The media is notorious for getting facts wrong, but that's no excuse for others to continue the misuse. Obviously, you have to understand a topic before pulling it out of context and headlines for discussion, as you have demonstrated here. You are incorrect about a fundamental aspect on this matter. Central to the theory of the Genovese Syndrome is how a GROUP of people react as witnesses to a crime, not an individual. The essence of the theory is that others in the group assume that someone else will provide aid to a victim. Clearly, the fact pattern of this case involved a lone witness, and not a group. Consequently, it's a misapplication of the theory in using it to explain the behavior of the individual graduate student who witnessed the rape.
The reaction of the graduate student, while illustrating the negative, actually exemplifies the antithesis of the the Genovese Syndrome, also known as Bystander Intervention. It's the willingness to take action to help someone in need, as was true when the rape was observed.
Though unimportant in understanding the Genovese Syndrome, the events of the original Geneovese murder were variously reported and have most recently concluded that there were less than a dozen witnesses, not 38, and that calls were made to the police that went unanswered. It does seem at least consistent with one aspect of the matter under discussion, that potentially the police wanted to cover up the misdeeds of their inaction just as the Penn State sought to cover up misdeeds as well.
