UCSB: Three student deaths in 30 days

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<p>I have the impression that the attitude local authorities have taken is, “We know you’re going to drink, just don’t let us catch you”. Here is an excerpt from the FAQ page of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s office:</p>

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<p>[SBSO</a> - Isla Vista Foot Patrol FAQs](<a href=“http://www.sbsheriff.org/ivfaqs.html]SBSO”>http://www.sbsheriff.org/ivfaqs.html)</p>

<p>I question whether sexual assaults are more common on a street than at a house party, but presumably the Sheriff’s Department is familiar with the local statistics. </p>

<p>It’s true that no one is forcing anyone to drink or party, but imagine you have 10 friends in a dorm and they go every weekend and most weeknights to party. Your choice is to join your friends or to stay alone in the dorm week after week. It’s presumptuous to assume that everyone who doesn’t go out drinking is automatically going to bond with the other non-drinkers by default. Stricter enforcement and reduced access to alcohol would keep more kids sober their first few years and probably prevent at least a few from continuing the pattern for their entire college experience.</p>

<p>“One somewhat elite private college on the east coast dealt with their alcohol/drug issues by simply expelling students.”</p>

<p>Which one? </p>

<p>As I’ve written elsewhere, I don;'t think many college administrations today understand campus drinking. They shouldn’t, as the alcohol of choice has changed in the past 10 years - they wouldn’t recognize what many of the students are drinking, as these drinks didn’t exist when they were students, and may not have existed when their own sons and daughters were students. Parents don’t understand these changes either - and the kids are NOT getting drunk the way their parents used to. As previously noted, the percentage of students bingeing hasn’t changed (or hasn’t changed that much), but the nature of binge drinking has changed significantly, tied specifically to the alcohol of choice. </p>

<p>One state supreme court (Nebraska) in 2010 (I think) overturned the legal fiction that these hard alcohol drinks should be classified as “malt beverages” - and the Legislature (minions for the alcohol lobby) overturned that decision within days.</p>

<p>“If you are drinking or drunk on the street, your chances of getting into a violent situation with someone you don’t know are much higher. Likewise, violent sexual assaults are more likely to occur on a darkened street than at a house party.”</p>

<p>The data suggest this is highly, highly, highly unlikely. (Although what is meant by “someone you don’t know” is unclear.)</p>

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But people select their friends and the levels of friendship from acquaintance to very close friend. There’s also something to be said for ‘birds of a feather…’. Activities become a lifestyle. If those 10 friends drink on weekends for entertainment and one joins them then chances are good that one will drink as well. They don’t have to. They can find other friends whose idea of entertainment isn’t drinking or getting blasted every weekend. i agree that it’s not necessarily an ‘instant bond’ but it isn’t with the drinkers either. It’s also not necessary for the individual to drink when with the 10 drinking friends although chances are good they won’t end up in each other’s company a lot when 10 drink but one doesn’t. </p>

<p>While one approach is one of force - i.e. enough patrols and punishment to suppress drinking students, another approach, and the only one the student has any control over, is for the student to make smart decisions in this area. The bureaucracy isn’t going to change quickly and isn’t going to be 100% efficient whereas a student so inclined can be 100% efficient immediately.</p>

<p>Here is a quote from the comments section of the link in post #17</p>

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<p>It echos mini’s comment about the nature of drinking now vs. a few decades ago. The objective now seems to be on getting wasted/blacked-out/incapacitated. I think as parents we’d like to think that we have equipped our kids to make intelligent decisions, but when they leave our homes and live in their dorm communities they are forming new “families”. Social acceptance becomes the highest priority, even if it means harming oneself in order to be accepted in the group. I’ve recently learned of several very high achieving kids who went to prestigious universities and now spend every weekend and many week nights inebriated. Their parents don’t know, I’ve heard this from other kids. </p>

<p>I guess things might change when the current generation of kids grow up and prepare to send their own kids off to college.</p>

<p>I think the drinking age should be lowered to 18. It’s pretty ridiculous that a person can join the army or buy a rifle before they are legally allowed to drink. 18 year olds are going to drink whether it is legal or not, the fact that it is not currently legal just drives drinking underground and breeds disrespect for the law.</p>

<p>I think that the real issue we need to address is how to drink responsibly. The problem is not underage drinking, it’s binge drinking and this is an issue stemming from campus culture. Another thing I have observed is that most of the alcohol incidents that I have observed are rooted in “pregaming”. Often students will drink several shots in the space of minutes. Lowering the drinking age could help prevent these accidents by extending the time period in which kids drink.</p>

<p>“It echos mini’s comment about the nature of drinking now vs. a few decades ago. The objective now seems to be on getting wasted/blacked-out/incapacitated”</p>

<p>Oh, it’s not just that. The actual drink of choice has changed. (As I’ve previously noted, the average student who believes s/he had only four drinks and is not a binge drinker on average, based on empirical data, actually had NINE, and half had more. Many literally don’t know why they are wasted.) Getting wasted on beer, for many, (in contrast), is actually hard work.</p>

<p>The 21 drinking age is one of the most successful public health interventions of the 20th Century, and the data indicate that if 18-year-old high school students were buying alcohol legally, much of it (and much, much more of it than now) would be ending up in the hands of 14-year-olds. (That’s what’s happening in England, and they are going nuts trying to figure out how to handle it - the latest attempt is massive, government-imposed increase in the price of liquor, reasoning that they can make it unaffordable to young people.)</p>

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<p>I sent my fourth kid to college this year. It was the first time I got letters like that. And the truth is, I had more conversations with him as a result. He’s never done anything to make me think he was at risk. But the letters did bring it more into my consciousness and they also prompted conversations that included my just-graduated-from-college son who was able to give a lot more real-life advice than I even had access to. I consider myself very informed and enlightened on this subject, but the letters did raise my awareness and led me to not only talk with him before he left but when he came home for Thanksgiving. So, overall, I don’t see what harm it can do. And I was very glad to see the school being pro-active and recognizing the importance of including parents in their effort to keep students safe.</p>

<p>mimk6;</p>

<p>I’m glad it helped you.</p>

<p>In addition, a lot of colleges require that an online alcohol awareness course be completed by the student before attending. I’m pretty sure UCSB requires this because I think all the UCs require it. I’m not sure how much value it adds.</p>

<p>I might be a little cynical but I’m not convinced ignorance of the facts is the issue - it’s probably more ‘acceptance of the facts’ and the belief that the facts apply to them as well. Each individual thinks ‘he/she’ can handle it - it’s those other people it causes problems for. There’s the other issue that after the first drink judgment is impaired and goes downhill from there.</p>

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<p>I agree with this and I guess my reply is predictable; no 18 year olds should be sent to war or buying rifles. Insurance companies and their actuaries can provide insight into the effects of age on risk taking behavior. The drinking age should be set to whatever age insurance rates begin to drop for young drivers. Enforcement and taxes worked to drive up the age of smokers, and it can work for alcohol too.</p>

<p>So incredibly sad. </p>

<p>Can anyone link to an article or articles about these three deaths? I was able to find two of them but not the alcohol poisoning one.</p>

<p>^^^
That brings me back to why I started the thread. Kids are dying and we don’t hear about it. No one says “I’m mad as Hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.”</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/marinij/obituary.aspx?n=alec-jacob-torchon&pid=161514018[/url]”>http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/marinij/obituary.aspx?n=alec-jacob-torchon&pid=161514018&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Alec Jacob Torchon Known as AJ, 19, passed away in Santa Barbara on Saturday, December 1st, 2012. AJ was born and raised in Novato, California. He attended the MSA program at Novato High School where he was a talented musician and an excellent student. He graduated from Novato High School and went on to attend University of California at Santa Barbara. He was a sophomore majoring in Biopsychology. At the time of AJ’s death, he was as happy as he has ever been and looking forward to a bright, fulfilling and meaningful future. We feel compelled to say that he died accidentally from a foolish mixture of alcohol and possibly a drug as well. We add this as a warning to spread the word of the all-too-real dangers of this kind of risky behavior. This can’t happen to us or our family. It has, and we are devastated. AJ was loved so much by his parents, Jeannette and Ric, and his fourteen year-old brother, Jackson, as well as all his grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family and his friends. AJ loved his family and friends. They meant so much to him and we know how much he meant to them. A Memorial Service celebrating AJ was held at Congregation Rodef Sholom at 170 North San Pedro Road, San Rafael, California at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, December 7th. In lieu of flowers, we kindly request a donation be made to the Alec Torchon Foundation at the following link: [In</a> memory of Alec Torchon | Indiegogo](<a href=“http://www.indiegogo.com/alectorchonmemorial/emal/1857026]In”>http://www.indiegogo.com/alectorchonmemorial/emal/1857026).</p>

<p>posted on FB by a mutual friend. Powerful. </p>

<p>"
A Message from the Torchon Family on the tragic Death of their Son A.J. Torchon</p>

<p>It is important for friends and family that do not know yet, that our family has suffered an unfathomable and devastating loss. Our
wonderful son and Jackson’s 19 year old brother, AJ, died late Saturday night in Santa Barbara, where he was majoring in Biopsychology. AJ was incredibly well loved by family and a large and varied group of friends. He loved his brother, loved his parents and loved his family - and he knew and felt how much we all loved him. AJ has been through some rough spots and torments over the years, but most recently he was doing great. He finally got to the point where he was excited about his life, his future and there was no doubt that he was the happiest he may have ever been. I am compelled to say that he died accidentally from a foolish mixture of alcohol and a drug that we suspect at this time was a painkiller. As the SB Sheriff told me, he does not understand why college students continually ignore what they know about mixing drugs and alcohol - it kills. This is something that happens to other people, other parents and other families. Yet, this happened to our son AJ, who was on his way to making this world a better place.</p>

<p>Please help to make AJ’s death less wasteful than it already is by warning your teenage friends and family that if they ever see someone at a party drinking and about to put another drug into their body, to stop them and tell that person, " I know of a wonderful young man named AJ that did what you are about to do and he never woke up, never lived the rest of his life, and his family and friends will always miss him"</p>

<p>We understand no words can express the heartfelt pain and sympathy we are receiving but Jeannette, Jackson and myself thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers and know you will understand that we may not post a response. I love and miss you AJ. You are loved by so many, and we each will carry you in our hearts forever.</p>

<p>A Memorial Service celebrating AJ will be held at Congregation Rodef Sholom at 170 North San Pedro Road, San Rafael, California at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, December 7th.</p>

<p>In lieu of flowers, we kindly request a donation be made to the Alec Torchon Foundation. The Alec Torchon Foundation has been created in loving memory of our beloved son whose life was taken from the World far too soon. The mission of the Alec Torchon Foundation is to educate college students and their families on the deadly consequences of alcohol and drug use as well as to ensure that college students have access to the proper level of counseling, support and guidance.</p>

<p>“I agree with this and I guess my reply is predictable; no 18 year olds should be sent to war or buying rifles.”</p>

<p>No one should be allowed to enter the military before age 45. (Our brains, and our moral sense, are still developing.)</p>

<p>^^^^^^</p>

<p>Biggest piece of garbage I’ve ever read on CC. Really? 45?</p>

<p>Speechless</p>

<p>Really. 45. Most folks are done reproducing, and make perfectly acceptable cannon fodder, and their sense of ethics is (or should be) well-developed. Though as Maya Angelou says, “Most people never grow up; they just find parking spaces.”</p>

<p>Wow, just wow. My DS is a Navy officer protecting your right to live freely and spew such drivel. How dare you call him cannon fodder!</p>

<p>He wants to serve and protect his country and its citizens. How about you?</p>

<p>Freedom is not free!</p>

<p>Binge drinking and partying on college campuses across the country has reached ridiculous levels. Unfortunately there are many schools notorious for being party schools and UCSB is one of them. </p>

<p>Isla Vista is a disaster waiting to happen – it’s basically party town as described by many posters. A very concerned and frank former student warned both DD and myself away from the college during our tour last spring. He said outright that she should consider the culture at UCSB very carefully before putting it on her top ten list. The next day we toured campus and it wasn’t her cup of tea.</p>

<p>My 19 year old son has told us many stories about how much kids in his dorm drink. About half drink to the point of getting drunk every weekend, which I was quite shocked about!
Every Friday night there is always an ambulance parked in front of his dorm…if the kids cannot swipe their card into the dorm, campus police are called, and then an ambulance, and the ambulance is on the parent’s dime.
Three kids on his floor have already been expelled from school due to drinking…and these kids are freshman! A very sad state of affairs.</p>

<p>I realize one of the sad losses was, in fact, a UCSB student… but were the others as well? There are a very large number of party-crazy non-UCSB students (ostensibly come into to town to attend SB City College with hopes of transferring to UC Junior yr) who reside in IV… I wouldn’t be the least surprised to learn that the other two reported deaths were not UC students… but I don’t know the facts. :/</p>

<p>After reading about this, I’m extremely relieved that our D chose to attend a university that does not have a party reputation. An acquaintance of ours has a S who attends one of the top party schools in the country. Apparently, he was kicked out for drugs and is back home attending community college. Father liked to boast about his crazy college years at the same school his son was attending.</p>