Hank Nuwer, Author; Hazing Deaths Database

By Ethan Thomas

LOGAN ­ One of the 12 Utah State University students charged in connection
with the alcohol poisoning death of fraternity pledge Michael Starks was
sentenced Monday in 1st District Court.

Grant Arthur Barney, 22, pleaded guilty last month to obstructing justice,
a class B misdemeanor, and was sentenced to serve eight days in jail and
pay a $1,025 fine. Barney will also be on probation for one year and will
be required to perform 100 hours of community service.

Barney was originally charged with obstructing justice and one count of
hazing, but the hazing charge was later dismissed.

Barney’s attorney, Shannon Demler, told the Deseret News in March that
Barney did not take part in the alleged hazing, but he did throw away some
bottles of alcohol that were consumed the night of Starks’ death.

Starks, 18, died after participating in an initiation ceremony for the
then-USU chapter of Sigma Nu. The initiation involved Starks and another
pledge being “kidnapped” by the Chi Omega sorority women. An affidavit of
probable cause states that the pledges were stripped down to their boxers
and painted in USU school colors.

Sometime during the activity, they began drinking, prosecutors say. They
returned to the fraternity house already heavily intoxicated, and a few
hours later, Starks was found unconscious and not breathing.

Starks was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly afterward.

Last month, another student, Sadie Green, 19, pleaded no contest to one
count of hazing. Charges have been dropped against three of the 12 students
originally charged in January.

Seven other USU students charged in the case have court dates scheduled in
the coming months.

© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Link

Note: The last paragraph re waiver should be challenged in court. If the activity itself is coerced or has an element of negligence in itself, the wife
might expose the waiver for the sham it is–Moderator

Policeman killed in savage hazing for special forces

Today, 12:20 PM

The widow of a killed Russian police officer has demanded an investigation into his death: the man received fatal injuries in a brutal fight with seven other policemen. The fight was part of a savage hazing practice designed to test whether recruits were tough enough for top jobs with the police special forces.

Viktor Kritsenkov, 30 years old, was seeking employment at the elite “Bison” squadron, based in the Moscow Region.

As an unofficial entry test, the man had to stand at least several minutes of sparring against seven Bison officers at once, Life.ru reports.

In spite of his great physical strength, after the fight Kritsenkov had to be rushed to intensive care, where he died the next day.

His widow, Yekaterina, has demanded justice, saying that what happened to her husband was cold-blooded murder. She said that getting into the special forces was her husband’s dream.

An administrative investigation has been launched into the case, but the investigators say it will to be hard to launch a criminal case against the offenders. Such fights are quite frequent in Russia’s special forces.

“During such fights the participants are protected by gloves only,” a spokesman for the investigation committee said.

“That’s why before the sparring, all participants are warned of the danger and must sign a paper that relieves all other participants of responsibility in the event of an accident. By signing this paper, the man acknowledges he may receive serious injuries.”

Excerpt:

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Five members of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority accused of hazing another student have been placed on interim suspension at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

One student, Seirra Smith, 22, is scheduled to appear May 5 in Hamilton County General Sessions Court on two counts of simple assault.

The suspensions and criminal charges stem from an April 10 police report made by Jasmine Johnson and her mother, Karen Drake, accusing five members of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority of assaulting her.

Judicial hearings are being scheduled at UTC for 13 students, including the five on interim suspension, said Chuck Cantrell, university spokesman. Some of the hearings have been completed; others are pending, he said.

Federal law prohibits the release of the findings of the student conduct hearings, he said.

Fayetteville investigation ends

Excerpt from Fayetteville Observer

No hazing found at FSU

By Sarah A. Reid
Staff writer
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An internal investigation has cleared two college fraternities accused of hazing Fayetteville State University pledges, according to the school.

One of the cleared organizations was cited for a non-hazing violation of the Code of Student Conduct, the university said in a statement released recently.

The Epsilon Zeta Chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity was fined $250 and ordered to complete 100 hours of community service for holding meetings outside the presence of an advisor, said Jeffery Womble, the advisor for Alpha Phi Alpha.

The undergraduate chapter also is barred from attending some university functions, and it cannot recruit new members until after the spring 2010 semester, according to FSU.

Alpha Phi Alpha and the Delta Gamma Chapter of Omega Psi Phi fraternity were both cleared of hazing allegations levied in January, according to the university.

Pennsylvania school can’t control its students: story follows
Despite seniors’ pledge, juniors are still pelted with condiments and eggs during parade
Maggie Rusch

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Updated April 24, 10:30 p.m.

To gain entry into the Final Toast event on College Green on Hey Day, seniors signed a pledge to not throw items at the parading Class of 2010 – and yet a number chose to welcome the juniors not by raising a toast, but by pelting one of the free beers provided at the event.

Despite the 2009 Class Boards’ efforts to curb junior hazing by seniors on Hey Day, the Class of 2010 – and Locust Walk – was smothered in the usual array on condiments after the procession.

While the level of hazing was slightly less than years prior, students still lined Locust Walk with an arsenal of ketchup, flour and barbeque and chocolate sauce and eggs during the procession.

Even off campus, students donning the visible Hey Day T-shirt faced hazing as early as 1 p.m. along 40th Street and Baltimore Avenue. At one point, several police had to intervene near 40th and Pine as students were spraying passersby with ketchup and mustard.

Whether students were purposely targeted by friends, or simply caught in the cross-fire, the junior class that assembled on College Green was covered in flour and smelled like barbeque sauce.