Two fraternity members at California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo pleaded no contest to hazing charges on Tuesday and were sentenced to prison for their roles in the drinking death of a student in December 2008 at the campus Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, according to the Austin American-Statesman. The student, 18-year-old Carson Starkey, a native of Austin, Tex., died with a blood-alcohol level of 0.39 to 0.48 percent — “the equivalent of surgical anesthesia,” the newspaper reported. The defendants will serve 120 days and 45 days, respectively, in jail, and each will be on probation for three years. Cases against two other fraternity members are still pending.
RSS
Follow The Ticker through your favorite RSS reader.
7 Responses to Fraternity Members Sentenced in Drinking Death at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo
vpsa1870 - June 9, 2010 at 4:24 pm
Jody – did you see this in The Chronicle? Karen
akprof - June 9, 2010 at 8:41 pm
Good for the court system – binge drinking is a deadly sport. Though I’ll bet Carsons parents think the sentences are laughable!
rick1952 - June 10, 2010 at 8:41 am
If these youths were not college students but instead just a group of young men from a low-income community who caused the death of a peer using similar tactics, the outrage would be substantial as would the prison terms. Unfortunately, our society is willing to excuse homicides committed by students enrolled in colleges when alcohol is involved. That is unfortunate on many counts, not the least being that more young people will die because our society is unwilling to challenge this kind of behavior in serious ways (both educationally and through the criminal justice system.)
dank48 - June 10, 2010 at 9:00 am
One more aspect of traditional four-year schools that community college students are missing.
profe1 - June 10, 2010 at 9:50 am
It’s the fraternity, not the fact that it’s a four year school, many of which do not have fraternities. Or sororities.
22228715 - June 10, 2010 at 7:39 pm
“If these youths were not college students but instead just a group of young men from a low-income community who caused the death of a peer using similar tactics, the outrage would be substantial as would the prison terms.”Really? Can you cite a few examples, perhaps with links? I’ve never read about such a thing in the papers or seen it on the news – it’s always about college students, usually Greek students, and usually blaming the university. I’m not disagreeing with you… just asking for some examples.
rick1952 - June 10, 2010 at 10:03 pm
@22228715 – sorry, I cannot provide direct examples as my comment was speculative not based on comparable situations. I should have started my post by saying: “I believe if these youths were…” My belief is based on 50+ years of seeing how low-income youth in the cities in which I have lived are treated by the criminal justice system and the media when they are accused of involvement in criminal activity.In terms of direct experience, several years ago the father of a student suspended from the College for selling drugs told me that his son should not have been disciplined so strictly because, “…he not some kid from the ghetto…” In another situation, a lawyer representing another student similarly disciplined for the same type of violation challenged the suspension for similar reasons and told me that I was being “too harsh” in addressing his behavior. Both students were middle-class suburbanites. So, while it was not alchol and fortunately no deaths were involved, the attitude by the parent of the first student and the lawyer of the second student reflect what I have seen and heard over the course of my life.When all is said and done, the tragedy is that deaths from alcohol poisoning in situations like the one reported in the above story would be less likely if our society was willing to make a more dedicated effort to curb alcohol abuse among youth, especially college students.