The TX A&M campus newspaper (The Battalion) has a chat room, and someone posted this: (there's a link at
www.badjock.com)
The funny thing about this incident is that the Battalion has once again sensationalized a story that they really knew relatively little about. Who are they racing against for the scoop anyway? There was only one cadet involved in this incident and he was a senior. It was his birthday so some fish nabbed him, stripped him down, taped him up, drove him down the highway a few miles, and dropped him off with a backpack containing some shorts and a cell phone. He was later picked up by a group of fellow seniors. Since this was not part of any initiation or any requirement for membership or promotion in a student organization and it was consensual, it can not be defined under state or university law as hazing. It was a simple prank pulled on a person by his friends on his birthday. (Spare me the "What kind of friends would...argument.) I understand that seeing the pictures with no explanation is certainly alarming, but when the investigation is complete and the concerned parties are exonerated from any guilt or suspicion, I hope the Battalion will report the result with as much fervor. I agree that hazing is stupid and ruins the fun (as in this case) for everyone else, but the day that fish walk around "bullying" or "hazing" seniors on this campus is the day they should just go ahead and shut everything down.
Aric Howard '02
wah5914@labs.tamu.edu
Texas A&M University