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Hazing News

Near Death

KTLA News

January 2, 2009

DAVENPORT — A student from UC Santa Cruz remains hospitalized weeks after he lost consciousness during what police say may have been a fraternity hazing ritual.

Warren Fung, 20, has regained consciousness, but has remained hospitalized since the Dec. 15 incident at Bonny Doon Beach.

It is unclear how long Fung was in the water or on the beach, where about 50 people were gathered as early as 7 a.m. that day, according to Kirk Lingenfelter, State Parks supervisor for the Santa Cruz County coastline.

The Santa Cruz district attorney’s office and park rangers are now investigating whether a crime was committed.

UC Santa Cruz will look into the possible hazing after the State Parks investigation is complete.

By Hank Nuwer

Journalist Hank Nuwer tracks hazing deaths in fraternities and schools. Nuwer is the Alaska author of Hazing: Destroying Young Lives; Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing, High School Hazing, Wrongs of Passage and The Hazing Reader. In April of 2024, the Alaska Press Club awarded him first place in the Best Columnist division and Best Humorist, second place.

He has written articles or columns on hazing for the Sunday Times of India, Toronto Globe & Mail, Harper's Magazine, Orlando Sentinel, The Chronicle of Higher Education and the New York Times Sunday Magazine. His current book is Hazing: Destroying Young Lives from Indiana University Press. He is married to Malgorzata Wroblewska Nuwer of Warsaw, Poland and Fairbanks, Alaska. Nuwer is a former columnist for the Greenville (Ohio)Early Bird and former managing editor of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in Alaska.
Nuwer was named the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists columnist of the year in 2021 for his “After Darke” column in the Early Bird. He also won third place for the column in 2022 from the Indiana chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He and his wife Gosia, recently of Union City, Ind., have owned 20 acres in Alaska for many years. “The move is a sort-of coming home for us,” said Nuwer. As a journalist, he’s written about the Alaskan Iditarod sled-dog race and other Alaska topics. Read his musings in his blog at Real Alaska Daily--http://realalaskadaily.com and in his weekly column "Far from Randolph" in the Winchester Star-Gazette of Randolph County, Indiana.

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