LOL, that's just as entertaining!

It's your state laws that define hazing. Local and institutional laws may be even stricter.

Wisconsin Hazing Law

948.51 Hazing.

(1) In this section "forced activity" means any activity which is a condition of initiation or admission into or affiliation with an organization, regardless of a student's willingness to participate in the activity.

(2) No person may intentionally or recklessly engage in acts which endanger the physical health or safety of a student for the purpose of initiation or admission into or affiliation with any organization operating in connection with a school, college or university. Under those circumstances, prohibited acts may include any brutality of a physical nature, such as whipping, beating, branding, forced consumption of any food, liquor, drug or other substance, forced confinement or any other forced activity which endangers the physical health or safety of the student.

(3) Whoever violates sub. (2) is guilty of:

(a) A Class A misdemeanor if the act results in or is likely to result in bodily harm to another.

(b) A Class E felony if the act results in great bodily harm or death to another.

Bump for the rest of the morning crew who, like myself, missed out last night.

:rolleyes: I've watched a LOT of curling this year...wonder how anyone can have curling be their LIFE!?

To the OP, your statement that women play "mind games" and men are just physical is just patently BS. As for women not needing a sense of accomplishment, take a look at the college graduation stats! Women are beating men at that little sign of accomplishment...I think that's a little more important than putting up with stupid hazing as a sense of accomplishment!

Thanks! I would have missed this!

This is absurd and yet so much fun. Better watch out though, OP could go all Da Vinci Code on our asses.

Wow. Look what finals made me miss!

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Then you are truly an idiot who has not done your research.

Yeah...that's a defense that would hold up in court:rolleyes:

I think the point you are missing is that your pledging activities should be constructive and should have a point. Interviewing pledges with a bright light shining in their face is neither. This would also look questionable when added to other activities should something go wrong during your program. And sorry, saying "Well, they don't have to do it if they don't want to" isn't a good enough defense against the hazing charge.

Yeah because the question is whether they can decline without any negative consequences.

On that note, what I call "legalized hazing" is so common and normative in so many non-GLO aspects of societies. I understand why GLOers get confused about what is and is not appropriate. That's why they should defer to policies and the law rather than "common sense."

Very good point.

Not exactly, the law seems to add that the forced activity must endanger the physical health or safety of the student. It then goes on to enumerate thigns which definitely violate the Act. An interview (or whatever) under most conditions under this particular Act is fine. This is a pretty weak anti-hazing statute. That said, I'm not licensed to practice law in Wisconsin, so this isn't legal advice. While this particular Act doesn't look applicable to the situation described here, I very well could be wrong.

We've had the discussion on this forum a lot of times -- the word "hazing" carries such varying definitions from group to group that it's darn near meaningless. In many cases, groups describe hazing (in part) as something which might cause "mental discomfort." WTF is that? Or better, WTF isn't that?

Am I to understand that the only physically exerting activity for initiation into this group is curling? As in the Olympic sport?

+1000 Internets for weirdness, but what's the issue there?

I wasn't talking about the law in that part of my post. :) When you say someone can technically decline something, you have to be realistic about whether declining will result in the same rights, responsibilities, and treatment as those who don't decline.

It rarely does.

Shades of Dan Brown, now this is some funny stuff. How did I miss this earlier?

Illuminati poser, everyone knows the first rule of the Illuminati is to publically deny that the Illuminati exists. Naughty, naughty Illuminatus.