Ex-Cal Poly Frat Member Paying $500K In Hazing Death

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The college fraternity big brother for a freshman pledge who died of alcohol poisoning is paying $500,000 to the parents of the Texas teenager.

Eighteen-year-old Carson Starkey of Austin, Texas, was found dead the morning after the Dec. 1, 2008, Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity hazing incident. He was a freshman at California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo.

The Tribune newspaper says 21-year-old Haithem Ibrahim, who pleaded no contest to misdemeanor hazing in June and was sentenced to 45 days in county jail, settled with Scott and Julia Starkey on Thursday. Ibrahim was initially charged with felony hazing.

Ibrahim was Starkey's designated big brother in the fraternity who selected the alcohol for Starkey as part of a fraternity drinking event held at a home near campus.

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Information from: The Tribune, http://www.sanluisobispo.com

Comments

[MarcEdward]

04:08 PM on 09/13/2010

"p art of a fraternity drinking event held at a home near campus"

Man, this sort of thing sickens me. I hope I am raising my kids to be smart enough to avoid the sort of human debris that join frats. That said, if  Carson Starkey were my son, that frat house would be rubble.

[Nicole Dixson]

09:17 PM on 09/12/2010

This is a tragedy but I can't help but think that parents need to instill an iron will in our children so that they are able to say "no thanks" when they are with others who are encouraging dangerous behavior. Alcohol is made to be so forbidden in this country for those under 21, that once kids leave they go wild and try to drink everything they can get their hands on. Responsible drinking needs to be taught at an early age and kids need to know that not every day or every situation calls for it to be "Miller Time". There is a difference in having a couple of drinks in a safe environment every once in awhile than drinking to the point of illness, unconsciousness or death. When my son was 11, he told me that he wanted to try Bud Light. Several weeks later at the grocery store, I put a 16oz can of Bud Light in our cart. My son was excited at first, but became anxious and was afraid I was going to have him drink the whole can. I assured him that I was going to only let him try a little bit. As we made our way to check out, he turned to me and said, "I don't think I am ready to try that yet." We put the can back. Am I advocating underage drinking? No, but we have to talk to our kids so we can stop this.

[Nicole Dixson]

09:19 PM on 09/12/2010

I am happy to say that he is still not drinking.

[fem56]

03:50 PM on 09/12/2010

The universities need to get involved more. These 18 year old freshman may chronologically be adults but emotionally they are not. This older faternity brother was suppose to be a big brother to a boy who just let home a couple months before. I am sure he feels horrible but little good this will do now. Many of these young people are very inexperienced and impressionable. My heart goes out to his family who probaby had no idea what their son was getting himself into.

[realitytrumpsbull]

08:43 PM on 09/11/2010

Where was Haithem Ibrahim from? Is he a US citizen? If not, was he here on a student visa? Was he in the country illegally? Also, this is supposed to be college. Aren't the students at this college smart enough to understand about providing alcohol to minors, isn't the drinking age in California 21 and over, like in all the other states? Maybe college really doesn't make you that smart, after all. 

Does Cal-Poly get state funds? 

Also, did they ever find the bottle that they were drinking out of, to find out if there was anything mixed with the alcohol? Where did Ibrahim come up with 500k? Got rich parents? 

[kareemachan]

01:59 PM on 09/12/2010

Muslimophobe much?

[barbara960]

02:51 PM on 09/12/2010

If this guy's name was Seamus Kelly or Tony Boyardi, would you question his citizenship?

[tobynsaunders]

12:50 PM on 09/11/2010

Frats & Sororities are immoral. Maybe they give to charity here & there but they encourage group think & abuse. I've been to one of Playboy's top 10 frat parties in the US & it was one of the worst experiences of my life: so many people, wasting their lives, chanting, thoughtless... it was so anti-intellectual... there was a stripper hired to dance with random frat guys, apparently. No one knew who she was, she just 'booty danced' with everyone & it was clear what was going on.

The Univeristy of West Georgia spent so much money on 'Greek life' instead of academics... this 'Greek life' stuff makes people stupid. It's disgusting & abusive... people deserve proper education, not cult behaviour.

[gfirmin57]

10:38 AM on 09/11/2010

Universities and law enforcement should work together to rid campuses of these godawful boys' clubs.

[Eddy333]

08:41 AM on 09/20/2010

The sororities are just as bad.

[TeeSC]

05:35 PM on 09/10/2010

This may seem a bit harsh but something has to be done about hazing.  It has outlived its usefulness... if ever it had one.  It should be banned, abolished and condemned.  I can't speak any stronger about how I feel about it.  College students abusing younger and more naive college students.  I consider it repulsive and insulting.  And please... anyone who starts with the explaination that it's harmless and "bonds" them... don't bother.  That's even more insulting. 

[MrUnlimited]

11:34 PM on 09/10/2010

Hazing isn't the issue...rather it's the TYPE of hazing that's problematic. It's entirely possible to subject people to corny, tedious, time-consuming rituals without endangering anything but their sanity.

[TeeSC]

01:18 AM on 09/11/2010

Quite possibly you are right.  In that case I would use another term for what you describe.  I can appreciate the sense of comradery.  But I draw the line at anything that involves physical or mental manipulation.  It's abuse, no matter how you cut it. 

[gfirmin57]

11:08 AM on 09/11/2010

First of all, what kind of 1.d1o.t feels that letting another man abuse him is a bonding experience? The same kind, I guess, who wants to participate in substance abuse and date rape and general misogyny. My former brother-in-law was in a fraternity where they kept a house "squeeze," a woman who was there for sex on demand from the "brothers."

Campuses should make membership in the Greek culture an object of ridicule and scorn. Police should be on them like a bad suit, busting them for every minor (and major) infraction they can. Frat boy jawalks? Ticket. Underage drinking? Arrest. Clean up college campuses by hounding these moral degenerates off them.

[berserk]

04:16 PM on 09/10/2010

I really do not understand this. How can an adult be liable for another adult who chooses to be in a dangerous situation.

[Spank05]

04:25 PM on 09/10/2010

Kid wasn't of the legal drinking age, that's how.

He furnished alcohol to someone three years under the drinking age. That my friend is a crime.

[MrUnlimited]

11:36 PM on 09/10/2010

I agree with both of you guys. This story aside for a moment, I'm tired of the stupid paradoxes we have in our country. If an 18 year old consumes alcohol, he's charged as an ADULT for "underage drinking" (while a 16 year old would be charged as a MINOR). That's ridiculous.

[rh654]

05:44 PM on 09/10/2010

The kid who died was only 18 - legal drinking age in California is 21. Also, the guy paying the $500k was "in charge" of the pledge and had some control over the situation.

I am glad to see people being held responsible for their actions.

The minor was responsible also - and he paid with his life.

This older guy is also responsible and he is paying with his pocketbook.

[MrUnlimited]

11:38 PM on 09/10/2010

You know what's weird? "The minor" would be charged as an ADULT if he had lived to be charged with underage drinking. We need to change our rules.