Posted on 01/10/2007 9:46:48 AM PST by Froufrou
As Phanta "Jack" Phoummarath lay dying of alcohol poisoning, members of the club he was trying to join defaced his body with anti-gay epithets and obscene drawings, according to a medical examiner's report.
"It was disgusting and despicable behavior," said Houston attorney Randy Sorrels, who represents Phoummarath's family.
Sorrels said Phoummarath was not gay. The 18-year-old freshman from Houston, who wanted to join the Lambda Phi Epsilon fraternity at the University of Texas at Austin, died Dec. 10, 2005, after ingesting large amounts of alcohol at a party at the fraternity house. The medical examiner reported his blood-alcohol content was more than five times higher than the level needed to prove intoxication in Texas.
Phoumarrath was found dead the day after the party in the bedroom where he passed out the night before.
Party-goers had used green and black markers to write "FAG," "I'm gay" and "I AM FAT" on Phoummarath's head, face, torso, legs and feet. Someone added several drawings of naked men and women, Dr. Roberto Bayardo of the medical examiner's office reported.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
They shut down the local chapter of a Fraternity at UCF for lessor but similar behavior. This is sick!
There will be more outrage over what was written than the actual death of this kid.
Why are these clubs still going? They have no redeeming social value. Zero.
Flame away, but it's true.
They are an obscene and archaic relic.
There's a college website called 'break.com' that post pictures of drunk, passed out college kids that have been 'pwned', or defaced after passing out. Looks like these frat boys are gonna get pwned in prison. Sucks to be them.
That's the "sensibility" behind "hate crimes".
this is silly. the point is, he's dead. kids writing stupid things during a frat party happens all the time. i had many a run-in with sharpies in my younger days. both as the writer and the writee. harmless fun. a BAC 5x's the limit, not so funny.
Since "racial" epithets are words attacking people for their race, are "anti-gay" epithets words attacking people for being anti-gay?
If you spend any time at all online with your kids - at Facebook or mySpace or collegehumor ... .com, you would know that defacing those who pass-out, male and female, has risen to the level of art-form. Most 'defacings' are crude, many are funny, and some are quite clever. AND they get posted on the internet.
The tragic part is the death by underage ethanol poisoning.
FWIW, go to a swim meet and see what the swimmers write on each other with the Event/Heat marker pens.
Don't be shocked by the 'defacing,' be shocked by the callous death.
What do you have to do to get a permanent ban? Kill the entire board of trustees with a clawhammer?
How do they know this grafitti was scribbled on his body postmortem and not while he was still alive and giving out the markers?
not really. you buy booze and the chance to meet girls. the friends are an added bonus. once you're in a frat, the booze at the house is free! yea! and the girls just come to the house. you dont have to go out and meet them. or pay for their booze. it's win-win. i love my frat.
Gee, I missed so much by not joining a fraternity in college.
It was a very positive experience and I came away with life-long friends who were in disciplines I would never otherwise have associated with. We partied hard, but not everybody did. The key difference was that no one was forced to act a certain way or do stupid things (any more than a group in the dorms would have).
The problem here is the general degradation of acceptable standards of behavior in general, not just in these particular environments.
If it wasn't for the fact that the kid drank so much he killed himself, this would have been the typical frat prank, taking advantage of someone who has incapacitated himself -- much like sticking a "kick me" sign on their back.
Remember, the people writing this stuff didn't kill the kid, nor did they know he was dying. The stuff they wrote didn't cause any harm to the kid, and if the kid had simply woken up the next day with a hangover, he would have realised he was hazed by these comments.
Further, it's interesting that even after years of telling us that being Gay is a great thing, it's still considered a hate crime to call someone gay. And the paper finds it necessary to tell us the guy wasn't gay, without even the Seinfeldian "not that there's anything wrong with it".
So long as people recognize the value in making sure we know they are not gay, we have not completely lost.
"these frat boys are gonna get pwned in prison"
Ok, so when are you sending me my new keyboard?? lol
I want to be clear -- the frat is culpable for the drinking. I was speaking of the "defacing".
Why doesn't the headline mention anti-fat slurs being written on his body?
Oh wait, that is because there are no political correctness protections for the obese.
A male Britney Spears. Imagine that.
Thanks for proving my point.
The minor died of drinking too much. Prosecutors can claim peer pressure but he broke the law.
If he had driven that night and killed someone, would he be able to blame those he was drinking with?
Wonder if factor was joking? I had a pretty good Greek experience, too. We made jokes about going to frat parties: "I Tappa Keg," and "I Felta Thigh," that kind of thing.
But I was proud of raising money for NAACP, which in the 70s was worth doing for.
You're asking all the right questions. We assume someone there was 21, but I don't think even that would make it legal in TX unless the person of age were a parent or spouse.
The sad part is that the kids involved, including the dead kid, are probably some of the smartest kids in school. Note that this fraternity is 100% asian.
The lawyers are suing about 50 of the "kids" involved and the local and national fraternity chapters. So, there are a lot of families paying lawyers.
This is a sad deal all around.
At the time they wrote <<whatever>> on his body, did anyone realize that he was literally dead drunk?
well excuuuuse for enjoying myself in college. i could go over the many socially redeeming projects my frat performed but that might detract from your misery. go back to complaining about everything.
I have serious doubts about you actually belonging to a "frat." Otherwise you'd know you never call your fraternity a frat.
But I could be wrong. Maybe they don't teach that one anymore.
no i was not joking. we wrote on people. who cares? we didnt go out beating people up or flipping cars. if this kid had this stuff written on him and he woke up the next day, you would never hear about it. he DIED! that is the issue! stop clouding it.
I clicked this post because the headline described behavior that was so diabolical it sucked me in. I have now read posts #1 thru #26 which reflect the question as to whether the young man was being tortured as he lay dying of an alcohol overdose.
Remembering the initial reactions to the Duke LAX case vs. what subsequently has been learned, I'll wait for the "rest of the story".
sp
At the very least they should have suspected that something was very wrong and instead failed to render aid.
Excellent summary - wish I had waited for it.
sp
I'm not clouding any issue at all. Regardless of the 'legacy' of hazing, it's for morons. It has no useful purpose. Anyone who defends it is a moron.
One presumes that when one is of age to attend university one is acquainted with behavior appropriate to adults. I would never write on a girlfriend, other than to add a beauty mark. I'd never write on a man, other than to leave a lip print on the cheek. ;o)
File under: HOMOSEXUALAGENDA
You're saying the hazing would have been alright had the boy lived.
You're wrong.
They were probably all dead drunk themselves.
I do not think "I was drunk." is an excuse that gets you out of legal problems.
"I would never write on a girlfriend, other than to add a beauty mark".
_______________________________________________________
As you point out - opposition is based on the degree of depravity.
Surely, not all hazing is barbaric and not all participants/defendants are morons.
Exception noted. We had fun trying on ugly dresses. I suppose that could have embarrassed the stores where we did so.
Which is why you are not a lawyer...
I had more fun in college than at any other time in my life, and I did it without sitting foot in a frat house or drinking to excess.
"I was drunk" has been used as a defense for a number of crimes, other than DUI.
There are plenty of pro gay frats at the University of Texas. Nothing that happens at UT should surprise anyone. There are some weird people at that school.
This kid had a BAC of .41 and at his age, he probably never had anywhere this much alcohol before. I'd bet there were other people passed out as well.
Can you cite a recent case where someone was found 'not guilty' of a crime after claiming they were drunk?
Bizarre concept.
Mind you, it has to be pled by the defense attorney.
However, if one is drunk, he is unable to form the mens rea (intent) to commit certain crimes.
I'm not saying ALL the legal problems will go away, but a number of them are affected...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.