SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that would stiffen penalties for alcohol and drug related hazing on college and university campuses gained approval in the Utah House.
The idea stemmed from a 2008 death at Utah State University in which 18-year-old fraternity pledge Michael Starks, of Salt Lake City, died from alcohol poisoning. Several individuals, including other USU students, were questioned and charged with involvement in his death, but many were released with little more than a slap on the hand.
Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, D-Holladay, said she doesn't believe the penalties were "as severe as they might have been for the many men and women who were involved in this incident."
Of the 12 individuals originally charged with hazing in Starks' death, seven cases were dismissed, while four people pleaded guilty to other offenses and one entered a plea in abeyance, which was dismissed upon compliance with terms of probation.
Moss has proposed HB138 to enhance the consequences of hazing crimes involving controlled substances from a class B misdemeanor to a class A misdemeanor, which could mean an additional six months of jail time and a heftier fine. The original bill included a provision to exclude any option for a plea in abeyance, but Rep. Kay McIff, R-Richfield, amended the bill to keep it.
"We don't want to see young people marked forever by poor decisions, but we have to acknowledge and make it clear to young people the serious consequences that result from forced alcohol consumption or just alcohol consumption to excess," Moss said, adding that it has become a "serious, often deadly problem" among college and university campus populations.
She has said that similar hazing deaths are occurring all over the country, but no state has initiated a stance that would provide the same threat of increased responsibility to those participating in a hazing crime. Utah, Moss said, has an opportunity to lead the nation if the bill passes the Legislature this year, which could "go a long way in alleviating some of these cases."
On Tuesday, Moss said the Starks family was very supportive of the effort to create new a new statute aimed at defining and penalizing the act of hazing.
Michael Starks' father, George Starks Sr., told legislators two weeks ago in a committee meeting that the practice of hazing fraternity pledges goes way back, with the first known death occurring at Cornell University in 1885, when a student wandered off a cliff while blindfolded.
The difference, as witnessed in Starks son's death, is that students are now using illicit drugs and alcohol.
The bill may be read online at le.utah.gov/~2010/bills/hbillamd/hb0138.htm.
Contributing: Arthur Raymond
e-mail: wleonard@desnews.com