Sad, but not surprising, is it?

Two who died in storm drain were legally drunk; so was incoming UK student who died after fall in Red River Gorge

I think we all saw it coming. The women who drowned were (appropriately so) coming home in a cab late at night, indicating that they had perhaps been drinking. The Gorge is well-known not only as a natural treasure but as a place to go and get plastered, which is unfortunate, since it also has many beautiful but deadly cliffs. In all the stories of falls in the Gorge I've read or heard of (and there have been many over the years), the vast majority have been alcohol-related.

Yet because this story appeared in the Kentucky Kernel, UK's campus newspaper, the parent of the young man who died in the Gorge has sharply criticised the paper. Moreover, most likely due to this story, 4500 newspapers were stolen, to a tune of about $300, a felony. In a related story, the mother of the young man said '"I could guess" that the papers were stolen by her late son's friends, but she said "I'm not going to name names."' Police don't have many leads, although someone reported a woman stuffing papers into a bag, and the reporter received e-mails that were described as '"borderline" between complaints and threats'.

It's sad that these young people's lives were cut short. I'm sure they were all wonderfully vibrant people with their lives ahead of them. But I don't think the Kernel's reporting their blood alcohol levels (and in the young man's case, drug levels) was irresponsible in any way. The values themselves are a matter of public record. But when put with other recent deaths related to UK students and alchohol, they paint a disturbing picture of something that should be addressed. The Kernel did not paint the victims as bad people, or even point out that in each case some bad decisions were made--mostly under the influence of alcohol. It simply reported the cases and helped put another layer onto the tragedies of their deaths.

That kind of story isn't going to be silenced regardless of protests, and in the end, it's also a true story. The facts are verifiable. The truth doesn't reduce the victims 'into flat, one-dimensional characters'. It just points out that anyone can make a mistake, and that mistake can be deadly. I think it was stupid for anyone to steal the papers in some sort of protest of the story, but I suppose emotions are running high and again, people don't always make the best decisions then, either.