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Mankato student, 21, dies after a night of partying with his cousin-8/6/08 | Article | |
| MSU student dies after boozy night-8/11/08 | Article | ||
| August 6, 2008 | Family says Zumbrota man died of head injury-8/8/08 | Article | |
| Visiting friends near Hamline University | Here’s to a responsible 21st!-8/15/08 | Article | |
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Article Summaries and Excerpts Below |
Does this need to happen to Peter and others? |
http://www.mankatofreepress.com/local/local_story_219145930.html
MSU student dies after boozy night
Associated Press
ST. PAUL August 07, 2008 11:32 am
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— The Ramsey County medical examiner’s office will autopsy a 21-year-old
Minnesota State University student who died after celebrating his cousin's
birthday with a night of heavy drinking.
Peter Sand of Zumbrota was found dead Tuesday morning in the living room of his
cousin’s home near Hamline University in St. Paul, said St. Paul police. Sand
would have been a junior this month at MSU in Mankato.
St. Paul police spokesman Peter Panos says no crime is suspected in the death.
He noted that everyone involved in the case was of legal drinking age.
Sand was in St. Paul on Monday to join his cousin and another person. Panos says
after Sand had too much to drink, the others put him to bed in the living room.
When the others woke up, they found Sand was not responsive. Paramedics were
called, but Sand was already dead.
Sand’s brother Ryan Gunhus of Rochester told the Rochester Post-Bulletin that
Sand was on medication to quit smoking and was taking a dietary supplement to
lose fat and build lean muscle.
Sand’s death is at least the fifth involving alcohol to strike young adults in
Minnesota college towns since last fall.
In October, Amanda Jax, a former MSU student celebrating her 21st birthday, died
after a night of heavy drinking at a Mankato bar. Jax had a blood-alcohol
content of about 0.46 percent — nearly six times the legal limit for driving.
A month later, MSU students Rissa Amen-Reif, 22, of Eden Prairie, was killed and
friend Corinne Overstake, 21, of Loretto, Minn., was seriously injured after
drinking and being struck by a car on Third Avenue after getting lost. Amen-Reif’s
blood-alcohol reading was .06 at the time of the crash, which happened about an
hour after they had walked away from a sorority party at a bar nearly two miles
away.
Tony Lee Miller, 22, died in his North Mankato apartment from alcohol poisoning
after drinking heavily in January. The body of the South Central College
graduate was found by a friend checking his Koppen Gardens apartment.
In mid-December, Winona State University student Jenna Foellmi’s body was found
in an off-campus apartment in what police called a “classic case of binge
drinking.”
In early January, Brian Threet, 20, of Farmington, who was about to re-enroll at
St. Cloud State University, was found dead after a night of partying and
drinking games in St. Cloud.
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.
http://www.startribune.com/local/26336269.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUF
Mankato student, 21, dies after a night of partying with his cousin
The Ramsey County medical examiner is working to determine the cause of death of a 21-year-old college student from Zumbrota, Minn., who was found dead this week after a night of heavy drinking.
Peter Sand, 21, of Zumbrota, Minn., who was about to enter his junior year at Minnesota State University, Mankato, was found dead Tuesday morning in the living room of the home of his cousin, who lives east of Hamline University in the 800 block of N. Albert Street in St. Paul, police said Wednesday.
Peter Sand had been drinking the night before at a 21st birthday party for his cousin, Ozzie Sand, a junior and a football player at Hamline.
An investigator with the medical examiner's office said that no cause of death has been determined and that it will take some time before toxicology tests are complete.
No crime is suspected in Peter Sand's death, said St. Paul police spokesman Peter Panos, adding that everyone involved was of legal drinking age.
A 2005 graduate of Zumbrota-Mazeppa High School, Peter Sand was in St. Paul on Monday to visit his cousin and another person, and they "celebrated [the cousin's] 21st birthday party with a night of drinking," Panos said.
Peter Sand had "too much to drink," Panos said, and the others "put him to bed in the living room."
When the others woke up the next morning, they found that Sand "was not responsive."
Paramedics were called to Ozzie Sand's home, but Peter Sand was already dead, Panos said.
Ryan Gunhus of Rochester told the Rochester Post-Bulletin that his brother and the others had been at bars that evening and took a cab back to the cousin's home.
Gunhus also said that Peter Sand was on medication to quit smoking and was taking a dietary supplement to lose fat and build lean muscle.
In high school, Peter was on the football, wrestling and golf teams. Link Steffen, who was his assistant wrestling coach in high school, said he was "a very dedicated guy who showed up to every practice."
"It didn't matter what coaches asked of him; he did it," said Steffen, who is now the school's head wrestling coach.
If it is established that alcohol played a role in Sand's death, it would be at least the fifth involving alcohol and young adults in Minnesota college towns since last fall.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
© 2008 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
http://news.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=2&a=355261
Family says Zumbrota man died of head injury
8/8/2008 10:53:12 AM
By Dawn Schuett
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN
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The family of a Zumbrota man found dead Tuesday in St. Paul say they believe he died from a brain hemorrhage after hitting his head.
Peter Sand, 21, was at a residence near Hamline University on Monday night to celebrate his cousin's birthday, but he could not be revived Tuesday morning.
Sand's brother, Ryan Gunhus, of Rochester, said the family was told that the autopsy indicated Sand died from closed-head trauma.
"He didn't crack his head open, but at some point in the night he had hit his head somehow," Gunhus said.
A spokesman for the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office, which performed the autopsy, said the cause of death has not been finalized and is "still pending further investigation." The office will wait for the results of toxicology tests before making a final determination on the cause of death.
Sand and others at the party went out for drinks and then returned to the house. Others in the group said they didn't see Sand hit his head and don't know when it could have occurred, Gunhus said.
"The only time they noticed him acting goofy was towards the end of the night, right before they put him to bed, and his legs kind of gave out on him," Gunhus said.
Gunhus said he believes the brain hemorrhaging is what caused Sand to "lose his functions like that." Sand's cousin and friends didn't recognize it as a problem, thinking he maybe had too much to drink, according to Gunhus.
"The medical examiner said he didn't have enough alcohol in his system to be killed from that," Gunhus said.
St. Paul police spokesman Peter Panos said that no crime is suspected in the death. He noted that everyone involved in the case was of legal drinking age.
The funeral for Sand, who is also survived by his parents, Cindy and Dick Sand of Zumbrota, and another brother, Patrick, will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Christ Lutheran Church in Zumbrota. Visitation will be from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at the Mahn Family Funeral Home-Larson Chapel in Zumbrota.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.fergusfallsjournal.com/news/2008/aug/15/heres-responsible-21st/
By Jeff Hage| The Daily Journal
Published Friday, August 15, 2008
Photo by The Daily Journal Top of page Article
Jeff Hage
I couldn’t help but notice last weekend while getting my hair cut that more gray than ever was falling onto the floor of SportsClips in Chippewa Falls, Wis.
But that shouldn’t surprise me.
I’ve been worrying a lot about my son’s 21st birthday.
I know. He became an adult when he was 18. But this 21 thing changes the game up a little because it puts the ability to legally drink alcohol into the equation.
I’ve honestly worried about that.
I remember my high school and early college days and the role alcohol played in the goofy times I had.
To hear my son talk about his social drinking plans for his 21st birthday, honestly, have made me shudder.
And that’s not because I think he’s irresponsible. By no means is that the cause. But because he’s likely to be playing with a loaded gun and doesn’t know what effects binge drinking can have on him physically or mentally.
Combine that with the college atmosphere at St. Cloud State where drinking appears to be a recreational sport, and I think there’s cause for any parent to be concerned.
And history supports the fact that maybe us parents should be.
According to the National Survey on Drug Use & Health, it appears the problem is a college problem.
The report breaks down the age and education level of "binge drinkers".
45 percent of 21-25 year olds binge drink. That number drops to 30 percent by age 30 and 25 percent by age 40. Clearly college age kids drink the most, but there’s no surprise there.
However — and here’s the telling numbers — full-time college students engaged in binge drinking more often than their peer who were not in college.
Just last weekend a 23-year-old St. Cloud student was killed when he was laying intoxicated in the middle of a St. Cloud street and was run over by a car.
During the first week of August Peter Sand, a 21-year-old Mankato State student died after drinking too much while celebrating his cousin’s 21st birthday. Sand would have been a junior this month at MSU in Mankato.
Sand’s death is at least the fifth involving alcohol to strike young adults in Minnesota college towns since last fall.
In October, Mankato student Amanda Jax was celebrating her 21st birthday and died after a night of heavy drinking at a Mankato bar. Jax had a blood-alcohol content of about 0.46 percent — nearly six times the legal limit for driving.
A month later, MSU student Rissa Amen-Reif, 22, of Eden Prairie, was killed after drinking and being struck by a car in Mankato. The accident happened about an hour after she had walked away from a sorority party.
Tony Lee Miller, 22, died from alcohol poisoning after drinking heavily in January. He attended South Central College in North Mankato.
In mid-December, Winona State University student Jenna Foellmi’s body was found in an off-campus apartment in what police called a “classic case of binge drinking.”
In early January, Brian Threet, 20, of Farmington, who was enrolled at St. Cloud State University, was found dead after a night of partying and drinking games in St. Cloud
It can be a scary world out there when you mix fun and games with alcohol.
Saturday I hope to be celebrating my son’s 21st birthday with him at Applebees or Zorbaz so Dad’s watchful eye be on that first bar drink. Hanging with friends and cocktailing in a St. Cloud bar probably sounds more appealing to my son than a night with ol’ Dad.
So here’s to turning 21 —and living responsibilby.
Jeff Hage is the managing editor of the Daily Journal. He can be contacted at jeff.hage@fergusfallsjournal.com.
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