(I think Sigma Pi Natl. probably had to do something, but suspending the chapter may send the wrong message, since nothing has come out other than an underage girl, with a blood alcohol level about 4.0 (0.8 is the legal limit in my state) passed out and died in a seldom-used room, probably after walking to the house following an auto wreck.
(Similarly, when ever a policeman is involved in a shooting, the news reports that Officer AAAAA's gun was taken away, and he was assigned to desk duty.
(I think that both suspensions make the chapter/person look guilty. There'll never be a news story/TV report that the chapter or the officer has been reinstated.)
PS: I saw a story which said the girl had resigned from her sorority.
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Today's CU Column:
September 08, 2004
diane carman
Many are to blame in CSU death
By Diane Carman
Denver Post Columnist
When a dead body turns up in a fraternity house after a football game and nobody seems to know how it got there, something's wrong.
And when the body is found to have more than five times the blood-alcohol limit for driving legally in Colorado - even though she was too young to buy alcohol and the fraternity is not supposed to be serving booze - somebody's in trouble.
That is why it has been difficult to get the whole story of how a 19-year-old honor student died early Sunday morning at the Sigma Pi fraternity house at Colorado State University.
First, everybody had to sober up.
Then everybody had to lawyer up.
From the details available, it's apparent that all on her own Samantha Spady demonstrated some bad judgment. Then, when she lost consciousness from intoxication, her friends failed to rescue her. She was dead for several hours before anyone even noticed.
So, obviously, there's plenty of blame to go around here.
Her parents, like the parents of an estimated 1,400 other promising young people who die in alcohol-related incidents on college campuses every year, will struggle to understand how it happened. And college administrators will respond with still more rules, more counselors and more educational programs aimed at preventing more deaths.
On Tuesday, CSU president Larry Penley said that CSU "is not alone in dealing with the issue of alcohol abuse."
"I believe the university must take action to examine our campus climate," he wrote in a letter addressed to the campus community. He promised to appoint a task force this week to investigate campus alcohol abuse and to develop a plan to address it.
Meanwhile, Linda Kuk, vice president for student affairs, e-mailed the students reminding them of the campus services to treat alcohol and drug abuse, and saying, "Please take care of one another and be safe."
Getting wrecked in college is hardly new.
And while their sense of helplessness is obvious, if college administrators want to keep enrollment up, they can't allow a perception that they are ignoring the problem to gain any traction.
But it defies easy solution.
In 2002, eight members of the University of Wyoming track and cross country teams were killed when another student, who was drunk, slammed into their Jeep.
The drinking continues.
The California State University system outlawed naming campus events after beer companies after a student on the Chico campus died of alcohol poisoning.
The drinking continues.
And the death in 1978 of Chuck Stenzel, an Alfred University student who was locked in a trunk and told to drink a pint of whiskey, a six-pack of beer and a quart of wine in a fraternity hazing incident, was so shocking it sparked a nationwide anti-hazing, anti-drinking movement.
Still, the drinking continues. At the same university 24 years later, Benjamin Klein, 21, died in an alcohol-related incident at a fraternity house.
While college administrators, regents and legislators keep trying to find a way to get through to them, ultimately it's all up to the students and their parents.
Last week in New York, the Republicans spoke of the "soft bigotry of low expectations" that contributes to the poor performance of children in inner-city schools.
It also applies to kids who behave so irresponsibly on college campuses.
The same laws of physics, biology, chemistry and unintended consequences apply to them, no matter how fortunate they have been all their lives.
It's not asking too much to expect them to understand that.
In fact, it's the least we can do.
Diane Carman's column usually appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at 303-820-1489 or
dcarman@denverpost.com .
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