first of all, this article is incomplete, because we don’t know the age of the young lad. second of all, what happen to choices? after all, he made a choice to see this unauthorized frat and wanted (again, wanted) to be apart. if this organization wanted him to join by illegal drinking, well, the kid made a wrong choice. first, he knew it was against the law to drink under the age of 21. the property owners, were they on the premise or aware of the situation? this could be like a rented property, and the owners would not have an idea of what is going on. granted, i feel for the dad for the loss of his son and wants some compensation for it. you have to look at this way, his son made a choice and it was a bad choice. it be like stating, my son volunteered for the military and died while doing his duty. now, we want to sue the government for him dying while at war. again, the son volunteered, made a choice and knew the circumstances. same with drinking. it might seem strange to use this as analogy, but it’s the same. he’s an adult! kids even 18-25 sometimes don’t make good decisions, but they have to learn from making bad choices. we can preach all we want to our kids, but they sometimes have to step to the plate and swing the bat! it can be awful, when they make wrong or bad choices.
This kid was a 19 year old majoring in Biology. He was also a volunteer EMT at the local fire department.
The “fraternity” (PIGS) he wanted to join wasn’t really a fraternity at all. According to police, it was nothing more than a drinking club that charged between $200-$300 to join. The kid drank hard liquor for 10 hours straight. It seems this kid may have had a drinking problem before going to college. Why would a seemingly intelligent person want to join a drinking club. Other kids 19 years old are risking their lives for this country. This kid knew better and made a fatal decision. It isn’t the fault of the college or whoever bought the booze, or whoever owned the house. Nobody put a gun to this kid’s head and forced him to drink. The father shouldn’t profit from his son’s poor choices.
I think there is responsibility on both sides. The kid did do the drinking. The other contributed to a minor. If a store sells alcohol to a minor and that minor then kills someone in an accident the person who sold him the alcohol is in trouble. If an underage kid bought alcohol and drank at a bar all night the bartender and bar are in trouble. The people who bought the alcohol are partly to blame. They contributed to his death. If they did not provide the alcohol then they would not be in trouble. They have criminal charges against them for a reason. Sad situation all around.
i understand where you’re coming from wudchuck, but how would you feel if God forbid this was your child, despite all your warnings and advice.
i was a student on campus decades ago & even then the pressure to join & belong was absolutely outrageous.
we keep hearing about these dreadful stories.
the best solution is to educate, educate, and educate these kids (yes: kids) against such destructive behavior, in not just high school, but college as well.
i would suggest that this very case be massively publicized in every frat & sorority house, & on every campus in the USA, as a serious “dope-slap” to these students to stop what they’re doing, AND to alert them that they can be held legally liable and/or criminally liable for their acts.
worse, even is that these students will have to live every day of their lives knowing that they could have prevented the young man’s death if just one of them would have had the guts to stop such activity
I couldn’t agree more with wudchuck.
The young man made the choice to join.
While I feel for the father perhaps he should ask himself why he didn’t teach his son better choice making skills.
If boy was underage of 21 and supplied the alcohol then some punishment needs to be put on the ones that supplied the alcohol. If more punishment was handed out for giving under 21 alcohol then maybe it would help the problems we have with underage drinking. Yes it sad cause was his choice made to drink but if alcohol wasnt so easily available might have changed situation. Cant really put a price on life lost or bad decisions but sticter laws may need to be in order for these frat houses or clubs. Just like on Bar tenders or stores that sell alcohol. What if he would have been sitting in a bar or store front drinking for days and died. Wouldnt we then be critical of owners? He would have had a choice then also though right?
College aged students who want to make their own decisions have to live with the choice they make. I feel for the Father, but the Son made a decision to join a Drinking Club. The peer presure to fit in is tremendous, but you should have the resolve to say No. I went throught this when I was in college and the Navy. When I say No. I mean NO.
Sure, there are people who may have been responsible helping this kid to drink for 10 hours straight–if that’s the case and you can prove it, then prosecute and bring somebody to justice; but why should the father retire early because the kid didn’t know when to stop??
although I feel awful for the parents of this young adult – I stress young adult. The father doesn’t deserve a dime – sorry.
I have college age students, and as a parent I’ve informed them about the good and evils of college. That being said – they will make up their own minds and pay the consequences of bad decisions.
Contributory negligence and Hazing are two things that need to be defined and come to mind. After Student was too drunk to hold his own cup wonder how alcohol was administered? How much is too much?? If he was helped….why shouldnt they pay…..you mean to say its ok just to sit back and watch someone drink themself to death and not do anything?? If you ask me everyone is responsible. Now as far as the money well I guess if its determinded to be hazing would be the question if father is entitled. If son was helped or pushed into drinking then again you cant put a price on death. Did he kill himself or was he helped? Think I reserve judgement on father till thats determinded.
We don’t have all the facts for the story. He may have been a little guy trying to keep up with bigger guys, weight wise, and simply did too many shots in a short time frame.
If there is a bright side to this story, at least he didn’t have to suffer through the headache and hangover he was facing.
This sort of binge drinking behavior doesn’t occur at nearly the same rate as countries with sensible drinking age laws- where responsible drinking behaviors are learned at the kitchen table rather than a frat party.
I think there would be far fewer instances such as this if our drinking age were lowered and we started treating alcohol consumption as something to be enjoyed and appreciated at moderate levels.
You can teach your kids about alcohol at the kitchen table without any permissive laws. Obviously nobody did that here. As Eli aptly pointed out, this young adult had more than sufficient age and knowledge (being an EMT and BIO major) than the average college kid. The proximate cause was his own negligence in allowing himself to get into a situation where he lost control of his ability to make rational decisions. Let’s quit blaming everyone else. Tragic as it is, this kid sought out a “drinking club” and did what you do at drinking clubs. He paid the ultimate price for it.
interesting how the IJ never saw that one coming! i bet that this will become an issue as well during the trial. i bet that dad will not get as much if none at all because of his son’s choices!
I actually drank at this pseudo frat (PIG) years ago and there are lots of hot chicks and its a laid back atmosphere where everyone is really cool (unlike a real frat)
Its too bad some light weight has to screw it up for everyone. $5 all you can drink, hot girls all around – Ah the good ol’ days.
I assume “call me crazy” and “MaryAnn” are responsible, proactive parents that know how to teach their children all the responsibilities that come with drinking. I applaud you both (seriously). Unfortunately this doesn’t apply to all parents. It reminds me of a comment I heard from a teacher when asked about the ” are kids better off if raised at home versus sent to day care” argument. The comment was something like: Kids are better off in day care if the parent lays on the couch all day and does nothing with them. This is just too common and I am sure these kids won’t get good instruction at home regarding drinking. That’s why we have laws – to protect us from the idiots.
I am an alumni of this school and am married to a former member of this frat. The media didn’t report on it, but the boy who died also had a ton of cocaine in his system. Perhaps the money hungry father should have picked up on his son’s addiction and gotten him help instead of suing frat boys.
Lets make a list of lessons learned:
1. Mary Ann brings up the subject of cocaine in the deceased’s blood.
2. Jeff talks of fine parties
3. The deceased wanted to join
4. The deceased was over 18
5. Any death is unfortunate, but this guy was not knifed or bludgeoned to death.
Full Disclosure: I joined a frat, drank too much, and flunked out. I drank all by myself, that is, no one forced me or helped me to drink at the parties. Nobody watched me and said that I had too much (no parents or nannies), nor was I driving anywhere because everyone crashed safely at the frat house. Can my dad sue for that? (I had more fun than I can talk about here, and I cannot admit it because it might affect my dad the winning the lawsuit)
I went back (on academic probation)later, didn’t drink (too much) and graduated with honors. (Could not say that, either, or my dad would never win the millions in court)
My parents told me not to drink and to study hard, but I was just like the deceased and many other students; I did not listen. When I flunked out, my dad grounded me until I was 47 years old (figuratively speaking) and my mother gave me that “disappointed mother” look. Admittedly this was not as bad as dying (the “disappointed mother” look is pretty close) but I managed to get back into school and succeed. Does this mean that my dad cannot sue for my drinking too much? (I did not do cocaine or any of that other stuff. Booze is legal and I was not certain that saying that I did not inhale would exempt me from drug laws in the event that I wanted to be president.)
Let us all keep in mind there are criminal charges against those who provided the alcohol. If what they did is legally wrong then I imagine this suit will go somewhere. Everyone commenting here seems to think no one did anything wrong except the kid who drank. Why is this? Because you know better? Because you did this too and you lived? No one here, including me, know exactly what happened and no one else is just like you. Someone thinks something was wrong as people were arrested. I do think this kid and he is a kid did contribute to his own death. I also think others contributed also. There is a reason for underage drinking laws. Those providing alcohol to minors are breaking the law. Maybe, just maybe, this kid would be alive today if those who provided the alcohol obeyed the law too. The father will get money from this. I am sure you will deny it but I bet if it were your kid who died you would be calling a lawyer.
Nicely stated. As you mention at the end if it was anyone else and it was their kid then they would be on the phone with a lawyer in a heartbeat..But then again the people here making these absurd comments are either still in college or a few years out and don’t have any children
Please advise joe that I have a kid that has also graduated from college, so both of his assumptions are wrong which would seem to make his comments absurd. It is not always someone else’s fault when something bad happens. I hope these absurd beliefs will change and that people will teach their children well.
There is not always one person who supplies alcohol (the kid could have brought his own) at parties or one person who can be blamed when something happens (proximate cause). It is better if it is a huge multinational corporation so that there are deep pockets to raid, but dad owns a big share of the blame for not teaching his kid not to do stupid things. I would suggest that someone call Children’s Services and charge dad with child abuse, child neglect, or negligent homicide for letting his kid go drinking. We have not even discussed the cocaine found in the kid’s bloodstream. I guess the lawyer can go after the Colombian drug lord or the Afghanistani Taliban for the cocaine? It is terrible that the kid died, but why should dad get 2.5 million dollars for it when he didn’t teach his kid to know better?
i have a daughter in college, who has been drinking even though we gave her the lecture and all, especially when she now has her own vehicle. but again, this son put himself in danger, because he went to this drinking establishment. cocaine does not help the mix as well. granted someone has already pled guilty for the contributing factor. but the dad is not going to get the 2.5 mil. the college is not going to pay anything. it was an off-campus establishment that the school even put as off-limits for a frat.
It’s a civil suit. Hes collectively suing 7 people, not the college. The establishment wasn’t associated with the college, nor was it a recognized frat.
first of all, this article is incomplete, because we don’t know the age of the young lad. second of all, what happen to choices? after all, he made a choice to see this unauthorized frat and wanted (again, wanted) to be apart. if this organization wanted him to join by illegal drinking, well, the kid made a wrong choice. first, he knew it was against the law to drink under the age of 21. the property owners, were they on the premise or aware of the situation? this could be like a rented property, and the owners would not have an idea of what is going on. granted, i feel for the dad for the loss of his son and wants some compensation for it. you have to look at this way, his son made a choice and it was a bad choice. it be like stating, my son volunteered for the military and died while doing his duty. now, we want to sue the government for him dying while at war. again, the son volunteered, made a choice and knew the circumstances. same with drinking. it might seem strange to use this as analogy, but it’s the same. he’s an adult! kids even 18-25 sometimes don’t make good decisions, but they have to learn from making bad choices. we can preach all we want to our kids, but they sometimes have to step to the plate and swing the bat! it can be awful, when they make wrong or bad choices.
This kid was a 19 year old majoring in Biology. He was also a volunteer EMT at the local fire department.
The “fraternity” (PIGS) he wanted to join wasn’t really a fraternity at all. According to police, it was nothing more than a drinking club that charged between $200-$300 to join. The kid drank hard liquor for 10 hours straight. It seems this kid may have had a drinking problem before going to college. Why would a seemingly intelligent person want to join a drinking club. Other kids 19 years old are risking their lives for this country. This kid knew better and made a fatal decision. It isn’t the fault of the college or whoever bought the booze, or whoever owned the house. Nobody put a gun to this kid’s head and forced him to drink. The father shouldn’t profit from his son’s poor choices.
Why are they suing the city it was a State School?
I think there is responsibility on both sides. The kid did do the drinking. The other contributed to a minor. If a store sells alcohol to a minor and that minor then kills someone in an accident the person who sold him the alcohol is in trouble. If an underage kid bought alcohol and drank at a bar all night the bartender and bar are in trouble. The people who bought the alcohol are partly to blame. They contributed to his death. If they did not provide the alcohol then they would not be in trouble. They have criminal charges against them for a reason. Sad situation all around.
i understand where you’re coming from wudchuck, but how would you feel if God forbid this was your child, despite all your warnings and advice.
i was a student on campus decades ago & even then the pressure to join & belong was absolutely outrageous.
we keep hearing about these dreadful stories.
the best solution is to educate, educate, and educate these kids (yes: kids) against such destructive behavior, in not just high school, but college as well.
i would suggest that this very case be massively publicized in every frat & sorority house, & on every campus in the USA, as a serious “dope-slap” to these students to stop what they’re doing, AND to alert them that they can be held legally liable and/or criminally liable for their acts.
worse, even is that these students will have to live every day of their lives knowing that they could have prevented the young man’s death if just one of them would have had the guts to stop such activity
Wish I would have said that Huh. Good point.
I couldn’t agree more with wudchuck.
The young man made the choice to join.
While I feel for the father perhaps he should ask himself why he didn’t teach his son better choice making skills.
If boy was underage of 21 and supplied the alcohol then some punishment needs to be put on the ones that supplied the alcohol. If more punishment was handed out for giving under 21 alcohol then maybe it would help the problems we have with underage drinking. Yes it sad cause was his choice made to drink but if alcohol wasnt so easily available might have changed situation. Cant really put a price on life lost or bad decisions but sticter laws may need to be in order for these frat houses or clubs. Just like on Bar tenders or stores that sell alcohol. What if he would have been sitting in a bar or store front drinking for days and died. Wouldnt we then be critical of owners? He would have had a choice then also though right?
College aged students who want to make their own decisions have to live with the choice they make. I feel for the Father, but the Son made a decision to join a Drinking Club. The peer presure to fit in is tremendous, but you should have the resolve to say No. I went throught this when I was in college and the Navy. When I say No. I mean NO.
Sure, there are people who may have been responsible helping this kid to drink for 10 hours straight–if that’s the case and you can prove it, then prosecute and bring somebody to justice; but why should the father retire early because the kid didn’t know when to stop??
although I feel awful for the parents of this young adult – I stress young adult. The father doesn’t deserve a dime – sorry.
I have college age students, and as a parent I’ve informed them about the good and evils of college. That being said – they will make up their own minds and pay the consequences of bad decisions.
Does the State University of New York not have an alcohol education program? If not, the University should be the entity responding to the suit.
What made this kid think that drinking heavily 3 days in a row was a good idea? That demonstrates an appaling lack of common sense.
It is certainly Mr. Partamian’s right to sue. If I were the judge, however, I would only allow burial expenses to be recovered.
Contributory negligence is a phrase that springs to mind.
Contributory negligence and Hazing are two things that need to be defined and come to mind. After Student was too drunk to hold his own cup wonder how alcohol was administered? How much is too much?? If he was helped….why shouldnt they pay…..you mean to say its ok just to sit back and watch someone drink themself to death and not do anything?? If you ask me everyone is responsible. Now as far as the money well I guess if its determinded to be hazing would be the question if father is entitled. If son was helped or pushed into drinking then again you cant put a price on death. Did he kill himself or was he helped? Think I reserve judgement on father till thats determinded.
We don’t have all the facts for the story. He may have been a little guy trying to keep up with bigger guys, weight wise, and simply did too many shots in a short time frame.
If there is a bright side to this story, at least he didn’t have to suffer through the headache and hangover he was facing.
This sort of binge drinking behavior doesn’t occur at nearly the same rate as countries with sensible drinking age laws- where responsible drinking behaviors are learned at the kitchen table rather than a frat party.
I think there would be far fewer instances such as this if our drinking age were lowered and we started treating alcohol consumption as something to be enjoyed and appreciated at moderate levels.
You can teach your kids about alcohol at the kitchen table without any permissive laws. Obviously nobody did that here. As Eli aptly pointed out, this young adult had more than sufficient age and knowledge (being an EMT and BIO major) than the average college kid. The proximate cause was his own negligence in allowing himself to get into a situation where he lost control of his ability to make rational decisions. Let’s quit blaming everyone else. Tragic as it is, this kid sought out a “drinking club” and did what you do at drinking clubs. He paid the ultimate price for it.
interesting how the IJ never saw that one coming! i bet that this will become an issue as well during the trial. i bet that dad will not get as much if none at all because of his son’s choices!
I actually drank at this pseudo frat (PIG) years ago and there are lots of hot chicks and its a laid back atmosphere where everyone is really cool (unlike a real frat)
Its too bad some light weight has to screw it up for everyone. $5 all you can drink, hot girls all around – Ah the good ol’ days.
I assume “call me crazy” and “MaryAnn” are responsible, proactive parents that know how to teach their children all the responsibilities that come with drinking. I applaud you both (seriously). Unfortunately this doesn’t apply to all parents. It reminds me of a comment I heard from a teacher when asked about the ” are kids better off if raised at home versus sent to day care” argument. The comment was something like: Kids are better off in day care if the parent lays on the couch all day and does nothing with them. This is just too common and I am sure these kids won’t get good instruction at home regarding drinking. That’s why we have laws – to protect us from the idiots.
I am an alumni of this school and am married to a former member of this frat. The media didn’t report on it, but the boy who died also had a ton of cocaine in his system. Perhaps the money hungry father should have picked up on his son’s addiction and gotten him help instead of suing frat boys.
Lets make a list of lessons learned:
1. Mary Ann brings up the subject of cocaine in the deceased’s blood.
2. Jeff talks of fine parties
3. The deceased wanted to join
4. The deceased was over 18
5. Any death is unfortunate, but this guy was not knifed or bludgeoned to death.
Full Disclosure: I joined a frat, drank too much, and flunked out. I drank all by myself, that is, no one forced me or helped me to drink at the parties. Nobody watched me and said that I had too much (no parents or nannies), nor was I driving anywhere because everyone crashed safely at the frat house. Can my dad sue for that? (I had more fun than I can talk about here, and I cannot admit it because it might affect my dad the winning the lawsuit)
I went back (on academic probation)later, didn’t drink (too much) and graduated with honors. (Could not say that, either, or my dad would never win the millions in court)
My parents told me not to drink and to study hard, but I was just like the deceased and many other students; I did not listen. When I flunked out, my dad grounded me until I was 47 years old (figuratively speaking) and my mother gave me that “disappointed mother” look. Admittedly this was not as bad as dying (the “disappointed mother” look is pretty close) but I managed to get back into school and succeed. Does this mean that my dad cannot sue for my drinking too much? (I did not do cocaine or any of that other stuff. Booze is legal and I was not certain that saying that I did not inhale would exempt me from drug laws in the event that I wanted to be president.)
Let us all keep in mind there are criminal charges against those who provided the alcohol. If what they did is legally wrong then I imagine this suit will go somewhere. Everyone commenting here seems to think no one did anything wrong except the kid who drank. Why is this? Because you know better? Because you did this too and you lived? No one here, including me, know exactly what happened and no one else is just like you. Someone thinks something was wrong as people were arrested. I do think this kid and he is a kid did contribute to his own death. I also think others contributed also. There is a reason for underage drinking laws. Those providing alcohol to minors are breaking the law. Maybe, just maybe, this kid would be alive today if those who provided the alcohol obeyed the law too. The father will get money from this. I am sure you will deny it but I bet if it were your kid who died you would be calling a lawyer.
Nicely stated. As you mention at the end if it was anyone else and it was their kid then they would be on the phone with a lawyer in a heartbeat..But then again the people here making these absurd comments are either still in college or a few years out and don’t have any children
Please advise joe that I have a kid that has also graduated from college, so both of his assumptions are wrong which would seem to make his comments absurd. It is not always someone else’s fault when something bad happens. I hope these absurd beliefs will change and that people will teach their children well.
There is not always one person who supplies alcohol (the kid could have brought his own) at parties or one person who can be blamed when something happens (proximate cause). It is better if it is a huge multinational corporation so that there are deep pockets to raid, but dad owns a big share of the blame for not teaching his kid not to do stupid things. I would suggest that someone call Children’s Services and charge dad with child abuse, child neglect, or negligent homicide for letting his kid go drinking. We have not even discussed the cocaine found in the kid’s bloodstream. I guess the lawyer can go after the Colombian drug lord or the Afghanistani Taliban for the cocaine? It is terrible that the kid died, but why should dad get 2.5 million dollars for it when he didn’t teach his kid to know better?
i have a daughter in college, who has been drinking even though we gave her the lecture and all, especially when she now has her own vehicle. but again, this son put himself in danger, because he went to this drinking establishment. cocaine does not help the mix as well. granted someone has already pled guilty for the contributing factor. but the dad is not going to get the 2.5 mil. the college is not going to pay anything. it was an off-campus establishment that the school even put as off-limits for a frat.
It’s a civil suit. Hes collectively suing 7 people, not the college. The establishment wasn’t associated with the college, nor was it a recognized frat.
Because in our legal system you can’t induce a defendant to drink until their BAC is .39.
Money is an imperfect way of compensating the family.