Cheesecake Factory workers detail harassment claims Arizona Republic, AZ - Employees whom police interviewed described the incidents as "dogpile, initiation, joke, kitchen games, hazing, manhandling, horseplay and normal joking ...CAKE
When Fi Batar Cappar fouled up bigtime in 1971, WVU cracked down Daily Mail - Charleston, WV - Nov 20, 2008 The problem was the hazing. I don't know how many whacks people got, but it sounds like a good number. "But they weren't all bad. They were a fun group. ...
Devils coach plays dad for a night Ottawa Citizen, Canada - Nov 25, 2008 But they said 'That's it, we can't let this affect somebody's play, no more hazing.' "Well, Andy thought he had a free pass. But he got it right after that ...
Leafs notebook: Stempniak hopes to make Toronto debut on Tuesday National Post, Canada - Nov 25, 2008 But they said 'That's it, we can't let this affect somebody's play, no more hazing.' "Well, Andy thought he had a free pass. But he got it right after that ...
E-mails: Parents ripped UW over band investigation WKOW-TV.com, WI - Nov 24, 2008 (AP) - Parents of Wisconsin marching band members expressed outrage over the school's handling of a hazing investigation in dozens of e-mails to ...
Expansion Rush in midst of 14-game road stretch Sun Shopper, AZ - Nov 14, 2008 It's like a hazing ritual for the new guys. The season opened on Oct. 17 for the Rush in Colorado - a 364-mile trip from their home in western South Dakota. ...
Europe Helped Bobby Brown Develop HoopsWorld - Nov 27, 2008 ... the Kings' 17 games, averaging about 8.0 points in his 17 minutes per game. And although he's got to deal with rookie hazing rituals ? including wearing ...
Recent News and Articles on the Keywords: hazing + 58,400 + web Related to the article below (Last Update: 8/5/2008)
Hazing eyed in Quezon college student?s death Tempo, Philippines - CAMP GENERAL VICENTE LIM, Laguna ? An 18-year-old college student was found dead covered with banana leaves after an alleged fraternity hazing initiated at ...
Disturbing Details Emerge In KISD Cheerleader Hazing Incident FortBendNow, TX - Aug 4, 2008 by John Pape Disturbing new information has surfaced in the hazing incident in which Morton Ranch High School varsity cheerleaders staged a mock kidnapping ...
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[BOOK] Wrongs of Passage: Fraternities, Sororities, Hazing, and Binge Drinking - H Nuwer - 2001 - books.google.com ... Sororities. Hazing. and Binge Drinking HANKNUWER lndiana University Press BLOOM
1 NGTON 8-1 ND1 ANAPOL 1 S This O ne 74JZ-JBT-ZRNZ Page 4. ... sororities. hazing. ...
Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing. H Nuwer - 1990 - eric.ed.gov ERIC logo. ED328136 - Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing. ERIC Home. ... ERIC #:
ED328136. Title: Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing. ...
Internship: preparation or hazing? N Cousins - JAMA, 1981 - ncbi.nlm.nih.gov JAMA. 1981 Jan 23-30;245(4):377. Internship: preparation
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An evaluation of two hazing methods for urban Canada geese E Aguilera, RL Knight, JL Cummings - Wildlife Society Bulletin, 1991 - JSTOR An Evaluation of Two Hazing Methods for Urban Canada Geese. ... The disadvantages of
us- 0 a) -10 o ) 8 E 6 = 4 CJ 2 t).I 1. HAZING METHODS FOR URBAN CANADA GEESE . ...
- US Patent 3,617,475, 1971 - Google Patents ... 21, 1968, now abandoned. [54] PROCESS FOR PRODUCING LUBRICATING OILS WITH GOOD LOW
TEMPERATURE HAZING PROPERTIES 8Claims ... GOOD LOW TEMPERATURE HAZING PROPERTIES ...
Evaluation of a radar-activated, demand-performance bird hazing system - GR Stevens, J Rogue, R Weber, L Clark - International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation, 2000 - Elsevier ... Evaluation of a radar-activated, demand-performance bird hazing system. ...Hazing
also altered the flight direction and altitude of waterfowl. ...
Hazing has a long tradition, not only in college fraternities, but in sororities, the military, athletic teams, and student organizations at both high school and college levels. Though many people think of hazing practices as harmless school-time antics, hazing has actually been associated with more than 50 deaths in college fraternities, countless injuries, and devastating emotional effects.
Like victims of domestic abuse, people who are treated for hazing-related injuries are often reluctant to identify the cause of their injury, and for this reason, there are very few reliable statistics on the prevalence of hazing practices. There has also been very little research on the subject in the medical community. "Hazing is an important public health issue that has been largely ignored." says Dr. Michelle Finkel, emergency medicine physician from Massachusetts General Hospital. Finkel’s article, "Traumatic Injuries Caused by Hazing Practices." was published in the May, 2002 issue of the American Journal of Emergency Medicine. Below, she shares some insights from her research.
Dr. Finkel, what is hazing?
MICHELLE FINKEL: The working definition I use actually comes from hazing expert Hank Nuwer, and it is: committing acts against an individual or forcing an individual into committing an act that creates a risk of harm in order for the individual to be initiated into or affiliated with an organization.
How prevalent are hazing practices today?
It’s hard to say because, for a variety of reasons, the numbers are just not out there.
First, people don’t report it. Kids don’t want to report it because it’s very embarrassing, and they don’t want to get their fraternity or sorority or their group member brothers and sisters in trouble. So my suspicion is that there’s a tremendous number of underreported hazing incidents.
Also, I just don’t think that hazing prevalence has been studied that much. There was a study done at Alfred University, which involved college athletes, but it is the only significant study about hazing that I came across in my research.
What were some compelling numbers or results in the Alfred study population?
There were 325,000 athletes surveyed in the Alfred study, and 80% of respondents reported that they were subject to, and the quote is, "questionable or unacceptable activities as part of their initiation into a collegiate athletics team." That’s four in five people, which is pretty amazing.
One in five said that he was subjected to, quote, "unacceptable and potentially illegal hazing." When asked to describe the nature of this "unacceptable and potentially illegal activity." they described activities such as beatings, kidnapping, and abandonment.
Who gets hazed?
The population tends to be much more male than female, however, the number of women getting hazed is probably increasing. The population also tends to be more white than African-American. And then, obviously, a victim of hazing is going to be somebody who is trying to join an organization. It will most likely be someone who’s in college, someone who’s an athlete, or someone who is in the military.
When does hazing happen?
There are certain times of the year, which correlate with the beginnings of semesters, when hazing incidents are much more common.
How significant is the role of alcohol in hazing practices?
Alcohol tends to be a very big player in a lot of the different traumatic hazing injuries. Alcohol itself can cause the injury, for example people can aspirate, or choke to death from alcohol, and people can stop breathing from too much alcohol. Additionally, alcohol can make people do stupid things, which can result in other traumatic injuries.
What are some of the most common hazing practices that you came across in your research?
There are many practices that can result in traumatic injury. First, there is assault, which involves beating up the pledges, and perhaps abandoning them somewhere. There are also a lot of issues with falls, where pledges are made to go up on a roof, or some high place, especially after they’ve been drinking. There have been several drownings, where pledges had been forced to swim either in bad conditions or, again, drunk.
Branding, or burning, is another hazing practice. It is traditionally associated with African-American fraternities, but is happening more and more now in other places.
Another common hazing practice involves forcing people to do excessive exercise -- or any kind of calisthenics -- to the point that it’s dangerous. They can die of heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
There are also a number of hazing practices that are less traumatic, and more psychologically abusive. Things like forcing people to get up early, forcing somebody to carry all your things, things that are humiliating but maybe not quite as harmful.
There are also a lot of humiliating sexual acts that pledges are sometimes forced to do. Some very, very troubling things. All the way up to sexual assaults and sodomy.
What is particularly tricky about identifying a hazing-related injury in the emergency room?
It’s very hard to identify these folks, in the same way it is difficult to identify victims of domestic violence. This is a broad group of people we’re talking about. And like victims of domestic violence, the victims will sometimes hide the reason that they’re there, because they’re embarrassed or because they don’t want to hurt their fraternity or whatever organization they’re trying to join. So these are people who are not necessarily going to give you the story. As a doctor, you’re trying to find something out that they may not want to tell you.
Also, we see a lot of traumatic injuries in the emergency department. It’s often hard to tell if this traumatic injury is specifically related to hazing, or if it’s just another person who’s just had an accidental fall, or something like that.
Are there any clues that can assist doctors in identifying a victim?
The most important thing is having a high awareness of the problem, and who it affects, so that you can spot it. And then it is a matter of just asking. If there are a lot of inconsistencies in somebody’s answer -- that’s a bad sign that they’re trying to hide something.
And what do you do if their answers are inconsistent and you suspect they’ve been the victim of hazing?
In most cases, these people are adults. You can’t force an adult to do something they don’t want to do. But you can always, before you leave the room, say to someone, "I just want you to know, we’re here in the emergency department. We’re available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you feel unsafe in your present situation, you’re welcome to come back." They may not be ready to talk about it just then - but letting them know that they can always come back is essential.
Are there guidelines that are set up for identifying and dealing with hazing abuses?
None. There are really none. There’s absolutely no protocol for hospital workers. It’s brand-new stuff for the medical community. When I did research on the subject, I found almost nothing in the medical literature. It just hasn’t been considered a medical issue.
I think that doctors and nurses read about it in the paper, but they don’t really consider that those folks who are being hurt are coming to the emergency department.
And even if we can’t stop it, we have a responsibility to be available to them, so if they need to come talk to somebody in the future, they know at least that we are available to them in the emergency room.
