I am outraged at the way you are handling the case of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity at Minnesota State University Moorhead and the death of Patrick Kycia.
I don't think it needs to be explained what goes on at fraternity parties. Everyone knows, even if you never went to college. Drinking, and partying and brotherhood. It's all about finally being free from parental control, finding where you fit in the world, developing a life and an identity, and being able to do what you want when you want, even if it is illegal drinking.
The freshman, Kycia, was 19. A legal adult. And he made the decision to drink that night. The men being held responsible for his death with felony charges are not to blame. They did not hold him down and force drinks down his throat.
A young man of 19 can make the decision to smoke, to fight and die for our country, and to make the decision to drink, illegally. Then he must make the decision to drink running the risk of being caught by the police and being given a minor in consumption or possession - just as everyone who drinks underage runs the risk of.
It was not the fault of the fraternity that the young man did not know his alcohol limit, or how much alcohol would make him wander away from the party, campus and to the river. The young man was an adult, and shouldn't need a baby sitter to make sure he does not do things that are illegal. It was not anyone's fault but his own.
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Not that anyone wants to hear it, but has anyone thought that maybe he wanted to go drown in the river? No investigation can tell you what a deceased person's thoughts were. You cannot rely on Mom who says, "My son was so happy." And what was this young man's history of alcohol consumption? If he is like the rest of us in the Fargo-Moorhead area, or all of North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin for that matter, he probably started when he was about 15 or 16..
Secondly, it is absolutely un-necessary to display pictures of the fraternity members all over the home page of IN-FORUM.com. How embarrassing for The Forum to have been reduced to paparazzi. They are not hardened criminals whose mug shots may come in handy because they are running from the law. These men are young and innocent, and probably terrified. They have a future to think about, and thanks to you, their criminal photos have been published for the world to see.
Did anyone at The Forum realize that on Oprah Winfrey's Web site there is a link to IN-FORUM.com's home page because of a convicted child molester? I suppose you didn't. And you probably didn't think that hundreds of thousands extra people have seen these men's mug shots. But I suppose you don't care, 'cause they're criminals, right? Yeah, right ...
To those of you on the legal side of things, I am outraged that you have handed these young men felony charges in giving alcohol to a minor. Stop looking for someone to blame and look at the facts. A young man was looking to rush a fraternity, he went to a party, there was alcohol there, the young man drank the alcohol. The young man drowned in the river. And that warrants felony charges?
I cannot believe the way The Forum and the police department are treating these young men for something they had no control over. What could you do - ask them to identify everyone at the frat party? Then students will come in with fake IDs. Then what - dry campus? Then students will go elsewhere ... drive ... and run the risk of drunk driving accidents. Good idea, everyone.
This is bull and though I do feel bad for the family who tragically lost a son - I really do - I feel more for those fraternity brothers who have been so mistreated by the journalistic and criminal systems. I feel more for those young men who now have mug shots displayed for the world to see, a criminal record and felony charges attached to their names.
Look at the situation, look at the facts, and look logically where blame should be placed. Please. Do the right thing.
Ruth, a senior student at the University of Minnesota, is a 2001 graduate of Fargo South High School.
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E-mail ruth0050@umn.edu
