Plus Ça Change...

From the New York Times: Florida A&M University Student’s Death Turns Spotlight on Hazing

Man, is that spotlight mounted in a lighthouse, or what?

How many times does an American college student have to die from hazing before:

(a) People actually do something to stop hazing, or
(b) (Other) people stop being shocked that American college students die from hazing?

I mean, come on. There was an episode of ER ten years ago about frat kids dying from hazing; the spotlight has been and gone, several times. And yeah, hazing is terrible and the deaths it causes are tragic. So adopt university rules to expel anyone caught hazing and dismantle the organization under whose aegis the hazing took place. What's that? It would be unthinkable to dismantle our money-making athletic teams proud traditions? I guess we'll just have to keep putting up with occasional hazing deaths, then.

(N.B. This story is not about an athletic team, but boy!, is it about money-making!)

Also, somebody should do a study examining why British university students rarely do stuff this retarded.