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A Frat House Death In Chico (http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/12225605p-13089563c.html)
Student drank a lot of water in hazing ritual, police say.
By M.S. Enkoji - Bee Staff Writer, and Christine Vovakes - Bee correspondent
Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, February 3, 2005
CHICO - A 21-year-old California State University, Chico, student, died early Wednesday in the basement of an unauthorized fraternity house after drinking a large amount of water - part of what police are calling a hazing ritual.
Matthew William Carrington was apparently pledging Chi Tau, a local fraternity that lost a national affiliation and its school affiliation in 2002 because of alcohol violations, according to the school's adviser to fraternities and sororities.
"Excessive water consumption had something to do with the pledge activities," said Chico Police Sgt. Dave Barrow.
Alcohol doesn't appear to be involved, he said. But he declined to give other details concerning Carrington's death.
An autopsy that could be done today will determine what killed Carrington, of Pleasant Hill, or whether investigators will recommend filing criminal charges.
A campus spokesman said relatives of Carrington, a second-semester business student who transferred from Diablo Valley College, arrived at the campus early Wednesday afternoon. They could not be reached for comment.
Carrington's death is apparently the second hazing death connected to the school since 2000, when 18-year-old Adrian Heideman died from alcohol poisoning while pledging Pi Kappa Phi. Fraternities at Chico State gathered at the end of last year to talk about the dangers of hazing.
About 5 a.m. Wednesday, a Chi Tau member called police to the off-campus fraternity house after Carrington stopped breathing, according to Barrow.
"Looks like only two pledges were down in the basement. That's where the pledge activities were taking place," Barrow said. Other fraternity members were upstairs in the house.
There is no indication yet that Carrington was force-fed water, as was done to a New York college student who died after water was funneled into him in 2003.
The two-story house in the frat-row neighborhood about two blocks southeast of the campus was the center of attention Wednesday, but others living on the row said they were instructed not to talk about the death.
Mourners placed yellow roses and a pair of votive candles at the front of the house - near a blue door emblazoned with the Greek letters X and T.
SBC telephone company employees taking a break outside an SBC building across the street had seen police investigators work through the morning.
One of the employees, Michael Peterson, said the street is thick with parties from Thursday through Saturday.
A sophomore walking through the neighborhood Wednesday said the fraternity's party reputation was not unusual. "They have parties, but no more than anyone else," said Hailey Gates.
Connie Huyck, campus adviser to fraternities and sororities, said the school could discipline any students involved in the hazing, even though the fraternity was expelled from the university's fraternity council.
Chi Tau, which has about 25 members, has tried unsuccessfully to get reinstated since it was expelled in 2002.
Because fraternity and sorority houses are off-campus at Chico, the school cannot control underground clubs, Huyck said.
Joe Wills, a spokesman for the school, said: "You can expel a fraternity, but it's very difficult to control a group of people who choose to live together and recruit other students."
As hazing deaths from drinking alcohol draw national attention, a new pledge ritual of forcing intake of abnormal amounts of liquid seems to be proving equally deadly.
On a Web site maintained by Hank Nuwer, an Indiana college professor and author of the book, "Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing," there is an account of an Arizona State University fraternity member who was found vomiting into a trash can full of milk jugs last year.
Other published reports detail the death of an 18-year-old student who died drinking pitchers of water funneled into him during a hazing at State University College in Plattsburgh, N.Y., in 2003. At Southern Methodist University in Dallas, a student suffered a seizure after he chugged water from a gallon jug - also part of a hazing ritual.
The body can become intoxicated from too much water, according to medical experts. Too much water dilutes sodium in the body, which is vital for organ function.
As word about the hazing death circulated Wednesday on campus, some students called for more scrutiny of Greek organizations.
"Fraternities seem to have a dangerous streak, and they seem to have too many deaths," said Andy Mignano, 23, a senior from Sacramento who was crossing the campus with friends. "Fraternities do some community services, but they seem to be a negative force in Chico. They're secret societies, like Skull and Bones, dude."
Awareness about hazing hazards seemed to sink in after Heideman's death, Huyck said.
"I think the students really learned a lot, but not enough," she said.
Heideman was an 18-year-old freshman from Palo Alto, who was not a drinker, according to his parents. But to pledge Pi Kappa Phi, he was told to drink a bottle of brandy at a party. He vomited and choked to death. His blood-alcohol level was 0.37, more than four times the legal driving limit.
Pi Kappa Phi's national organization cut ties to the Chico chapter, and the school expelled the group.
The expelled chapter re-formed as Sigma Pi and is now recognized by the school's Greek council, according to the chief executive officer for Pi Kappa Phi's national organization based in Charlotte, N.C.
Huyck on Wednesday recalled a meeting of fraternity members in 2004, where the "water torture" deaths came up in discussions.
"I brought it up to alert them that hazing is hazing, no matter whether alcohol is involved or not," she said.
Because Chi Tau is not an official fraternity, their members weren't required to attend.
-------------------
I never knew you could ever drink too much water, I thought it was the one foolproof substance to ingest. I mean, on occasions that I've drank LOTS of water (a few litres in a few minutes), some of it would literally squeeze up like i'm vomiting it ('cept its really dilute vomit, basically just slightly acidic water). I'd figure the guy should either have vomited it up, or it shoulda squeezed out his ass or something....
And what makes someone so desperate as to put themselves through all this? Damn...
Why not ban Fraternity, college life would be so much better off without that.
Student drank a lot of water in hazing ritual, police say.
By M.S. Enkoji - Bee Staff Writer, and Christine Vovakes - Bee correspondent
Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, February 3, 2005
CHICO - A 21-year-old California State University, Chico, student, died early Wednesday in the basement of an unauthorized fraternity house after drinking a large amount of water - part of what police are calling a hazing ritual.
Matthew William Carrington was apparently pledging Chi Tau, a local fraternity that lost a national affiliation and its school affiliation in 2002 because of alcohol violations, according to the school's adviser to fraternities and sororities.
"Excessive water consumption had something to do with the pledge activities," said Chico Police Sgt. Dave Barrow.
Alcohol doesn't appear to be involved, he said. But he declined to give other details concerning Carrington's death.
An autopsy that could be done today will determine what killed Carrington, of Pleasant Hill, or whether investigators will recommend filing criminal charges.
A campus spokesman said relatives of Carrington, a second-semester business student who transferred from Diablo Valley College, arrived at the campus early Wednesday afternoon. They could not be reached for comment.
Carrington's death is apparently the second hazing death connected to the school since 2000, when 18-year-old Adrian Heideman died from alcohol poisoning while pledging Pi Kappa Phi. Fraternities at Chico State gathered at the end of last year to talk about the dangers of hazing.
About 5 a.m. Wednesday, a Chi Tau member called police to the off-campus fraternity house after Carrington stopped breathing, according to Barrow.
"Looks like only two pledges were down in the basement. That's where the pledge activities were taking place," Barrow said. Other fraternity members were upstairs in the house.
There is no indication yet that Carrington was force-fed water, as was done to a New York college student who died after water was funneled into him in 2003.
The two-story house in the frat-row neighborhood about two blocks southeast of the campus was the center of attention Wednesday, but others living on the row said they were instructed not to talk about the death.
Mourners placed yellow roses and a pair of votive candles at the front of the house - near a blue door emblazoned with the Greek letters X and T.
SBC telephone company employees taking a break outside an SBC building across the street had seen police investigators work through the morning.
One of the employees, Michael Peterson, said the street is thick with parties from Thursday through Saturday.
A sophomore walking through the neighborhood Wednesday said the fraternity's party reputation was not unusual. "They have parties, but no more than anyone else," said Hailey Gates.
Connie Huyck, campus adviser to fraternities and sororities, said the school could discipline any students involved in the hazing, even though the fraternity was expelled from the university's fraternity council.
Chi Tau, which has about 25 members, has tried unsuccessfully to get reinstated since it was expelled in 2002.
Because fraternity and sorority houses are off-campus at Chico, the school cannot control underground clubs, Huyck said.
Joe Wills, a spokesman for the school, said: "You can expel a fraternity, but it's very difficult to control a group of people who choose to live together and recruit other students."
As hazing deaths from drinking alcohol draw national attention, a new pledge ritual of forcing intake of abnormal amounts of liquid seems to be proving equally deadly.
On a Web site maintained by Hank Nuwer, an Indiana college professor and author of the book, "Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing," there is an account of an Arizona State University fraternity member who was found vomiting into a trash can full of milk jugs last year.
Other published reports detail the death of an 18-year-old student who died drinking pitchers of water funneled into him during a hazing at State University College in Plattsburgh, N.Y., in 2003. At Southern Methodist University in Dallas, a student suffered a seizure after he chugged water from a gallon jug - also part of a hazing ritual.
The body can become intoxicated from too much water, according to medical experts. Too much water dilutes sodium in the body, which is vital for organ function.
As word about the hazing death circulated Wednesday on campus, some students called for more scrutiny of Greek organizations.
"Fraternities seem to have a dangerous streak, and they seem to have too many deaths," said Andy Mignano, 23, a senior from Sacramento who was crossing the campus with friends. "Fraternities do some community services, but they seem to be a negative force in Chico. They're secret societies, like Skull and Bones, dude."
Awareness about hazing hazards seemed to sink in after Heideman's death, Huyck said.
"I think the students really learned a lot, but not enough," she said.
Heideman was an 18-year-old freshman from Palo Alto, who was not a drinker, according to his parents. But to pledge Pi Kappa Phi, he was told to drink a bottle of brandy at a party. He vomited and choked to death. His blood-alcohol level was 0.37, more than four times the legal driving limit.
Pi Kappa Phi's national organization cut ties to the Chico chapter, and the school expelled the group.
The expelled chapter re-formed as Sigma Pi and is now recognized by the school's Greek council, according to the chief executive officer for Pi Kappa Phi's national organization based in Charlotte, N.C.
Huyck on Wednesday recalled a meeting of fraternity members in 2004, where the "water torture" deaths came up in discussions.
"I brought it up to alert them that hazing is hazing, no matter whether alcohol is involved or not," she said.
Because Chi Tau is not an official fraternity, their members weren't required to attend.
-------------------
I never knew you could ever drink too much water, I thought it was the one foolproof substance to ingest. I mean, on occasions that I've drank LOTS of water (a few litres in a few minutes), some of it would literally squeeze up like i'm vomiting it ('cept its really dilute vomit, basically just slightly acidic water). I'd figure the guy should either have vomited it up, or it shoulda squeezed out his ass or something....
And what makes someone so desperate as to put themselves through all this? Damn...
Why not ban Fraternity, college life would be so much better off without that.