half of research paper

Curtis buoye
Sept 24 2008
Prof. Tortoro
Research Paper
The controversy over whether or not college fraternity hazing’s are excessively brutal has been a heated debate. Although hazing has been present since the earliest known civilizations, today’s society is growing more and more intolerant of violence. Hazing is nothing new to college fraternities; it has always been a requirement for their member's enrollment. However, the recent exploitation by the media has drawn further investigations into these fraternities. Unfortunately some hazing’s can be so brutal that students die as a result. For example, at the University of New York a young man by the name of Walter Jennings collapsed and died from a common form of hazing called water torture. Death from water torture is caused by extremely low sodium levels that lead the victim to simply collapse and die. Incidents like this have lead college campuses to ban such rituals
One of the main concepts a person must understand when dealing with hazing is that there are two forms; physical which deals with any bodily harm or damage that may have occurred and psychological, which deals with any method that is used to lower a newbie’s self esteem or make them mentally unstable. Hazing is used to bring groups of people together by degrading them to the point when either they psychologically or physically can’t take it anymore. These days its not just the college fraternities that utilize hazing, it has been documented in athletic teams, the military, religious cults, and other organizations. Although most people think alcohol is the most commonly used tool for hazing , screaming and physical abuse work just as well. Publicly humiliating freshmen is a common form of psychological abuse. Very little is actually known about this subject because of its underground roots and the fact that most pledges swear to secrecy. The only time hazing is highly publicized is when it goes wrong.
In 1999 a scandal shook the university of Vermont campus when the fourth string hockey goalie; corey latulippe filed a lawsuit against the UVM for civil rights violations and assault and battery. It started out at the annual team party in October called “the big night” the fresh men hockey team player’s were forced to wear women’s thongs, drink hard alcohol and hot beer and then participate in a ritual called the “elephant walk”, in which teammates had to walk in a formation and hold each other’s genital’s..when the school board got wind of what was happening they cancelled the 99-00 hockey season. Another example of a hazing gone wrong is that of Walter Jennings. As a freshman on the campus of the University of new york walter must of felt like a little fish in a big pond. He chose to join an underground fraternity that used water torture as it’s main ritual. Over the course of ten day’s jenning’s was forced to drink so much water that sodium levels were so low in his blood until finally his brain swelled and he collapsed . according to witnesses “jenning’s drank pitcher after pitcer and occasionally a funnel was used”.
The question being asked isn’t whether or not hazing is going to continue, but rather how should it be controlled, if at all. Some believe we should harsher anti-hazing laws. The fact is that the vast majority of hazing cases go unreported because no harm is done. Perhaps hazing can be compared to any other semi-dangerous activity such as Nascar or the NFL. We all know that every couple of years there is bound to be a tragic death. We accept it because it is part of the professional level of competition. Sometimes the key is to plant ideas in the minds of the younger generation. If students were taught more about hazing and how to avoid it, in addition to informational videos students would be much more adapted to deal with it once they get to a high school level. Some believe that only males experience hazing but that isn’t true, hazing is more common then ever. It occurs in girl scouts, soccer teams , the work place. There are no signs that it is going away, people must learn to accept it, and live with it.