Alpha Phi dies of alcohol poisioning at SDSU

[sdsuchelle]

*edit* I retract my statement, I was wrong -- she was found at her apartment. Somehow <edit> has been mixed into this but I'm not sure what the connection is yet.

As for the girl's name, everyone I know knew her as Jenny, but maybe her legal name is Shirley.

And yes, she is an Alpha Phi. http://ilovealphaphi.com/members.html

[Aphigal]

Originally Posted by sdsuchelle

*edit* I retract my statement, I was wrong -- she was found at her apartment. Somehow <EDIT> has been mixed into this but I'm not sure what the connection is yet...

I loooove <not the sarcasm in my voice> how you "retract saying anything against <edit>" but you have not yet apologized to Alpha Phi for saying her sisters essentially left her to die.

Don't know what you have against Alpha Phi but certainly you couldn't wait to come and post about this young woman's death before you had your facts straight. Or from what it now appears any facts at all.

[sdsuchelle]

[quote=Aphigal;1442917]

Originally Posted by sdsuchelle

*edit* I retract my statement, I was wrong -- she was found at her apartment. Somehow <edit> has been mixed into this but I'm not sure what the connection is yet... QUOTE]


I loooove <not the sarcasm in my voice> how you "retract saying anything against Sigma Chi" but you have not yet apologized to Alpha Phi for saying her sisters essentially left her to die.

Don't know what you have against Alpha Phi but certainly you couldn't wait to come and post about this young woman's death before you had your facts straight. Or from what it now appears any facts at all.

WHOA WHOA WHOA, I don't have anything against Alpha Phi, and I never said her sisters left her to die. With the information I had yesterday, it seemed sketchy, but now it doesn't.

Wow I swear, people on this board get waaaay too touchy. To assume I have something against Alpha Phi just because I posted a very relevant news story is pretty ridiculous. Chill out please.

On a different note, there is a news video here: http://www.cbs8.com/

Originally Posted by sdsuchelle

Obviously this is very saddening...<edit>

Any ideas on what kind of action will be taken against <edit>.

Originally Posted by sdsuchelle

WHOA WHOA WHOA, I don't have anything against Alpha Phi, and I never said her sisters left her to die. With the information I had yesterday, it seemed sketchy, but now it doesn't.

Wow I swear, people on this board get waaaay too touchy. To assume I have something against Alpha Phi just because I posted a very relevant news story is pretty ridiculous. Chill out please.

On a different note, there is a news video here: http://www.cbs8.com/

Judging from your first post, it really did seem like you were implying that her sisters didn't care because they were nowhere to be found. Aphigal had every right to respond to you the way she did.

Considering the tragedy of the situation, you really shouldn't tell people to chill out just because you don't like how they're replying to you. Just suck it up and accept the fact that you probably made a poor choice in reporting it when you didn't have your facts straight and move on.

[sdsuchelle]

K I didn't have my facts straight, the end.

PS: Everyone should note that reading into "implied" messages on the internet is going to get you nowhere. What you think a person meant is not always what they intended, ESPECIALLY on a message board.

[kddani]

Originally Posted by sdsuchelle

K I didn't have my facts straight, the end.

PS: Everyone should note that reading into "implied" messages on the internet is going to get you nowhere. What you think a person meant is not always what they intended, ESPECIALLY on a message board.

Then please, in the future, don't post about something to serious without having the facts. Unless you knew her directly, which it doesn't appear that you did, you were just posting rumors and gossip. Obviously you can see now how that tends to turn out.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by kddani

Then please, in the future, don't post about something to serious without having the facts. Unless you knew her directly, which it doesn't appear that you did, you were just posting rumors and gossip. Obviously you can see now how that tends to turn out.

Agreed, and let me add to that -- if someone ever suspects inaccuracies/rumors being posted, please contact me ASAP so I can remove the offending material. I realize it's not necessarily against the TOS, but we want GC to do more good than harm, right?

ETA:

Pursuant to a very reasonable request, I have gone through this thread and removed just about any fact which was either known to be false, or was at this juncture only a rumor. As a matter of policy, please refrain from posting things in serious threads such as this unless you know those things to be true.

I will try to stay on top of things, but if anyone sees anything which is either not true or at this point unsubstantiated, please inform me ASAP. Let's just make sure GC doesn't get any rumors started which may end up in investigations/consequences for innocent parties.

[susan314]

Originally Posted by OTW

Judging from your first post, it really did seem like you were implying that her sisters didn't care because they were nowhere to be found. Aphigal had every right to respond to you the way she did.

I totally didn't take her first post that way at all, though perhaps it could have been worded differently to get that point across. I can see where someone who is an Alpha Phi might read more into the post than what I suspect the OP intended (I might have done the same thing myself if it had been Alpha Gam instead - lots of us tend to be more sensitive to what we perceive as criticism of our own organization/sisters).

But, as a somewhat neutral bystander, I didn't get the feeling that the OP meant her original post as an indictment of the Alpha Phi sisters or that she had some sort of hatred for Alpha Phi - more the type of frustration that one might vent in that sort of situation, when thinking about things that anyone could have done differently to prevent the tragedy.

[sdsuchelle]

THANK YOU Susan! Exactly.

Anyway can we get back to the topic instead of picking apart my words? That would be great.

It seems like SDSU has a lot of alcohol poisioning/accident deaths occur... the school seems to turn a blind eye, and I really think students (not just greeks) need more education on binge drinking dangers.

[bejazd]

It seems like SDSU has a lot of alcohol poisioning/accident deaths occur... the school seems to turn a blind eye, and I really think students (not just greeks) need more education on binge drinking dangers.[/quote]


Does the school really turn a blind eye or is there just a limit to what they can reasonably do to prevent students from willingly participating in alcohol abuse? ( I am not speaking about this particular individual. The local news has only reported that the death is under investigation. )
The school has over 25K undergrads...most are well over 21, and it's primarily a commuter campus. Students who live in the dorms tend to be younger, but they don't usually live there for more than a year or two. A very small percentage of students actually live in greek housing at SDSU...it's far more popular to live in off campus apts, mini-dorms or out at the beach. SDSUChelle, do you know if all new students must participate in the substance abuse prevention program or just the greeks?

I'm terribly sad for this young woman, her family and Alpha Phi. Alpha Phi at SDSU has an excellent reputation.

[DeltAlum]

Has <edit> been officially linked to this situation?

If so, and I don't think we know for sure yet, this will be another situation of underage drinking and the chapter will likely be in serious trouble.

Of course IF is a very big word. Let's not fry the chapter yet.

Being in her own apartment (no mention of roommates) may answer the question of why nobody was there to help.

Sadly, another possible (I say possible because the coroner has only said alcohol may be a factor if I remember the article correctly) alcohol related death in the Greek world.

Obviously, more and updated information is needed.

[susan314]

Originally Posted by DeltAlum

Has <edit> been officially linked to this situation?

If so, and I don't think we know for sure yet, this will be another situation of underage drinking and the chapter will likely be in serious trouble.

Of course IF is a very big word. Let's not fry the chapter yet.

Perhaps she was at a party earlier in the evening, which is how those rumors started. According to the article (which we don't even know has all the facts straight yet - the truth tends to trickle out in these situations as investigations occur), she had been at a few different social events that evening. Which is fairly common for college students, but also makes it more difficult for anyone to really have an idea of how much alcohol she consumed.

And, of course, even though she was out for an evening, we don't know that she was accompanied by sisters. Sure, many sorority sisters tend to go out in groups, but we all have nights where we go out in mixed groups and not just with our chapter sisters.

If she was party hopping and perhaps not with the same group of friends all night (which is not unusual and not necessarily a "bad" thing), people may not have fully realized that she had consumed a dangerous amount of alcohol. If you go to party A with Susie and Heather, and then decide to go to from there to party B with Stephanie and Vickie, it makes it harder for your friends (who are likely drinking themselves) to keep track of you. I'm using this as a general example of something that happens all the time, not saying this is specifically how her night went. I know I did stuff like that in undergrad, and never even gave a thought to the potential risk involved. Thankfully I never had to deal personally with a tragic circumstance like this, but looking back its not too hard to see where things could have taken a bad turn.

I do feel terrible for her family, her friends, and her sisters, and hope that they are able to get through this tragic loss.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by PinkBabygirl10

I am just wondering why everyone's arguing about what this girl's name is, and no one who read the article picked up on this: "Police are investigating the death of Shirley Jennifer Poliakoff, a San Diego State University student who was found dead over the weekend. Shirley Jennifer Poliakoff, known as Jenny..."

The article as it was orginally posted did not contain the info that it now contains.