corps8294 Posted October 5, 2008 Share Posted October 5, 2008 I think one of the most recently "exposed" cases in drum corps occured back in 2000 during DCI week. Remember the Blue Devils bass drummer that ran out onto the field? Enough said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon98 Posted October 5, 2008 Share Posted October 5, 2008 Now to the reality of this.......these are college age kids who drink and have sex anyways....why stop it NOW? We teach them about drugs, alcohol and sex all through their schooling. We all did that too...in high school, in drum corps...it was all around. Now talk to me about OJ getting the axe and that is news. college is one thing when all but a handful of members are of legal age. Those that are not of age will be within a few months. Drum corps ranges in age from 14 to 22 in Div 1 corps and the open class corps allow younger children. And if you think that someone under 18 isn't influence by the older members then I have bridge to sell you in Brooklyn. Shannon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baristeve Posted October 5, 2008 Share Posted October 5, 2008 college is one thing when all but a handful of members are of legal age. Those that are not of age will be within a few months. Drum corps ranges in age from 14 to 22 in Div 1 corps and the open class corps allow younger children. And if you think that someone under 18 isn't influence by the older members then I have bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.Shannon last time I checked you start college when you're 18 and finish when you're 22, assuming you go straight after high school.... all but a handful of members are of legal drinking age? are you kidding me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted October 5, 2008 Share Posted October 5, 2008 Partying and drum corps back in the day went hand in hand. We had parties after rehearsals all the time. The drinking age was 18 but many of us did drink underage. When I was 18 I could drink! Heck, I was old enough to search for Baader-Meinhof gang members in Germany with a big german shepherd dog and a .45 with lots of extra clips. Old enough to drink and old enough to serve my country and shoot people if necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon98 Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 last time I checked you start college when you're 18 and finish when you're 22, assuming you go straight after high school.... all but a handful of members are of legal drinking age? are you kidding me? I am referring to legal adult status of the age of 18 not legal drinking age. Which means you are talking about legal adults who are informed enough about the decisions they make. Drum corps however, has many many minors that are not legal adults and are influenced very easy. Remember part of the problem of Wisconsin's band goes beyond drinking. If that was the only problem then they probably never been suspended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTFrank Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Partying and drum corps back in the day went hand in hand. We had parties after rehearsals all the time. The drinking age was 18 but many of us did drink underage. When I was 18 I could drink! Heck, I was old enough to search for Baader-Meinhof gang members in Germany with a big german shepherd dog and a .45 with lots of extra clips. Old enough to drink and old enough to serve my country and shoot people if necessary. A friend and I had this conversation last night: Military ID: you can drink beer (regardless of age) Combat veteran: (regardless of age) FREE BEER Seems the least we can d.......and I will gladly chip in if someone thinks is a burden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvertrombone Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Rookie Talent, from what I've gathered, basically just needs to be done away with, at least in the corps with most members under 18. I've heard stories of badly handled rookie talent nights with winners being 16 and 17 year old girls getting naked and making out and bus captains screaming in peoples' faces at 3am to wake them up to do their talent when the corps had rehearsal at 8 the next morning... One of my friends from '06 and '07 was telling me about those...I played bass for the Marshall University pep band the past two years, and at the CUSA basketball tournament in Memphis probably 90% of the members were drinking on Beale St. and those not old enough to drink there just went back to the hotel. Every hotel room we had was full of beer and liquor and both years band members ended up partying with the basketball teams after they got eliminated. That stuff goes on everywhere. Some places it's just not as big of a deal to people as others. A lot of stuff that happens in college that some here have mentioned happens in the dorm rooms or apartments off campus or in bars, etc. When you're talking about a "band trip" where you are representing the school, and showing up drunk in uniform, the University is completely right for taking up this matter. And if past offenses have gone without behaviour being corrected, I don't doubt that U of W had to do something drastic. In 1992, I was in the North Texas MB and we travelled to Austin. The world-renowned drumline pulled of a VERY funny stunt DURING our performance that the Austin crowd went nuts over. Well, so did the UT Band Director, Glen Richter, and the UT President. The UNT President had the drum line in his office Monday morning and by Monday afternoon we had a new drumline. Oops. Had to happen. Dumb stuff has to be dealt with. When you start talking about a non-profit organization like a drum corps, you have zero...I mean ZERO!...margin of error for dealing with such things. Continued below... Partying and drum corps back in the day went hand in hand. We had parties after rehearsals all the time. The drinking age was 18 but many of us did drink underage. When I was 18 I could drink! Heck, I was old enough to search for Baader-Meinhof gang members in Germany with a big german shepherd dog and a .45 with lots of extra clips. Old enough to drink and old enough to serve my country and shoot people if necessary. Yes, yes...European drinking laws are much more relaxed than ours here. Fine, so you got to drink a beer in the service. Good for you. Now lets talk about the US situation since that is what is relevant. DC's can't go have a beer after rehearsal today. The top ensembles require tip-top conditioning. Will anyone make the argument that having a beer after rehearsal helps that? Didn't think so. The top ensembles simply don't have the time after rehearsal to do so since they have to leave to get to the show site and go through all the warm-up stuff, etc. And going to have a beer just doesn't strike me as being a part of the equation for a champion. Just my hunch. And how many members in corps outside the top/elite corps are 21? Heck, how many in the elite corps are 21? Yeah, that's what I thought. Now, back on topic. Hazing takes place in drum corps, and 14 years after the fact, I can say...I told you so! I won't go into details, but even "my" corps engaged in, and probably still does, activities that need to be done away with. Initiation doesn't need to be a demeaning event, and with 14-year old's standing right next to 21-year old's, a higher standard of what is acceptable needs to be adhered to. Organizations that need to hold out their palms opened upward asking for handouts every...single...year need to be aware that one lawsuit sinks such an organization, and probably every single individual on the BOD. Think about it. Member X (male or female irrelevant) sues after a 'demeaning' experience in Corps XYZ's initiation 'ceremony.' An award of $3 million is awarded against the corps/organization, Director, and every member of the BOD as named defendants. Plus the actual members that 'performed' the ceremony. Now, think about this scenario outside of the little Liberal, "Oh, it's only sex/beer--get over it" attitude that some of you have exhibited, and think about it from the legal side. Any attorneys in the community that would like to pick it up from there and walk us through such a scenario? Anyone ever pick up the newspaper who read about a $45 million judgment for something just ridiculous? Now, I am not aware of a single one of our mythical "475" corps that went away due to lawsuit. Anyone else? But that being said, it wouldn't surprise me to hear a corps rung up on some weird charge. Now, here's an interesting thought for you to ponder. We're a niche activity, right? How would you like for the entire nation to learn about the "marching band activity" that went bankrupt because of a lawsuit like the one outlined above? Great way to go "mainstream," no? So, how about an honest discussion of what actutally happens in corps and how to be just a little bit more legal in our traditions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salad315 Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 I find some of these posts bordering on idiotic. People are saying that this kind of this has been happening forever...having no freaking idea what happened . I was in a college band for quite a while. We did stupid stuff sometimes. Sometimes it was ok, and sometimes we crossed the line, and certain groups and/or fraternities were suspended for months. How people can definitively say that this is no big thing, knowing basically nothing about the circumstances boggles my mind... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GGarrett Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 (edited) I'm with Salad on this one, too. We did crazy things, but never did anything to physically or mentally hurt anyone. At some point... somewhere along the line here... the concept of hazing has taken a turn for the surreal and maliciously cruel. I'm not blaming any one group or generation, but I am saying that the "emptiness" in the minds of say 16 to 21 year olds about boozing it up, sex and beating on someone's body these days is strikingly enhanced from when my group would sneak some beers, maybe get someone to sing the corps song after a few too many and giving them a wedgie for botching it up. Then it was hysterical to laugh at them the next day as they struggled with a hangover or upset stomach. The goal wasn't just to drink until you passed out or became pathetically out of control, it was to maintain coolness, and part of the challenge was to "be cool" ... not get so whacked you were almost dead. This article describing girls having to recite explicit passages of sexual acts or demonstrate on a "toy" for the enjoyment of a few guys controlling access to the bathrooms on a bus is not "clever clean 'meant no harm' fun" ... it's illegal behavior that costs people their careers and labels them as sexual predators in real life out of college. Imagine sending YOUR daughter or your sister off to a band performance knowing a few morons will be speaking to her that way or forcing her to "demonstrate her abilities" in order to be considered "cool" by them. NOT cool. Edited October 6, 2008 by GGarrett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no_itsnotadash Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 I think one of the most recently "exposed" cases in drum corps occured back in 2000 during DCI week.Remember the Blue Devils bass drummer that ran out onto the field? Enough said. unaware. Please inform? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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