DU Suspended at U of Oklahoma (Alcohol)

exlurker · #1 10-29-2004, 01:15 PM

From a news report:

"For the second time this school year, a University of Oklahoma fraternity has been suspended.

This comes after a pledge had to be taken to the hospital with alcohol poisoning. It happened at the Delta Upsilon fraternity. The 18 year old student hasn't been identified. Investigators say he was at a Big Brother-Little Brother party at the fraternity when he went to his dorm room highly intoxicated.

The student was treated at the Norman hospital emergency room and released to his parents.

OU President David Boren ordered the immediate suspension of the fraternity. "

And from the Ocotber 29 OU student paper:

"Alcohol committee considers 'strike-out' policy
In its second meeting, Boren's panel also discussed dry housing.
Sarah McEntire - Daily Staff Writer
October 29, 2004

OU President David L. Boren and his alcohol advisory committee discussed Thursday morning’s fraternity-related alcohol incident, the possibility of dry off-campus housing and a “strike-out” policy at their second meeting Thursday afternoon.

The Presidential Advisory Committee on the Problem of Underage Drinking and the Use and Abuse of Alcohol was created after the alcohol-induced death of OU freshman Blake Adam Hammontree, a Sigma Chi fraternity pledge, on Sept. 30.

A Delta Upsilon fraternity pledge member was taken to Norman Regional Hospital’s emergency room Thursday morning after police found him intoxicated in his dorm room after attending a big brother-little brother party, according to OU Department of Public Safety.

Boren said he could not believe Thursday morning’s incident occurred so soon after Hammontree’s death.

“The tragedy has not had an altering effect on behavior,” Boren said.

He said this incident “underlines, again, the importance of this task and the magnitude of the challenge.”

OU Provost Nancy Mergler said she agreed this case added meaning to the committee’s purpose.

“It highlighted the importance of what we’re doing,” she said.

One prominent topic at Thursday’s meeting was the possibility of a dry policy, an issue which continued from the committee’s first session.

“One of the major discussions was whether we should have dry off-campus housing,” Boren said.

He pointed out that currently, on-campus housing is “largely dry,” with drinking only allowed in single-occupancy rooms of residents 21 years of age and older.

Boren said the committee questioned how much regulation the university should place on off-campus events.

“We talked about whether or not to ban all organizations from holding alcohol-related activities,” he said.

To address the issue of alcohol abuse on campus, the committee also discussed a host of options, including a “strike-out system” that Boren said other universities already use.

“Some universities have ‘three or four strikes and you’re out’ policies,” he said.

Boren said a first strike would be something like an off-campus charge of driving under the influence of alcohol or public intoxication.

“We will seek the cooperation of local law enforcement,” he said.

Boren said a second strike would merit parental notification.

“The federal law, which deals with student privacy, makes an exception for notification of drug or alcohol-related offenses,” he said.

A third strike would put the offender out of the university for a suspension period of at least one semester, Boren said.

Boren said whatever decisions the committee does reach, he hopes the solution will become a “model program” for the alcohol problem that is “so entrenched in our society.”

<SNIP>..."

DeltAlum · #2 10-29-2004, 02:29 PM

Why doesn't this surprise me? It should. But it doesn't.

Stupidity reigns.

Kevin · #3 10-29-2004, 02:51 PM

The Delta Upsilons up there hazed fairly badly. My younger brother used to live across the street from their house and observed all kinds of strange goings-on.

steelepike · #4 10-29-2004, 04:00 PM

Holy S***, why does this not surprise me.

PsychTau · #5 10-29-2004, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Boren said he could not believe Thursday morning’s incident occurred so soon after Hammontree’s death.
“The tragedy has not had an altering effect on behavior,” Boren said.

Did they ever talk about this kid's death on campus with students and discuss ways of avoiding those types of situations and what to do when someone is really drunk and sick? I'm afraid that they didn't because I've seen several comments where "you shouldn't bring it up" on campus....like it was a social taboo and an inappropriate conversation.

Out of sight (out of earshot), out of mind.

PsychTau

AGDee · #6 10-29-2004, 10:45 PM

Actually, it would fit with the statistic I heard that a drinking related tragedy only alters students' behavior for about 4 to 6 weeks afterward. Drinking attitudes return to "normal" after that.

Dee

Firehouse · #7 10-30-2004, 12:45 AM

Here's a legitimate question, unless I missed the answer scanning the article. The DU pledge who was taken to the emergency room: was the kid in danger, or was he just a drunk college kid? College kids get drunk all the time, and there doesn't seem to be any long term bad effects. If some idiot pours drinks down his own throat until he is in physical danger, then he should count himself lucky that the campus cops were there to take him someplace where adults could dry him out. But is that what happened - or - is this a kid who had a couple beers and got stepped on by a nosey, anti-fraternity dorm RA?

DeltAlum · #8 10-30-2004, 01:35 AM

Can't tell from this article except for the report that he was suffering from alcohol poisoning -- which would lead me to think it was more serious than a drunk college kid.

There was no mention of blood alcohol level.

Firehouse · #9 10-30-2004, 02:19 AM

Yes, I see the part about alcohol poisoning, but I don't know what that means. I'm wary of "advocate" groups that throw out phrases for the sake of impact. I see gender feminists to whom every occassion of sex combined with alcohol is "rape". I see what might just be a drunk college kid suddenly afflicted with "alcohol poisoning". Heck, maybe it was actual poisoning, but I have learned to be suspicious. On my campus - which is a good campus for Greeks - that Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (the PAR crowd) has actually paid the expense for the hiring of an additional campus police officer for the express purpose of harrassing college students who drink beer! Now, if your job depends on churning up evidence to support the PAR world view, then that's what you are going to do, and a lot of good kids are made miserable in the meantime.

exlurker · #10 10-30-2004, 03:44 PM

Hey, firehouse (and others),
I can't ay for sure exactly what happened, but there are a few more details in a news report at

http://www.channeloklahoma.com/news/3874394/detail.html

That report says paramedics responded to a 4 a.m. call and found the guy in a dorm room. He was reportedly "barely conscious" and he was rushed off for medical attention because he was "dry heaving and urinating on himself." So it sounds like more than just an instance of someone who had been drinking -- somebody called the paramedics, and near-unconsciousness and loss of bladder control aren't good signs.

The report does say that members of the fraternity did not see anything to raise concern when he left their party.

I expect there will be more info as time passes, but I can't say whether we'll ever know the entire set of facts.

Kevin · #11 10-30-2004, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by exlurker
Hey, firehouse (and others),
I can't ay for sure exactly what happened, but there are a few more details in a news report at

http://www.channeloklahoma.com/news/3874394/detail.html

That report says paramedics responded to a 4 a.m. call and found the guy in a dorm room. He was reportedly "barely conscious" and he was rushed off for medical attention because he was "dry heaving and urinating on himself." So it sounds like more than just an instance of someone who had been drinking -- somebody called the paramedics, and near-unconsciousness and loss of bladder control aren't good signs.

The report does say that members of the fraternity did not see anything to raise concern when he left their party.

I expect there will be more info as time passes, but I can't say whether we'll ever know the entire set of facts.

I agree. It seems he likely did a lot of the drinking on his own.

But who provided the alcohol for the guy's alone time?

mmcat · #12 10-31-2004, 12:03 AM

sad thing...
pity they didn't learn from earlier problems...

kelster1898 · #13 10-31-2004, 09:03 PM

I attend the University Oklahoma and is friends with some DU's I just wanted to clarify some things. The student that went to the hospital was not a pledge, he was an actual member of DU, they just had initiation the previous Sunday. Also the reason why the OUPD came to the dorm room is because him and his roomated got into an arguement and the roomate called PD. Yes, he was drunk, but not to an extent that he needed to go to the hospital, he had a BAC of .12, which is over the legal limit. In my opinion he was just a drunk college kid.
I also used to live right behin the DU's and they really dont haze. Yes werid things do occur, (I could see perfectly in their backyard, from my sororities window) but its always fun and games, and its a mixture of members and pledges. Those guys are good guys, I think if alcohol consumpation, wasnt such a concern on campus the DU member would have never been sent to the hospital. That is just my opinion.