Fatalities and Injuries

• Up in Flames
• 15 Shots of Brandy Too Many
• Frat Boy Rumble
• Chi Tau Waterworks Stunt Goes Bad
• Even in Utah
• Oven Cleaner?
• Spilled Milk
• Statistics

Up in Flames

May 12, 1996: University of North Carolina’s Phi Gamma Delta house went up in smoke after an all night graduation party, killing five and injuring three others. Authorities say the fire was started by “improper use of smoking materials.” What does that mean exactly?

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15 Shots of Brandy Too Many

January 1994: A 19-year-old Phi University of Nebraska-Lincoln pledge fell off the third floor of the Phi Gamma Delta house after he had been given 15 shots of brandy and whiskey and six cans of beer.

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Frat Boy Rumble

January 16, 2005: At Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio student Brent Jones, age 21, died from a fractured skull and enlarged brain caused from hitting a door frame in an altercation with a fellow Sigma Phi Epsilon brother.

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Chi Tau Waterworks Stunt Goes Bad

Feb 2, 2005: Matthew Carrington, 21, lost his life to a hazing incident involving the consumption of massive quantities of a normally safe substance: water. The incident occurred at California State University in Chico, CA. Carrington was a Chi Tau Fraternity pledge. The ritual included forcing the pledges to drink five gallons of water, pouring ice water on them and then making them stand in front of air conditioning fans, and doing push-ups while answering trivia questions about the fraternity.

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Even in Utah

November 2008: Utah State University, nestled in the beautiful mountains of Logan, Utah is not immune from binge drinking fatalities. 12 members of the Sigma Nu fraternity were charged in connection with the death of Micheal Starks. Starks died after imbibing a lethal amount of alcohol at only 18 years old.

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Oven Cleaner?

University of Delaware student Jeffery V. Furek suffered severe burns on his neck and head when caustic oven cleaner was poured over his scalp in a 1980 hazing rite. In 1987 he pressed charges against the university and frat member Joseph Donchez and Furek was awarded $30,000.

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Spilled Milk

Commuters on a Arizona freeway got quite the unexpected surprise on September 22, 2008. A group of Arizona State University Arizona State fraternity pledges were challenged to drink a gallon of milk in an hour and needless to say they lost. They lost it all over the freeway if you want to get into semantics. They vomited off the side of a footbridge into the traffic below and caused an accident. A passing motorist slammed on the brakes to avoid the upchuck, causing a woman following behind to rear end the stopped car. Luckily only the pledges prides was injured.

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Statistics

2.1 million: The amount of money in damages caused by frat house fires each year in the US. (National Fire Incident Reporting System) (NFIRS)

150: The number of estimated fires occurring in fraternity and sorority houses each year in the US. (NFIRS)

90: The percent of Fraternity members that reported drinking alcohol within the past 30 days, compared to 65 percent of other students, according to a North Carolina University study.

1: Number of reported fraternity house pet deaths. The Tau Kappa Epsilon house of University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, lost their beloved house dog, Axel, in an arson fire.

1: Estimated number of deaths caused by hazing each year since 1979, according to Hank Nuwer, author of Broken Pledges.

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Conclusion

These stories and statistics are alarming to say the least and we learn that although students might be able to get into Ivy League schools, they might not be able to avoid blatantly stupid decisions when challenged by the herd mentality. Online Classes anyone? When you earn your degree online nobody is going to force you to drink ridiculous amounts of water and your chances of dying in a house fire are significantly reduced. Think about it.

Online education is safer

Reasons Why Online Education is Safer

• Keeps Students Safe from Pandemics and Contagious Sickness
• Keeps Students Safe from Other Students
• Keeps Students Safe from Terrorists
• Keeps Students Safe During Natural Disasters
• Keeps Students in More Controlled Environments
• Allows Students Customized Education

Keeps Students Safe from Pandemics and Contagious Sickness

The recent outbreak of the swine flu has opened the eyes of the public to the realization of the exposure that people receive to germs, viruses, and other elements that lead to sicknesses and diseases. Here is a list of some of the most recent pandemic scares. During a pandemic an online education still allows the children to be safe and continue their education. It allows for parents and students themselves to feel safer and allows them to take care of themselves as opposed to being concerned about making it to school and if they’ll get sick.

Flu Scares and Pandemics

• 1918 – Spanish Flu
• 1957 – Asian Flu
• 1968 – Hong Kong Flu
• 1976 – Swine Flu Scare
• 1977 – Russian Flu Scare
• 1997 – Avian Flu Scare
• 2009 – Swine Flu Scare
• Noteable Pandemics Throughout History

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Keeps Students Safe from Other Students

Have any of you read about the recent school shootings in the news? If you answered which one then you have. For us to have to ask which ones means it happens way too often. Often times because of the mental peer abuse that can go on at school, students need protection from one another. Some students are not mature enough to interact with other students. Often times when things go too far students get hurt. Innocent students get hurt and become by-standards in the games that go on at school. Online education would eliminate that completely. Social learning could go on as parents and students feel comfortable allowing it. They can gain their social experience among supportive peers of their choice as opposed to their geographical location.

School Shootings from 1996 On

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Keeps Students Safe from Terrorists

Terrorists often times look for populated areas where they can do the most collateral damage. A school full of students is an ideal place to do that. Rather than be concerned about if firearms are allowed on campus we can be concerned about if individuals are protected in their home where they are allowed all the right necessary to protect themselves. By focusing learning online we can eliminate many potential targets and focus on other populated areas that also need protection. This could help combat terrorism, but most of all it would combat concern for parents and family members as they have students away from home at school.

Schools & Terrorism: School Terrorism Preparedness

The Terrorist Threat To Our Schools

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Keeps Students Safe During Natural Disasters

I recall during elementary school doing our regular fire drills and and earthquake drills where you practice your escape routes and also ducked under your desk. One concern I always had was if I was on the third floor would I fall clear to the first floor during an earthquake? Would I make it out during a fire? Often times escaping a natural disaster at home within smaller structures is much easier than the large educational institution’s buildings. As students study at home they can have a safer environment when faced with natural disasters.

The massive quake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, flattened schools…

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Keeps Students in More Controlled Environments

It seems like many of the concerns today seem to be concerns that individuals have. The inability to deal with others and tolerate the way other people do things. From the pledge of allegiance to prayer in school, there are many things that I personally would like to be able to do while learning. Maybe I’d like a God I believe in to help me with my homework. Maybe I’d like to respect the country I live in without someone protesting. That is my right just as much as it is theirs to protest, but why can’t students exercise their rights in a place of focus and dedication. No wonder so many cases of ADD seem to be diagnosed all the time. Is it ADD or just distractions?

Online education can create a more controlled environment to learn. Not only to help students focus but also to help them have a choice on how they learn something. Evolution? God? None? It allows parents to protect the innocents of their children. It allows parents to expose their children to things they may not get exposed to in school normally. Sheltering children can be a good thing too. Just because one child is taught one way, that doesn’t mean their class mate needs to be exposed to the same things they are exposed to.

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Allows Students Customized Education

Much like the previous topic of a “Controlled Environment”, online education often times allows students to move at their own pace. Charter schools and private schools can often times give your children a little better education in comparison to most regular public schooling, but often times private schools are not a choice for students. Why limit students to a particular grade? When you allow students to learn at their own pace at the level they are at, it allows students to accelerate their learning. It also allows those students that require additional attention and time on specific topics to take that time without feeling pressured by the peers around them in their class.

Online education can allow for a customized education on a per student basis.

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Conclusion

What I’ve learned when writing this article is that online education can create a safe environment for students from disease, other students, from terrorists, natural disasters, and from being exposed to things that aren’t necessary and things that pollute their minds.

Two Cents

OK. I’m sure not all of you agree with everything I say here so give your two cents. I’m fishing for comments and to try and create a discussion here. Please help contribute by leaving a comment below and giving your opinion and experience.