Penn State Fraternity Pledge Dies During Drinking Binge

Timothy Piazza fell down stairs drunk and died in a frat house on the campus of Penn State.
Criminal charges have been filed against some of the frat boys who did nothing in a hazing ritual called "The Gauntlet."

I recall my first year in college, we hung out with the Sigma Chi's who bought us a ton of beer and encouraged us to drink our asses off. Keep in mind, we were...an Asian, a Mexican and an Indian guy. Yep, we were what even the frat from "Revenge of The Nerds" wouldn't take. So we pounded beers. I recall our orientation leader encouraging us to drink until we puked. But, it wasn't that they were proving our mettle, since none of us were ever going to get into their frat, it's because they're clubhouses for drinking and doing stupid things.

Fraternities, historically, have been places to network across the United States. If properly worked, it meant a pledge from one could go to a city in a different state and network. They would welcome you with open arms and make sure you were taken care of. A country club, sort of speak, for those exclusive to join. This was segregation at its best. The have's vs. the have-nots. Or the Kool Kids Klub. I never had an interest in joining, simply because I don't follow their rules. There was a mutant one that would take anyone, but they seemed a bit...too into the idea of fraternity over the ones that just promoted alcohol. Which is what I really wanted anyway. I'd get invited to these things just because girls found me non-threatening, and I'd bring them to these parties.

What bugs me about this story is the personal accountability. I've been face down/ass-up and in my own vomit, to which...I did this to myself. The fact that this dude wanted so bad to join that he didn't really understand his limitations makes me feel sorry for the next generation. NOT that he deserved what he got. One pledge could've have at least understood the emergency at hand. But drunken wild behavior is what college is all about. I don't blame the kids, unless they held the fucker down and funneled it down his throat. The fact they didn't assist him as he was dying, is more a shitbag move than negligence. I suppose this is why it is labeled manslaughter. And why the parents of this kid is going to sue the school back to the Stone Ages.

By the way, how is this university still standing. Between this, some rape allegations and Sandusky. Something needs to be done about Penn State in general.