there was no truth to Internet-fueled rumors that Paterno's statue outside Beaver Stadium would be removed or that the Paterno name would be removed from the campus library for which the Paterno family has donated millions of dollars.

"At some appropriate time down the road, I'm sure there will be an opportunity to also reflect on the many years of service Joe and (wife Sue Paterno) provided the university and the many good things that they've done for Penn State," Erickson said, eliciting brief applause.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-01-Penn%20State-Abuse/id-cb445ffd04b74a13acf3e3718fd2731c

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