Author: Hank Nuwer

Moderator:   As I work on the new book on hazing,  I am struck how the preventable deaths at this all-day festival remind me of the inability of bystanders to step in (hazing or any party situation) when potential “victims” are too far gone to help themselves.  If the alcohol and drug culture is so rampant, why aren’t pundits doing more to question presidential candidates why they aren’t more involved in these seemingly overwhelming issues involving national deaths due to alcohol and drugs?  Not BLAMING the candidates, mind you. Just asking them to come up with solutions. That should be part of their mission, don’t you think? Moderator

Excerpt follows:

MANSFIELD — Officials tonight said the rise in heavy drinking and drug use at the Comcast Center, where two men died last month of apparent overdoses, reflects a broader cultural problem and said the arena’s security staff has worked well with the local police force to try to mitigate the effects of reckless behavior.

“It’s an alcohol-soaked society,” said Mansfield Police Chief Arthur O’Neill during a public meeting of the Board of Selectmen at Town Hall.

O’Neill said police and security staff at the center are working closely together to limit the repercussions of substance abuse at center events.

“We have a well oiled machine down there between our police officers” and the security staff, he said.

O’Neill also expressed skepticism that drug-sniffing dogs could be effective at the center, since they are only able to work for about 20 minutes at a time.

“It would take dozens of dogs,” O’Neill said, adding that drug dogs can sometimes attack people.

Tonight’s discussion came after Connor Brandon, a 19-year-old from Acton, and Dominic Impelizzieri, 27, of Syracuse, N.Y., both died of drugs and ­alcohol in their systems at an all-day festival at the center on July 26.

Authorities said drug and alcohol use was rampant at the show, and 19 other people were hospitalized for drug-related problems. Some patrons took powerful combinations of ecstasy, PCP, and marijuana, officials said.

Less than a week later, ­police arrested 35 people at a hip-hop show and took scores more into protective custody for drunkenness at the center, which has a capacity of about 20,000.

Here is the story link to Boston.com

excerpt from the Boston Globe: see link above

Prosecutors said Wednesday they are dropping most of the charges against the Boston University students who allegedly left five stripped-down fraternity pledges covered with condiments in a hazing incident in April.

Two of the nine defendants, Jesse Kay, 20, and Spencer Davidson, 21, still face the most serious charge of assault and battery for what prosecutors have described as inhumane treatment of the pledges, found by police shivering in the basement of an Allston home that was being used as the Alpha Epsilon Pi house. Both men, who appeared to be the ringleaders in the hazing ritual, also face single counts of hazing and failure to report hazing.

Kay and Davidson are accused of ordering the victims to duct-tape themselves to one another and to disrobe, according to prosecutors. They then allegedly poured hot chili sauce on them, causing welts to appear on their skin. They also allegedly ordered the victims to drink fish oil, said Jake Wark, spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney’s office.

Kay was in Brighton District Court on Wednesday, along with five other defendants. He pleaded not guilty and was ordered to return to court on Aug. 20 for a pretrial hearing.

Davidson was arraigned June 20 and also ordered back on the same date. The two face up to 2½ years in jail, if convicted.

Boston police originally issued five charges on each of the counts the defendants faced, to reflect the number of victims, but have since reduced the counts. For example, Kay and Davidson had faced 15 counts each but now face only three single charges….

Defendant Kyle Shevrin, 21, failed to appear for his arraignment, but had sent a letter to the court asking for a postponement because he is in California. Judge Patricia Bernstein found him in default but stayed the arrest warrant until Aug. 20.

Shevrin, according to a police report, had attempted to flee during the incident but was stopped by police.

Katz and Alexander Nisenzon, 21, were found in a second-floor bedroom where they and three other defendants, were “lying in a bed together, faking that they were sleeping,’’ according to the report.

Nisenzon faces a charge of failure to report hazing and his arraignment was deferred until Aug. 27.

Jonathon Toobi, 22, is out of the country and his arraignment was deferred to Dec. 12. He faces one count of failure to report hazing. The arraignment for Lawrence Rosenblum, 19, was also deferred, to Sept. 20. He faces charges of failure to report hazing and keeping a noisy and disorderly house.

Excerpt from Sowetan:

his was revealed when the case of four men accused of running an illegal initiation school, where the deaths took place, was postponed in the Botshabelo Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

State prosecutor Nomsa Ngwata asked the court to postpone the matter because more suspects were expected to be arrested.

“I ask for a postponement of the case because other suspects are expected to be arrested and the police also need to verify the addresses of the accused,” Ngwata said.

Daniel Thabatau, 29, his brother Lehlohonolo Thabatau, 26, Mohau Motumi, 24 and Sesing Chapi, 21, are facing four charges of murder and of assault.

Sibongile Tloubatla, the lawyer representing Thabatau and Lehlohonolo, was unhappy about the postponement. She argued that she was ready to proceed with the formal bail application because her clients were entitled to a speedy trial.

Pono Setshedi, who represented Motumi and Chapi, said: “My clients have been in custody for two weeks now and I believe their rights have been infringed. They have the right to apply for and be granted bail.”

Thabatau, Lehlohonolo, Motumi and Chapi allegedly killed initiates Morena Potsane, 17, Mthandazo Kuzwayo, 19, Itumeleng Tshiane, 19, and Thembekile Motselebane, 18, two weeks ago.

The deceased were allegedly assaulted and their buttocks burnt with hot iron rods.

Thabatau is alleged to have been the leader of the initiation school, while Lehlohonolo, Motumi and Chapi were tutors.

Police were alerted about the deaths after one of the initiates died in hospital from severe injuries.

Police found 30 initiates and three bodies at the initiation school. Eleven initiates with severe injuries had to be taken to hospital.

Here is the story link and except

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Panfilo Lacson on Thursday backed the proposal of his colleagues in the Senate to amend the Anti-Hazing Law to include among those criminally liable officials of universities and colleges which accredited fraternities and student organizations that are still engaging in hazing activities.

“Prospectively, school heads should be held liable for the death of their students in fraternity hazing rituals,” Lacson told reporters in a weekly forum at the Senate.

Lacson said that the existing Anti-hazing Law or Republic Act 8049 needs improvement since the law provides that universities and colleges should be informed at least seven days prior to the initiation rites for them to be able to send representatives who will supervise the activity.

However, this provision has not been followed by schools and organizations.

“Everytime we hear news about deaths in hazing rituals obviously no school representatives were present there…,” he said.

He added that institutions like the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police are also covered by the law.

Here is the reaction to the column

excerpt: As the title suggested, it was about putting the blame also on the willing victims and not just on those doing the hazing in order to prevent students from joining “brotherhoods” that inflict violence on candidates.

Law student Marc Andre Marcos of San Beda Law School (run by Benedictine monks) died last week after initiation rites of the Lex Leonum Fraternitas, which is not recognized by the school.

Among the letters I received, one was from a mother and another from a frat man-university professor-government official. Neither wants to be identified.

The mother wrote: “I read your article and I could not help but cry. If you have the time, please read the open letter that I have been wanting to write for over a decade now… I am keeping [myself] anonymous due the sensitive intricacies in the fraternity to which [my husband] belongs.

“Your article struck a very raw nerve because my husband is a victim of hazing, a willing victim. He entered law school and joined his fraternity after our children were born. As if he didn’t have enough brothers and sisters, he sought the brotherhood of more…”