Alpha Phi dies of alcohol poisioning at SDSU

[sdsuchelle]

The medical examiner has confirmed that Jenny died from acute alcohol and cocaine intoxication.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/13489238/detail.html

[KyleMcGuire1983]

Originally Posted by sdsuchelle

The medical examiner has confirmed that Jenny died from acute alcohol and cocaine intoxication.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/13489238/detail.html

That's so sad. I hope people who use cocaine recreationally hear this message, it is not the harmless "occassional use" drug that so many people think it is. So awful that such a young promising life was cut short.

[Kevin]

Many organizations have provisions which allow for the expulsion of any member who uses controlled substances. It'd probably be prudent for j-boards to take notice of provisions like this. If members are showing up to events high, they should be either required to quit using, enter rehab, etc.

We shouldn't tolerate members who are such open and obvious risks to themselves. If this young lady's sisters had involved, she might still be alive today.. or at least if her membership had been revoked, Alpha Phi wouldn't have had to endure all of this scrutiny.

[cuteASAbug]

Originally Posted by Kevin

If this young lady's sisters had involved, she might still be alive today.. or at least if her membership had been revoked, Alpha Phi wouldn't have had to endure all of this scrutiny.

I gotta ask this- do you ever just shut up? I'm sure that there are people on this board from SDSU who knew Jenny and don't want to hear this. And I'm sure that her sisters are dealing with a lot of grief and survivor's guilt now and don't need a random stranger on a messageboard blaming them for their sister's death. A young lady died long before she should have. Regardless of how she died, you should still be respectful of her family and friends.

[alphagamphi]

Its sad that she died of cocaine use. My heart goes out to her family and the member of Alpha Phi.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by cuteASAbug

I gotta ask this- do you ever just shut up? I'm sure that there are people on this board from SDSU who knew Jenny and don't want to hear this. And I'm sure that her sisters are dealing with a lot of grief and survivor's guilt now and don't need a random stranger on a messageboard blaming them for their sister's death. A young lady died long before she should have. Regardless of how she died, you should still be respectful of her family and friends.

In any other forum, you might have a point. But this is the Risk Management thread, where by definition the conversation will, and should, extend beyond the incident itself to the lessons that can be learned.

Sure, Kevin's post might have been worded a little differently, as it seems to assume that her sisters knew or should have known she was using cocaine, which may or may not have been the case. (For all we know, this was her first time.) That said, this kind of discussion about mutual responsibility and avoiding risk in the future is exactly what this particular forum is all about.

It is indeed sad that this young woman died, and my sincere sympathies go out to her family, her Alpha Phi sisters and her friends. I can only imagine the pain they must all feel, and I pray that imagining that pain is all I ever have to do.

That said, it will be equally sad if we don't look at the situation to see what we can learn from it in the hopes of avoiding the same pain being felt by other families and different sets of friends.

[UGAalum94]

Well said, MysticCat.

[33girl]

To say in effect "well, if her sorority would have been smart enough to terminate her, they wouldn't look so bad"? How on EARTH do you justify that in any way? YOU DON'T. Death is not a teachable moment and people who try to make it one are absolutely revolting.

I just hope none of her friends, family or chapter sisters read this thread. It's been full of innuendo, gossip and misplaced blame from beginning to end.

[Kevin]

If someone's showing up to events already wasted, and indeed goes on to die from the intoxicated condition which existed during the time she was at the event, it should be fair to say that the chapter was on notice that she was using.

I find it difficult to believe that someone could be using both cocaine and alcohol at the same time and show no signs of intoxication. Yes, chapters need to be careful because things like this can be financially ruinous as well as causing HQs to revoke charters.

As for rumors, please show me where they are. This thread has been heavily edited and deleted in to avoid that sort of thing.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by 33girl

To say in effect "well, if her sorority would have been smart enough to terminate her, they wouldn't look so bad"? How on EARTH do you justify that in any way? YOU DON'T. Death is not a teachable moment and people who try to make it one are absolutely revolting.

I just hope none of her friends, family or chapter sisters read this thread. It's been full of innuendo, gossip and misplaced blame from beginning to end.

It seems to me that the death of someone that the audience doesn't know is frequently used as a teachable moment. Now, it's possible that anti-drunk driving and anti-drug use ads are revolting to you, but it seems to be a fairly accepted thing in our culture, going back to horrible drivers education videos back in the day.

I agree that Kevin's post would seem harsh to members of her group and her family, (and personally, I was a little troubled my the "group should cut it's losses" element because I like to think the bond is a little deeper than that) but I doubt he really had them in mind as his audience, seeing the topic of the forum and all.

From the perspective of the group, if you have a sister or brother you know is using drugs, and the sister or brother isn't receptive to quitting or treatment, it does create an extra liability for the group. I think a lot of us think in terms of different categories of users, like recreation user vs. addict, but if someone ODs in the house, like seemed to happen at SMU this year, or has a bad outcome in connection to an GLO event, which seems to fill this forum, it's likely going to be really bad for the group. (It doesn't really matter how frequently or if they've used in the past.) That's part of what the forum is all about.

It doesn't make this young woman's death less tragic for her immediate family, but it's a real example of the risk management issues groups face, and it seems a little odd to come in and bust on this particular thread.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Death is not a teachable moment and people who try to make it one are absolutely revolting.

I'm sorry I and many others revolt you, but I think your statement that death is not a "teachable moment" is either very naive or very short-sighted.

During the past year, one high school in my county lost six students in three wrecks involving drunk driving. You'd better believe that the school, with support and assistance from parents of the students killed, are using these deaths as "teachable moments," and rightly so.

Originally Posted by Alphagamuga

I don't mean to be thick, but isn't her dying of a combination of cocaine and alcohol proof that she used them.

Oh, of course it is. I was responding more to the statement that "If someone's showing up to events already wasted, and indeed goes on to die from the intoxicated condition which existed during the time she was at the event, it should be fair to say that the chapter was on notice that she was using." (Emphasis mine.)

It's clear that she used alcohol and cocaine together. It might be inferred that she had done so before or that she did so in a way (such as by being high throughout the formal) that should have put others on notice of what she was doing, but the information we seem to have doesn't really say one way or the other. It's possible the real drinking/cocaine using didn't start until later in the evening/earlier in the morning. I can guess, but that's all it is -- a guess. I don't know one way or the other.

Either way, there are certainly lessons here. I'm simply cautioning against making assumptions without adequate facts to support those assumptions, that's all.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by cuteASAbug

I gotta ask this- do you ever just shut up? I'm sure that there are people on this board from SDSU who knew Jenny and don't want to hear this.

I'm not the only one who will be saying it.

And I'm sure that her sisters are dealing with a lot of grief and survivor's guilt now and don't need a random stranger on a messageboard blaming them for their sister's death. A young lady died long before she should have. Regardless of how she died, you should still be respectful of her family and friends.

As said above, the only use of posting these things on here at all is that we might be able to possibly prevent future events like this. These sorts of stories/threads help to demonstrate that college students aren't invincible and that we need to look after our brothers/sisters.

[susan314]

Originally Posted by KyleMcGuire1983

That's so sad. I hope people who use cocaine recreationally hear this message, it is not the harmless "occassional use" drug that so many people think it is. So awful that such a young promising life was cut short.

I cannot for the life of me even begin to understand why a young person with a promising future would try such a thing. Such a tragedy.