Band of “bothers”

      Is man by nature a violent creature?

      I am asking the question above because in all my years of studying (four years in college and four years and counting into law school), I have always observed violence happening around me.

       In an academic setting, the most common and rampant violence takes in the form of fraternity wars and hazing.

         In college at the state university, I can recall that every year a newly recruited neophyte died due to hazing. In my first year, an undergraduate died in the hands of his would-be “brothers” which made national news. (I would have to constrain myself from naming names here although I may be able to recall some of the victims and villains in some of those campus violence.) Ditto also in my second year, third year and fourth year.

My third year was particularly significant for me. In that year, another neophyte died which made national headlines (again). In fact, my roommate---a very lanky and naïve probinsiyano whom I thought could not even hurt the proverbial fly--- was implicated in the crime. He had to stop going to school. At that time, I heard that he was detained pending the trial of the case. The last news I heard of him was that the court pronounced him an accessory to the crime. He served sentence, but was released after the end of his sentence.

            To make light of all those observations, I had this running self-made joke at that back of my mind that I could as well be a chronicler of campus violence. If Herodotus was the historian-chronicler of the Greek wars, why not me as a chronicler of campus violence? How’s that for an alternative career?

            Fast track to law school.

            I thought that law school would be an entirely different experience. I expect that I will not anymore experience any campus-related violence. This is after all Law, a post-graduate course. I thought to myself, if college has its hazing and frat wars, it was probably because of the adolescent-to-adulthood phase when students are less prudent, less mature, and restless. In law school, everybody would be professional, probably intellectual, and serious-minded. Of course there would be fraternities but I had a bet with myself that I would never encounter any form of violence.

            I was wrong. In my third year into law school, there was a frat war. It involved the two fraternities in our institute. Some of those involved are even my classmates.  

Now I am quite convinced that I should make chronicling of campus violence an alternative career. I have observed much of it during college, and now even in law school I still encounter it.

            I am not trying to be facetious here. It’s just that campus violence is already a depressing subject in itself. I don’t want to add to its despondency. In fact, whenever any frat man would invite me to join his fraternity, I would flatly decline and would jocularly add something like: “I am already a member of a frat---frat-ing gutom and frat-ing tulog (always hungry and always sleeping). Or otherwise I would say I am already a member of this fraternity called frat, fret, frit, frot, frut. 

            Seriously now, I wish all this campus violence such as hazing and frat wars should end. Fraternities have become anathema to the ideals they are supposed to espouse. How would any sane and law-abiding person like to join an organization wherein his so-called brothers are potential killers, malefactors, or purveyors of physical abuse?

            If I’ll encounter one more incident of violence on campus, I’ll take that as a sign that I should become a chronicler slash historian of that area of human (mis) activity. That, or I’ll launch a campaign against it. 

Anti-Hazing Law  

[ I found this in my journal. ]