Fraternities - WTF?!

[Jimmy Higgins]

Ex-Arizona frat leader gets jail time after pledge died of alcohol poisoning

A former Northern Arizona University fraternity leader, Carter Eslick, was sentenced to two months in jail for his role in a hazing that led to the death of a pledge.

www.yahoo.com

Carter Eslick, 20, also received three years of supervised probation during a sentencing hearing in Coconino County Superior Court. Eslick had pleaded guilty to a felony hazing charge in the Jan. 31 death of Colin Daniel Martinez, 18, at an off-campus house.

An autopsy found Martinez died of alcohol poisoning with a blood-alcohol content of 0.425% — more than five times the state's legal limit for drivers 21 and over.

Martinez was among four Delta Tau Delta pledges who shared two bottles of vodka to ensure they vomited, according to court documents. Witnesses reported adjusting Martinez's sleeping position and checking his pulse and breathing to look for signs of alcohol poisoning throughout the night, the documents said.

As an FYI, the vomiting is the sign of alcohol poisoning.

I've never understood hazing that includes physical suffering. What possesses people to endure this shit... and then to make other people endure it?! People need to cut their teeth, but in what universe is it necessary to make it needlessly more unpleasant.

 

[DBT]

The human race....what can you say.

 

[WAB]

I suspect college kids are a tad dumber than the average bear.

 

[Bronzeage]

Ex-Arizona frat leader gets jail time after pledge died of alcohol poisoning

A former Northern Arizona University fraternity leader, Carter Eslick, was sentenced to two months in jail for his role in a hazing that led to the death of a pledge.

www.yahoo.com

Carter Eslick, 20, also received three years of supervised probation during a sentencing hearing in Coconino County Superior Court. Eslick had pleaded guilty to a felony hazing charge in the Jan. 31 death of Colin Daniel Martinez, 18, at an off-campus house.

An autopsy found Martinez died of alcohol poisoning with a blood-alcohol content of 0.425% — more than five times the state's legal limit for drivers 21 and over.

Martinez was among four Delta Tau Delta pledges who shared two bottles of vodka to ensure they vomited, according to court documents. Witnesses reported adjusting Martinez's sleeping position and checking his pulse and breathing to look for signs of alcohol poisoning throughout the night, the documents said.

As an FYI, the vomiting is the sign of alcohol poisoning.

I've never understood hazing that includes physical suffering. What possesses people to endure this shit... and then to make other people endure it?! People need to cut their teeth, but in what universe is it necessary to make it needlessly more unpleasant.

I could make a case for the prevalence of self induced purging rituals throughout human history in which the man rids his body of the "old" and is purified. The "new" man is created and his endurance proves him worthy to be accepted into the group. Please note, I say new man. Women don't indulge in this kind of shit.

I could do make that case, but I don't think it really applies. Fraternity hazing is more likely the age old privilege based cruelty and indifference to human life.

In my neighborhood, fraternities have a long history of hazing gone bad, mostly alcohol related deaths. There was one fraternity that decided to change the culture of excess and replace it with the bonds of true brotherhood. They created a new ordeal ritual which did not include any kind of purging. It went something like this: Pledges were stripped to their underwear(stick with me, this makes sense) and blindfolded. You know, like in the womb, except not fully naked. They were lined up with their hands on the shoulder of the pledge in front of him. The admonition, "Never let go if your brother" was chanted while frat members tried to knock their hands loose. Once satisfied that the pledges understood the importance of not letting go, at about midnight, they were all marched up the ramp of a of a UHaul truck and taken to a rural area where a solemn bonfire had been prepared. This would be where the blindfolds would be removed and they would listen to stern lectures about the sanctity of brotherhood. Unfortunately, the truck stopped on a dark country road and the pledge marching line was reassembled to cross the road when the totally expected happened. Headlights appeared on the dark road. Fraternity brothers tried to break up the line and clear the road, but the pledges locked themselves in place and refused to let go of their brothers. A truck hit the line of 18 year old pledges, killing one and seriously injuring four.

So, what's it all about, Plato? Maybe it's this. Young men of all socio-economic strata feel immortal. I don't say they think they are immortal, because this is not really a thought process. It's just a feeling. Young men take risks because the potential consequences do not feel real. Again, not a thought process. When poorly supervised young men are put in charge of life threatening risk scenarios, it doesn't matter what their reasoning is. Bad things which an older more experienced man will foresee, happen. Armies have always recognized this and the purpose of military discipline is to insure young men don't waste their immortality before it's needed.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

I've never understood hazing that includes physical suffering. What possesses people to endure this shit... and then to make other people endure it?! People need to cut their teeth, but in what universe is it necessary to make it needlessly more unpleasant.

I'll take a stab at answering why people endure it: status and sex. There's a widespread perception that fraternities offer an active party scene with an abundance of social and sexual opportunities--along with brothers introducing you to their girlfriends' social circles. Beyond that, there are practical perks like "academic bibles" (archives of past exams, old homework, project code, and study guides).

In this context, hazing functions much like running the gauntlet in a warrior cult--an extreme ritual of endurance tied to shared group values. Surviving the gauntlet and earning acceptance creates a sense of hard-won entitlement to the "spoils" of the fraternity.

That's my take on why pledges endure it, but why do fraternities engage in such extreme behaviors in the first place? For that answer, we can turn to social science. Any tight-knit group can become significantly more extreme than the sum of its individual parts. Shared cultural expectations and peer pressure don't just add up--they amplify and feed off one another in a feedback loop. This is a phenomenon called group polarization.

 

[Ford]

I've never understood hazing that includes physical suffering. What possesses people to endure this shit... and then to make other people endure it?!

I was in a fraternity in college. I'm still a member (it's a lifetime thing) and we didn't do hazing. Partly because if the national organization found out, we'd be shut down immediately, but also because it didn't make sense. You're asking someone to join a brotherhood for your college years and the rest of your life. Why would you abuse them in any way?

For context, I came into the Greek world at a time (mid 1980s) when it seemed like things were changing. Fraternities were trying to get away from the "Animal House" image (at least, we were) and become something different. My chapter had a "clean slate" since we were new to campus (somewhere there's a charter with my name on it) and we broke a lot of unspoken "rules." Like there were cliques within cliques...the Zetas never hung out with the Teeks, the Betas never hung out with the Chi's, and so we figured "let's roll a keg down the street and hang out with the Betas this weekend." Nobody likes the Phi Omegas? Let's invite them over to a party and invite the Zetas, too.

Also, when one of our brothers got busted for DUI, we had an alcohol counselor come in and put on a seminar for the chapter (mandatory attendance) and when one of our founding members was accused of abuse by his girlfriend, we sided with her and kicked that guy out. We even called the cops on one of our own parties when we were worried it might get out of control. By the time I graduated, it felt like we were changing the culture and making a small difference.

It makes me sad to see all that effort make such an alarmingly small difference. I have no regrets, stay in touch with as many brothers as I can, mourn those we've lost (Squirt, Mellow Bob, Toe Jam) and would still drop everything to help one.

 

[thebeave]

I was never in a fraternity in college (not my thing, being kind of anti-social in many ways), but a good friend of mine from freshman year to senior year was in one and I sometimes went to his frat house. It was Chi Phi, oddly enough. They were sort of a milquetoast, low key frat (by the way, I was told you aren't supposed to call a fraternity a frat. You wouldn't call your country a cunt. would you?). Sigma Nu were the bad boys back then (early '80's). They mooned and "schlonged" a Take Back the Night women's march that was marching in front of their house and referred to the march as "Take Back the Dykes" and harrassed them. They got in trouble with the university for that and had to spend a whole Saturday in a big lecture hall getting lectured by a local women's group. They burped, yelled, made noises, etc and then got in even worse trouble. Their chapter got shut down not long after I graduated. There were other skirmishes with various fraternities over the years, and a few tragedies. One guy was on the back of a motorcycle wearing a toga (going to a toga party) and it got caught in the chain and whipped him off the bike going 60 mph (he died). Another time, a bunch got into the back of an open bed truck to spell their frat's letters in rocks on the side of levee along the freeway and the truck rolled over on the dirt road to the levee and two guys died. One was an aquaintance of my roommate.

Honestly though, like everything in life, they're a mixed bag. Many do wonderful things for their community and its a great networking tool for many members in their careers. My uncle is almost 90 and still gets together with his frat brothers frequently for reunions, dinners, etc.

 

[bilby]

You wouldn't call your country a cunt. would you?

Tell me you are unfamiliar with Australia, without telling me you are unfamiliar with Australia...

 

[Ford]

You wouldn't call your country a cunt. would you?

Tell me you are unfamiliar with Australia, without telling me you are unfamiliar with Australia...

Here I am, wondering aloud if "Crocodile Dundee" would have been a hit if Mick had kept calling people cunts throughout the movie...

 

[Politesse]

Or Steve Irwin. "Now look at THIS cunting big beauty!"

 

[Ford]

Or Steve Irwin. "Now look at THIS cunting big beauty!"

Or, would there have been a sequel let alone a franchise if - at the end of Mad Max - Mel Gibson's character quipped "Jim Goose was a right cunt, and me best mate" before blowing up Johnny the Boy?

 

[WAB]

You wouldn't call your country a cunt. would you?

Tell me you are unfamiliar with Australia, without telling me you are unfamiliar with Australia...

Here I am, wondering aloud if "Crocodile Dundee" would have been a hit if Mick had kept calling people cunts throughout the movie...

I think it's similar in the UK, no? One of the Oasis brothers was going on about how brilliant a guitarist Johnny Marr from the Smiths is. At the end he called him a "sick cunt". I used to follow a portly fellow from Ireland on YouTube who's hilarious, and always calling people cunts. He got mad at me for commenting that he tried the worst processed macaroni & cheese on the market, Kraft's, as representative of American food.

When and where I grew up, the mere utterance of the word cunt could get you smacked.

 

[bilby]

There is an entire (unofficial) tourism campaign for the Northern Territory based around the slogan: CU in the NT

 

[thebeave]

You wouldn't call your country a cunt. would you?

Tell me you are unfamiliar with Australia, without telling me you are unfamiliar with Australia...

Here I am, wondering aloud if "Crocodile Dundee" would have been a hit if Mick had kept calling people cunts throughout the movie...

I think it's similar in the UK, no? One of the Oasis brothers was going on about how brilliant a guitarist Johnny Marr from the Smiths is. At the end he called him a "sick cunt". I used to follow a portly fellow from Ireland on YouTube who's hilarious, and always calling people cunts. He got mad at me for commenting that he tried the worst processed macaroni & cheese on the market, Kraft's, as representative of American food.

When and where I grew up, the mere utterance of the word cunt could get you smacked.

It still is that way, though tapered down a little. Its referred to as the "C" word frequently. Apparently, the word "shag" has a similar story. Not that big a deal here, but there was quite a ruckus in the UK when the Austin Powers movie, "The Spy Who Shagged Me" came out there.

 

[WAB]

I'm reminded of Bigus Dickus's wife...

 

[bilby]

Apparently, the word "shag" has a similar story. Not that big a deal here, but there was quite a ruckus in the UK when the Austin Powers movie, "The Spy Who Shagged Me" came out there.

The word "shag" has never had anywhere close to the impact of "cunt" in the UK. And any ruckus in the UK over "The Spy Who Shagged Me" would have come from the tiny but very vocal NVLA/Mediawatch-UK types*; It would certainly not have been a big deal for the vast majority of Britons.






* I recall seeing Mary Whitehouse being interviewed, and the reporter asked her what she thought of lesbianism. She said "Well, it leaves a nasty taste in the mouth", and couldn't understand why he almost died trying not to laugh...

 

[thebeave]

Apparently, the word "shag" has a similar story. Not that big a deal here, but there was quite a ruckus in the UK when the Austin Powers movie, "The Spy Who Shagged Me" came out there.

The word "shag" has never had anywhere close to the impact of "cunt" in the UK. And any ruckus in the UK over "The Spy Who Shagged Me" would have come from the tiny but very vocal NVLA/Mediawatch-UK types*; It would certainly not have been a big deal for the vast majority of Britons.






* I recall seeing Mary Whitehouse being interviewed, and the reporter asked her what she thought of lesbianism. She said "Well, it leaves a nasty taste in the mouth", and couldn't understand why he almost died trying not to laugh...

I guess it was more offensive to the British upper crust, but not so much for the commoners:

"The Spy Who (slang here) Me'

When Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me hit big screens in London on Friday, the word "shag" _ British slang for "to copulate" _ got the full-Monty-on-the-marquee treatment.

Film distributor New Line Cinema refused to change the title, though some Brits may blush when they see it. (The S-word raised a miniruckus among some Brits in America after the movie's U.S. premiere.) New Line is keeping mum on its decision in Britain. But when Austin Powers plays elsewhere, the title will have to behaaave, baby.

Despite its affront to stiff-upper-lipped Brits, the "shagged" title fits the hip, if slightly cockeyed story line of the film _ a 1960s-era superspy in pursuit of his purloined libido; it also fits the movie's essence of "cool Britannia." The Spy Who Engaged in Furtive Assignations With Me just doesn't cut it.

And "shag" _ taboo in polite British society _ has seeped into everyday conversations in pubs, and even crept into sitcoms and respected newspapers.

 

[Emily Lake]

I could make a case for the prevalence of self induced purging rituals throughout human history in which the man rids his body of the "old" and is purified. The "new" man is created and his endurance proves him worthy to be accepted into the group. Please note, I say new man. Women don't indulge in this kind of shit.

Well, that's not actually true. For example, Navajo healing rituals involve strong emetics that purge the badness and allow them to return to harmony with the world, and those are used for both men and women.

 

[Emily Lake]

There is an entire (unofficial) tourism campaign for the Northern Territory based around the slogan: CU in the NT

Reminds me of Washington's South Lake Union Streetcar. But nobody actually calls it that. They refer to it as a trolley and turn it into an accronym.

 

[crazyfingers]

I avoided frats while in college but had an interesting experience in a frat house.

The frat had been disbanded and kicked out by the school for rotten behavior. But they had a nice big house about 500 feet from most of my classes. A friend of mine had an uncle who was some big cheese with the national and they put him in change of finding people to live in the house for a few years. So my friend and I and about 12 other friends from the dorm moved in. It was basically a giant boarding house. The frat owners continued to provide a meal plan which I used for one semester. It sucked. I got back on the university meal plan for the rest of my time there. Junior and Senior years.

It was so convenient and I got my own room.

At one point the big cheese asked us to become a new frat. I said I had no interest. None of us did.

No frat moved in while I was there. It was housing mainly long hair pot heads.

I understand it took them about 10 years for the school to allow the frat to come back. And 5 years later they got themselves kicked out again.

40 years later they are back again. In probably one of the most liberal areas of the country, UMass Amherst, they were flying a Trump flag.

UMass Amherst is not a big frat school.