Breaking News: Joe Paterno has died.

[boknows34]

Paterno has died from lung cancer.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/...h-cancer-fight

[Hawk]

Rip Paterno.

One of the greatest college football coaches our generation has seen.

[killxswitch]

RIP. Too bad his legacy was tarnished at the very end of his career. But that's how he'll be remembered.

[TitanHope]

Wasn't he afraid he'd die soon after coaching like Bear Bryant did? That only makes this sadder.

[CashmoneyDrew]

Originally Posted by TitanHope

Wasn't he afraid he'd die soon after coaching like Bear Bryant did? That only makes this sadder.

Yeah, it's strange how that works sometimes with people. Has me on edge with my own grandfather. Loves everything about cars and driving but recently had to stop because it was just getting to be too much of a risk.

RIP Joe Pa.

[Complex]

Originally Posted by TitanHope

Wasn't he afraid he'd die soon after coaching like Bear Bryant did? That only makes this sadder.

Bobby Bowden was afraid of the same thing glad he is still alive.

[Ness]

Great man with a great legacy. It's a shame these last two months had to turn out like this.

[MetSox17]

Sad to see him go out like this. RIP Joe Pa.

[Canadian_draft_fan]

Truly a sad day. His legacy tarnish by recent revelations. If you believe that a positive attitude helps overcome illness then the scandal "killed" Joe Pa.

[CJSchneider]

R.I.P. Joe Pa

[Babylon]

He was offered the Pats job back in 73 and i guess he almost took it before they gave it to Chuck Fairbanks. That may have altered the course of his life and maybe a lot of others.

You hate to see someone being remembered for what appears to be the one screwup he had in life.

[Santonio10]

Originally Posted by Babylon

He was offered the Pats job back in 73 and i guess he almost took it before they gave it to Chuck Fairbanks. That may have altered the course of his life and maybe a lot of others.

You hate to see someone being remembered for what appears to be the one screwup he had in life.

I think Paterno turned the job down to stay at PSU. R.I.P. Joe. You were my idol and will be sorely missed.

[robert pancake gallery]

in hindsight, paterno's doctors said they wish they had done more

[Don Vito]

Originally Posted by robert pancake gallery

in hindsight, paterno's doctors said they wish they had done more

Ooh maybe a little too soon

[Don Vito]

I always liked Paterno before the scandal but the reality is people will forever link him to Sandusky and the mess that is going on there. I know I just stated the obvious but the whole situation is just such an insane story.

[diabsoule]

RIP Joe Pa. You were an inspiration to countless others. You leave a tremendous legacy with your passing complete with a tragic ending.

[StickSkills]

I am a part of many college football boards, and as a die hard Penn State fan growing up, thank you very much for being respectful with his passing.

Rest in Peace, Joe.

[CJSchneider]

[StickSkills]

As I stood by Gate A of Beaver Stadium, where I had camped out for the past 2 years to watch Joe Paterno's team, I looked up into the sky to look at the helicoptors hovering over the spiritual center that Joe's casket was at. When I looked up, I saw a rainbow. The skies had been clear all day. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. After Noah's flood, the rainbow was God's promise to not destroy the Earth again. For a lot of us, it seemed like he almost did.

Also, I want to leave you with the legend of Mount Nittany. Last night was the first time I have ever read it.

Nit-A-Nee, which means "breaker of the wind," was an Indian maiden whose lover, Lion's Paw, was killed.

Nit-A-Nee enfolded him into her arms and carried his still erect body back to a place in the center of the Valley where she laid the strong Brave in his grave and build a mound of honor over his strength.

On the last night of the full moon, after she had finally raised the last of the soil and stone over his high mound, a terrible storm came up unleashing itself with thunder and lightening and the wailing of a horrendous wind from the depths of the earth. Every Indian in the Valley shuddered and all eyes were directed to the Indian Brave's high mound upon which the strong maiden Princess Nit-A-Nee was mounted with arms outstretched to touch the sources of the lightning bolts in the sky

Through the night they watched with awe as the Indian Brave's burial mound grew and rose into a Mountain penetrating the center of the big valley between the two legs of the Tussey and Bald Eagle Ridges. When the dawn finally came, a huge Mountain was found standing erect in the center of the Valley.

[TimD]

Watching the funeral procession on College Ave yesterday is a moment I will never forget as long as I live. The image of Sue Paterno waving from Joe's seat brought tears to my eyes. Say what you want about my school, but that couple contributed their hearts, souls, and savings to make it into one of the most respected state universities in the country.

r.i.p. joe. its crazy to think that i was apart of the last graduating class to witness 4 seasons of paterno proud penn state football. we are

[bearsfan_51]

Originally Posted by TimDris

to make it into one of the most respected state universities in the country

[JoeJoeBrown]

Originally Posted by bearsfan_51

Lol and agree.

[StickSkills]

Originally Posted by bearsfan_51

All I have to say

[bearsfan_51]

Originally Posted by StickSkills

All I have to say

Yes, because when people are ranking state universities, they base it off of one op-ed by a completely obscure person in the Wall Street Journal.

A lot of the time, I'm willing to concede that what I hold are debatable opinions. In this case, not only do I work in academia, but there are countless quantified measures of ranking universities. The best, and most highly regarded, is the ARWU by Shanghai Jiao Tong University (China..go figure). The ARWU is heavily biased towards the sciences (China...go figure), so as someone in the liberal arts, I wish there was something more balanced that is held in the same esteem, but there isn't. Anyway, here are the top 20 public universities in the United States for 2011:

1) University of California, Berkeley
2) UCLA
3) University of Washington
4) University of Wisconsin, Madison
5) University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
6) University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
7) University of Minnesota (how the hell we slipped below Illinois.....)
8) University of Colorado, Boulder
9) University of California, Santa Barbara
10) University of Texas, Austin
11) University of Maryland, College Park
12) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
13) Pennsylvania State University- University Park
14) University of California, Davis
15) University of California, Irvine
16) University of Pittsburgh
17) Rutgers University
18) Purdue University
19) Ohio State University
20) University of Florida

I'm actually surprised that it's as high as 13. Usually, Penn State is at the bottom of the Big Ten with Michigan State and Iowa (Nebraska doesn't count). Penn State must have a particularly high engineering or natural sciences department, because I know as someone in the field that their humanities are not particularly high up there.

In any event, if by "one of the most respected" he meant 13th, then ok, I'll give him that.

Also for those scoring at home, here's the conference breakdown:

Pac-12: 4
Big Ten: 7
Big 12: 1
ACC: 3 (if you count Pittsburgh)
Big East: 1
SEC: 1 (barely)
Big West: 3

[Grizzlegom]

Originally Posted by bearsfan_51

I'm actually surprised that it's as high as 13. Usually, Penn State is at the bottom of the Big Ten with Michigan State and Iowa (Nebraska doesn't count). Penn State must have a particularly high engineering or natural sciences department, because I know as someone in the field that their humanities are not particularly high up there.

In any event, if by "one of the most respected" he meant 13th, then ok, I'll give him that.

Penn State is really good for engineering/technology and social sciences. Also pretty good for life and natural sciences but yea, we're middle of the road for humanities and liberal arts and stuff like that.

Given the amount of public universities in the United States, I feel like you are really nitpicking because they aren't too highly rated in your field...I don't really understand how you can make an argument that any of those 20 schools on your list aren't one of the most respected universities in the country.