[DRAFT] Pain Today, Brotherhood Tomorrow

[Conexia]

Hello! I've been thinking of a way to write an issue about hazing for a while now, as it's a real issue that isn't typically talked about.

-----

Current Draft:

[TITLE]Pain Today, Brotherhood Tomorrow

[VALIDITY]ineligable to nations without collegiate education, ineligable to nations without sports, ineligable to nations without alcohol

[DESCRIPTION] Last week, officials found first-year college athlete Craig Riggins dead inside of his college dormitory at @@CAPITAL@@ University. This week, it has come to light that Riggins had participated in an “Honor Code” alongside his fellow first-year teammates, run by older members of the team, with the knowledge of the coach. Seeing as this is the fourth hazing related death in @@NAME@@ this year, students, parents, and concerned citizens have been calling for change.

[OPTION] “Change? Who needs change?” says @@RANDOMMALENAME@@, a third-year athlete at @@CAPITAL@@ University, as he wipes sweat off his face between sets. “The Honor Code is a rite of passage. It’s all about mental toughness and secrecy, and proving you’re strong enough to be on the team, and that Riggins kid wasn’t strong enough. We all had to go through it, and you can see how strong I am,” he finishes as he turns around to start flexing in the mirror.

[EFFECT] the mortality rate for college athletes is higher than that of maximum security prisoners

[OPTION] “Frankly, I can’t believe you would even consider listening to a man like that,” chimes a middle-aged woman on a treadmill behind you. “He’s on the team, hell he’s probably the person that forced that poor boy to drink alcohol. @@CAPITAL@@ University is my son's dream school, but I will never send him there as long as I know this ‘Honor Code’ is in place,” she says as she angrily takes a sip of water. “Hazing should be taken extremely seriously, and perpetrators should be punished accordingly. If someone dies, then that’s murder.”

[EFFECT] coaches frequently end up in jail for making their players do push-ups

[OPTION] “I mean, this is tragic and all, but couldn’t hazing be used for good?” asks first-year athlete @@RANDOMMALENAME@@ while putting away his teammates weights. “I mean, Craig wouldn’t have died if the upperclassmen were forced to throw us pizza parties and surprise us with new equipment,” he says, showing off his tattered practice jersey. “I think this change would promote team bonding even more than the ‘Honor Code’ does,” he says as his pocket buzzes. “Well I’ve got to go. I need to be at the team dormitories in five minutes.”

[EFFECT] team members spend more time attending pizza parties than practices

-----

I've been considering adding a fourth option, but I'm not sure which direction to go in.
All feedback would be appreciated, thanks!

[Australian rePublic]

Even in a society with sports and universities, you'd have to have a culture of university sports, which not all countries do

[Conexia]

Even in a society with sports and universities, you'd have to have a culture of university sports, which not all countries do

I agree, university sports wouldn’t have been my first choice, as fraternities are also in the news often for hazing. I’ve been considering being a bit more ambiguous on which organization they’re (the hazing victims/perpetrators) are in, but I’m not quite sure what I’d change it to.

That said, there’s been anti-hazing legislation passed in multiple countries, some of which don’t have a large university sports presence (as that specifically is a very USA-thing). So I’m still open to pivot, but I would like to find a way to make this issue work.

[Socialist Ancomistan]

One question: Why would a pizza party stop Craig Riggins from dying? Is that a reference to blood alcohol content, which food helps counter. It was not stated exactly how Riggins died (exhaustion? alcohol poisoning?), so at the moment I don’t see where you are going with pizza parties and exercise equipment

For option 2, it’s “son’s dream school,” not “sons dream school”

[Conexia]

One question: Why would a pizza party stop Craig Riggins from dying? Is that a reference to blood alcohol content, which food helps counter. It was not stated exactly how Riggins died (exhaustion? alcohol poisoning?), so at the moment I don’t see where you are going with pizza parties and exercise equipment

For option 2, it’s “son’s dream school,” not “sons dream school”

I decided not to explicitly state how he died because there can be numerous different causes of hazing related death - though it's implied that it's drinking. The pizza party is essentially an alternative to the dangerous activities associated with hazing. Basically, instead of playing drinking games and doing dangerous stunts, the students could have a pizza party to get to know one another instead.

Fixed, thanks.

[Conexia]

Even in a society with sports and universities, you'd have to have a culture of university sports, which not all countries do

Furthermore, this is not the first issue to assume something about a country. If that wasn't allowed, no issue would exist. Issue #1177 "A Funny Old Game" assumes that the nation has some sort of organized football league and culture, without knowing if it does or not.

I understand that not all countries have a culture of university sports, but that culture is not something that a ruler can explicitly determine. That kind of thing, just like sports culture, develops independent of the choices of a leader as long as those universities exist.