This should liven up the board!

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0501ua-fraternity-hazing01-ON.html


UA fraternity forced students to eat own vomit, probe shows
Associated Press
May. 1, 2003 03:05 PM


TUCSON - A University of Arizona fraternity has been banned from participating in campus activities for six years because of hazing.

Students seeking initiation into the Sigma Chi fraternity were locked in a walk-in freezer and forced to eat their own vomit, according to an investigation by Associate Dean of Students Veda Kowalski.

"It's really gross, and some of it is pretty hard to even talk about," Kowalski said.

One Sigma Chi pledge received medical treatment after his time in the freezer, she told the Tucson Citizen.

The fraternity's national organization says hazing is prohibited. "(Pledgeship) is designed to be mentally, emotionally and spiritually stimulating, and therefore hazing and degrading activities are prohibited," Sigma Chi's Web site says.

The ban will keep Sigma Chi from participating in UA's homecoming and the formal "rush" to find new members until April 2009.

Kowalski said fraternity leaders will appeal her decision. A message left at the fraternity's national headquarters Thursday was not immediately returned.

"forced to eat their own vomit"

Nasty.

It's all about building that brotherhood. You just don't understand!

Well, if it requires eating vomit, no thanks.

[This message has been edited by Christi '97 (edited 5/2/2003 9:15a).]

You'd have to try pretty damn hard to force me to eat my own vomit.

What great brotherhood.

"From the outside looking in..."

Life-long bonds are being formed; what's a little vomit-eating and hypothermia between brothers?

http://www.thechamplainchannel.com/news/2169847/detail.html?f

11 Fraternity Brothers Charged In Student Death
Psi Epsilon Chi Members Face 150 Charges In Alleged Hazing Fatality

POSTED: 3:30 p.m. EDT April 30, 2003
UPDATED: 10:44 p.m. EDT April 30, 2003

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. -- Police say hazing led to the death of a Plattsburgh state freshman last month.

According to police, fraternity members allegedly pushed Walter Dean Jennings (pictured, below) to drink so much water that he died.

Eleven past and present members of the fraternity Jennings was joining face 150 charges -- ranging from hazing to negligent homicide -- in connection with his death.

Police said the members of the Psi Epsilon Chi fraternity -- which was not authorized by the university -- forced Jennings to drink pitcher after pitcher of water through a funnel until he threw up. Police said they did that to Jennings 10 days in a row.

According to the autopsy, all that water caused his brain to swell and killed him.

"Dean Jennings didn't die of an aneurysm. He didn't die of any natural causes. He died of water intoxication due to the conduct of pledging, hazing," said Plattsburgh Police Chief Desmond Racicot.

Wednesday, Plattsburgh city police rounded up nine members of Psi Epsilon Chi and took them to court. Police said the other two students turned themselves in late Wednesday.

The fraternity brothers were charged with 150 crimes in all, including criminally negligent homicide, hazing, and in some cases, lying to police.

If convicted, some of the students could go to prison, depending on their criminal records.

"Hazing is something that's illegal. It's not acceptable; not acceptable in this community, it's not acceptable in any community," Racicot said.

Police said alcohol and drugs didn't cause Jennings' death, but they say fraternity members did allegedly haze him, including forcing him to drink alcohol.

Jennings was unconscious when fraternity members brought him to the hospital in Plattsburgh March 12. He died later at Fletcher Allen Medical Center in Burlington.

Doctors say it takes gallons of water to cause someone to die. Drinking all that water reduces sodium in the body, which can then cause cells to swell. Once brain cells start swelling there isn't much that can be done.

"If somebody is being forced to take just volumes and volumes of water, the body can't adjust very quickly," said Dr. Peter Weimersheimer of Fletcher Allen Health Care. "The body's trying to process that water and get rid of it. And if the water is being taken in faster than the body can get rid of it, there's nothing for it, there's just no recourse."

There may be additional charges in the case. Police said the investigation is continuing. And Plattsburgh Mayor Dan Stewart, for one, wants to find a way to charge the fraternity house owners -- Psi Epsilon Chi, Inc. -- in Jennings death.

"Would I like to see this house gone forever? You're damn right I would! I want to be there the day that we take the letters off the house," Stewart said.

The fraternity members who have been charged are:
Adam L. Atkinson, 21, Hudson Falls, N.Y.
John E. Bernius, 21, Ronkonkonma, N.Y.
Christopher M. Colletti, 19 Maybrook, N.Y.
William W. Farmer III, 20, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
Alex W. Fischer, 21, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
Gary R. Jones, 21, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
William C. Katz, 24
Jeffrey R. Meyer, 21, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
Patrick J. Stasiukiewicz, 21, Mattituck, N.Y.
Michael J. West, 20, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Adam Zastowny, 21, Plattsburgh, N.Y.


WPTZ NewsChannel 5 tried to contact representatives of Psi Epsilon Chi, Inc., but they did not return our phone calls. The local fraternity lost its college charter in 1998.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lihaze023264785may02,0,2273106.story?coll=ny-li-span-headlines

4 LIers Charged In Deadly Hazing
Among 11 accused in 'water torture' upstate

By Zachary R. Dowdy
STAFF WRITER

May 2, 2003

Upstate prosecutors say four Long Islanders are among a group of 11 college fraternity members who forced a classmate to drink gallons of water through a funnel in a fraternity hazing ritual - dubbed "water torture" - that led to his death.

Jonathan Bernius of Ronkonkoma, Alex Fischer of Selden, Jeffrey Meyer of Southold and Patrick Stasiukiewicz of Mattituck, all 21, are each charged with criminally negligent homicide and other crimes in the death of Walter Dean Jennings, 18, a freshman at SUNY Plattsburgh.

The 11 fraternity members of Psi Epsilon Chi include 10 students and one alumnus of the college, about 20 miles from the Canadian border. The fraternity is not sanctioned by the school.

Jennings, who lived in Gansevoort, near Albany, died March 12. He was one of about four young men who took part in a 10-day series of humiliating and physically challenging tests that prosecutors and school authorities called hazing.

The object of the "water torture" challenge is to induce vomiting. The fraternity brothers allegedly forced Jennings to drink copious amounts of water on several days during the 10-day pledging period. He finally lost consciousness and was taken to a hospital, where medical authorities said he died of "water intoxication," a rare condition that may occur when the sodium level in the blood becomes too low and the brain swells.

"This is an extreme level of hazing-type behavior," said Clinton County District Attorney Richard Cantwell, who is prosecuting the 11 fraternity members.

Other pledging rituals allegedly included urinating on the pledges and putting them in a darkened overheated room with a strobe light to create a "sweatbox-type environment."

Cantwell said the 11 fraternity brothers face charges including coercion, conspiracy, hazing, reckless endangerment and unlawfully dealing with a child. He added that he is assembling a grand jury on Monday and that more charges and defendants may be forthcoming.

Each of the defendants has been released on bail of $1,000. The other defendants are Adam Atkinson, 21, of Hudson Falls, Gary Jones, 21, of Ballston Lake, Michael West, 20, of Saratoga Springs, Christopher Colletti, 19, of Maybrook, William Farmer, 20, of Rochester, William Katz, 24, of Plattsburgh, and Adam Zastowny, 21, of Webster.

The parents of the Long Island students could not be reached or declined to comment through their attorneys yesterday.

Eric Naiburg of Hauppauge, who is representing Bernius, said the top charge, criminally negligent homicide, is a "low-grade felony," the least severe of all homicide charges. Cantwell said the crime is punishable by 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison.

Stephen Kunken of Commack, who is representing Fischer, said it was too early in the case to comment. Attorneys for the other defendants could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The case shocked the small Plattsburgh community of 20,000 people, said law enforcement and college authorities.

"I knew that this was going to be a sensitive case and very high-profile," said Plattsburgh Police Chief Desmond Racicot, who heads a department of 37 sworn officers. "The University of Plattsburgh is a great college and I knew right away that this was going to be damaging to the image of our community."

Plattsburgh college spokesman Keith Tyo said Psi Epsilon Chi is not recognized as a fraternity by the school, which hosts seven sororities and six fraternities.

The building that houses Psi Epsilon Chi sits across the street from the campus grounds. The fraternity's recognition was revoked in 1998, Tyo said, after an incident allegedly involving serving alcohol to minors.

"This is a tragic situation," said Tyo. "It's a loss for the family of Mr. Jennings and the whole Plattsburgh State campus community."
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.

It was only a little water intoxication.

What fun.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you have to pay to be in a frat???

So, in essence these guys paid for the privilege of being made to eat their own vomit and/or being killed. [edit after seeing other stories]

"I just don't understand why people outside of frats hate them." [/typical Greek]

[This message has been edited by 91_Aggie (edited 5/2/2003 9:22a).]

I will admit that Hazing is a big problem in Greek Life today. Of course, it is a problem in the Corps, with Bonfire, FDT. These are extreme edge cases, and I in no way defend the actions of those organizations.

Can anyone tell me if the "Rent a friend, Join a frat" t-shirts are still popular on campus. Some one night stand stole mine my junior year and I miss that shirt.

I am too conscious of the fact that we are in an age when only the dull are treated seriously, and I live in terror of not being misunderstood-Oscar Wilde

Another example of perpetuating sterotypes. These acts are both stupid and terrible, but in no way representative of every Fraternity out there. If those students are too scared to say a big "F' you" to someone forcing them to eat vomit, then they are idiots. And if actives are dumb enough to think thats a good idea, then they should face the consequences. But don't condemn the entire Greek system because of a few idiots. Some people just take things too far, as someone said before, so does the Corps, Bonfire, FDT...

Picking on 18 year old kids makes ya feel like a big man, eh?

If every school had a corps as big as ours, there would be headlines like this every day. The fact is that there are way more college students involved in Greek life compared to ROTC, so these things happen more often. It is a problem, but to condemn the greek system because of these incidents is ridiculous and close minded.

These guys are idiots and give Greeks a bad name. I can't condone the actions of any of these fools and can tell you guys that, yes, my fraternity means a lot to me, but i wouldn't eat vomit or drink myself to death to get in.

People pledging these fraternities seriously need to evaluate what they are being forced to do for membership. I mean, a little light hazing here and there is fine, but both of these sound like torture, and had i been forced to do either i would have told the brothers to go **** themselves.

that being said, Aggies do not have the right to point the finger at any kind of hazing, especially considering what traditionally happened in the Corps, FDT, Bonfire, and the latest allegations surrounding PMC.



KS 361
"Love, Honor, Truth"



Fightin' Texas Aggie Sigma Nus-Best $$$-to-Friend Ratio on Campus

quote:

---

Aggies do not have the right to point the finger at any kind of hazing, especially considering what traditionally happened in the Corps, FDT, Bonfire, and the latest allegations surrounding PMC.

---

Let's see... I'm an Aggie who wasn't involved with:

The Corps
FDT
Bonfire
PMC
Frats

Looks like I can finger-point all I want.

sometimes when I am in a bar or in someone's house...or even driving...I puke up a little gurje and then swallow it. It isn't good, but it isn't bad. Eating vomit can't be all that bad.

One time I even tried to swallow a whole mouthful...it didn't work and came out my nose

I think what they did is horrible and I'm not defending them, but I also don't have a whole lot of sympathy for the "victims". They could have walked away at any time. They weren't physically forced. ya, they were told they couldn't join if they didn't do it, but it was still a choice they made. The real victims are the families of young men like the one who died.

91_Aggie stole my post.

quote:

---

Let's see... I'm an Aggie who wasn't involved with:

The Corps
FDT
Bonfire
PMC
Frats

Looks like I can finger-point all I want.

---

wow, i bet those friday and saturday nights alone in walton were killer.



KS 361
"Love, Honor, Truth"



Fightin' Texas Aggie Sigma Nus-Best $$$-to-Friend Ratio on Campus

Ha! I lived Off-Campus... so I was alone in my apartment, you freakin' loser!

Oh, wait... nevermind.

Hmmm, so you were in no social orgainizations and lived off campus? How did you associate w/ other Aggies outside of class? Not trying to flame, but this kinda got interesting. Do you not believe in social organizations to meet people w/ similar interests?

The social organizations listed were limited to:
The Corps (and other other Corps related orgs)
Greeks
Bonfire

Limiting yourself to those 3 sure does seem, well, limiting.

There are a few others including the school sponsored clubs, intramurals, plus the old-fashioned, time-honored tradition of just making friends.

The big difference is that all the ass kicking and hazing I got at Bonfire was free.

These schmucks pay sickos to do this **** to them. All for a T-Shirt and a friend to hang out at The Gap with.

but did you particpate in any of them?

Yes.

quote:

---

wow, i bet those friday and saturday nights alone in walton were killer.

---

Ah, the true colors come out.

AgSnake, some of us make friends without needing the security blanket of an organization to protect us from losing them. One day you'll grow up and understand that.

Hee hee!


It was about to die; all it needed was a little push...

quote:

---

Let's see... I'm an Aggie who wasn't involved with:

The Corps
FDT
Bonfire
PMC
Frats

Looks like I can finger-point all I want.

---

Hey! Me, too!

I'll start by saying the Corps is actually a co-ed frat. So there.

- Hmmm, so you were in no social orgainizations and lived off campus? How did you associate w/ other Aggies outside of class? Not trying to flame, but this kinda got interesting. Do you not believe in social organizations to meet people w/ similar interests? -


Yeah, it's called Northgate.

At least the Corps is integrated.

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Jay - King Troll