Sacramento radio station's acts were despicable
Jennifer Strange's death was directly related to the station's contest for the Nintendo Wii; DJs were fired for their participation
Max Maher/Columnist
Issue date: 1/25/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
On Jan. 12, Jennifer Strange, 28, was found dead in her home in Rancho Cordova, Calif. Preliminary autopsies show that her death was the result of water intoxication, which shocked family, friends and KDND 107.9.
Earlier in the day, Strange had taken part in the radio station's "Hold your Wee for a Wii" contest, in which around 18 contestants would resist the urge to go to the bathroom to win a hard-to-find Nintendo Wii system. The contest was part of one of the station's shows, Morning Rave, and lasted for several hours until Strange, the runner-up, gave in for a temptation of Justin Timberlake tickets.
To make the contest difficult, however, Morning Rave's staff decided to have each contestant drink eight ounces of water every 15 minutes. This element of danger was in certain ways clear to the show's DJs who laughed off warnings of water poisoning. Before the contest began, one DJ commented, "Your body is 98 percent water. Why can't you take in as much water as you want?"
Although our bodies are actually made up of nearly 70 percent water, the disturbing part of the DJs' ignorance was when a woman named Eva called the station to offer a warning. Eva spoke on the air saying, "I want to say that those people that are drinking all that water can get sick and possibly die from water intoxication."
One of the DJs responded saying, "Yeah, we're aware of that."
Another DJ said, "They signed releases, so we're not responsible. It's OK."
Although the DJs spoke with a bit of harsh humor, their jokes became reality, resulting in their firing from the station. Days after the incident, the station's vice president and general manager, John Geary, fired 10 of the station's employees, including all the DJs and put an end to Morning Rave. These actions from Geary are completely called for, but the fact that these despicable acts even occurred does not make these firings justifiable enough.
Why weren't station executives getting involved before the contest began? Considering the health risks of too much consumption of water, this whole idea was a lawsuit waiting to happen. As a result, Strange's family is now working to push the FCC to shutdown KDND for its actions, a decision that would be called for under the circumstances.
The lack of care for the contestants' health after warning upon warning of what could (and did) happen should not allow KDND to have a second chance. Workers of the station beyond Morning Rave did not step in as Strange slowly poisoned herself in an attempt to win the Wii for her son. Strange's family has every right to demand that the station be terminated after its complete incompetence.
Throughout the broadcast, the DJs often denied the warnings of water intoxication, arguing that what they were doing was not as dangerous as it sounded. They even brought up the case of Matthew Carrington who died in a hazing incident in 2005 after performing in a fraternity ritual. In the ritual, he was to drink large amounts of water while doing calisthenics in cold conditions. A repeating of a water intoxication death seemed improbable to the DJs, as one of them argued strongly that the contestants would regurgitate the water before any threat of water intoxication could be legitimate.
When Strange chose to drop out of the contest, her stomach had stuck out noticeably due to the large amounts of water. She commented that it looked as though she were pregnant again, and by the time she went to meet the DJs to get the second-place prize of Timberlake tickets, the staff was stunned by the size of her belly.
After the contest had ended completely, it was estimated that Strange had drunk around seven quarts of water. Drinking water is something we have instilled in our minds as being good for us. How many news reports are there telling us to drink eight glasses of water per day? Water is used as a symbol of life in many respects, but in this case, it was the cause for Strange's death. Water intoxication is a very rare occurrence, and all these factors are why it seemed implausible to the staff of Morning Rave that someone could die in its contest. But there is no easy way to forgive the station after the multiple warnings it received. KDND needs to be shut down for its lack of intervention in Morning Rave's deadly contest.
Max Maher is a first year journalism and secondary education major and a Times-Delphic columnist. He can be contacted at MWM001@drake.edu.
Earlier in the day, Strange had taken part in the radio station's "Hold your Wee for a Wii" contest, in which around 18 contestants would resist the urge to go to the bathroom to win a hard-to-find Nintendo Wii system. The contest was part of one of the station's shows, Morning Rave, and lasted for several hours until Strange, the runner-up, gave in for a temptation of Justin Timberlake tickets.
To make the contest difficult, however, Morning Rave's staff decided to have each contestant drink eight ounces of water every 15 minutes. This element of danger was in certain ways clear to the show's DJs who laughed off warnings of water poisoning. Before the contest began, one DJ commented, "Your body is 98 percent water. Why can't you take in as much water as you want?"
Although our bodies are actually made up of nearly 70 percent water, the disturbing part of the DJs' ignorance was when a woman named Eva called the station to offer a warning. Eva spoke on the air saying, "I want to say that those people that are drinking all that water can get sick and possibly die from water intoxication."
One of the DJs responded saying, "Yeah, we're aware of that."
Another DJ said, "They signed releases, so we're not responsible. It's OK."
Although the DJs spoke with a bit of harsh humor, their jokes became reality, resulting in their firing from the station. Days after the incident, the station's vice president and general manager, John Geary, fired 10 of the station's employees, including all the DJs and put an end to Morning Rave. These actions from Geary are completely called for, but the fact that these despicable acts even occurred does not make these firings justifiable enough.
Why weren't station executives getting involved before the contest began? Considering the health risks of too much consumption of water, this whole idea was a lawsuit waiting to happen. As a result, Strange's family is now working to push the FCC to shutdown KDND for its actions, a decision that would be called for under the circumstances.
The lack of care for the contestants' health after warning upon warning of what could (and did) happen should not allow KDND to have a second chance. Workers of the station beyond Morning Rave did not step in as Strange slowly poisoned herself in an attempt to win the Wii for her son. Strange's family has every right to demand that the station be terminated after its complete incompetence.
Throughout the broadcast, the DJs often denied the warnings of water intoxication, arguing that what they were doing was not as dangerous as it sounded. They even brought up the case of Matthew Carrington who died in a hazing incident in 2005 after performing in a fraternity ritual. In the ritual, he was to drink large amounts of water while doing calisthenics in cold conditions. A repeating of a water intoxication death seemed improbable to the DJs, as one of them argued strongly that the contestants would regurgitate the water before any threat of water intoxication could be legitimate.
When Strange chose to drop out of the contest, her stomach had stuck out noticeably due to the large amounts of water. She commented that it looked as though she were pregnant again, and by the time she went to meet the DJs to get the second-place prize of Timberlake tickets, the staff was stunned by the size of her belly.
After the contest had ended completely, it was estimated that Strange had drunk around seven quarts of water. Drinking water is something we have instilled in our minds as being good for us. How many news reports are there telling us to drink eight glasses of water per day? Water is used as a symbol of life in many respects, but in this case, it was the cause for Strange's death. Water intoxication is a very rare occurrence, and all these factors are why it seemed implausible to the staff of Morning Rave that someone could die in its contest. But there is no easy way to forgive the station after the multiple warnings it received. KDND needs to be shut down for its lack of intervention in Morning Rave's deadly contest.
Max Maher is a first year journalism and secondary education major and a Times-Delphic columnist. He can be contacted at MWM001@drake.edu.
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