Sunday, November 20, 2011

Is Yale-Harvard Tailgating Safe And Sanitary?

Top Photo:  Trash flies by as "Crime Scene" caution tape flaps around in the breeze.

The Yale - Harvard Game was a home game for the Yale team this year.  It was particularly filthy this time around, for some reason.  Along with that, somebody was struck by a U-Haul van full of alcohol, driven by a student, and died on the scene.

The media, however, has already attempted to wash away all fears of any wrongdoing.  Within hours, a Huffington Post article appeared that does not allow comments, which states that the defendant's attorney has already concluded that the accident was the fault of the vehicle, which was rented by U-Haul.

The first line of the article reads:

"HARTFORD, Conn. — A rented U-Haul that struck and killed a Massachusetts tailgater at a Yale-Harvard football game malfunctioned as a Yale undergraduate drove the vehicle into a crowded parking lot, the student's attorney said Sunday."

Apparently attorney Willie Dow has gotten the technical reports back from the UHaul people (who as we know are some of the most on-top-of-it people in the world).  Apparently it's already been publicized that there was something wrong with the vehicle.  

The author of that article, Stephanie Reitz, has written other AP articles such as one where she describes the new state-appointed board to control Bridgeport public schools, which are now under complete control of top executives from Sikorsky and People's Bank, she writes here).

This whole event arrives just days after a news editorial article composed by an editor at the Yale Daily News (the oldest college daily in the US) which stated that Toads Place, a local music club, should be shut down immediately.

Article:  http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2011/nov/16/fisher-close-toads-now/
This website's response article:  http://goo.gl/EjHxh

Back to the story. 

No word from the Westville alderperson about establishing any real changes.  If you are that individual, feel free to sign in and comment on your response.  The bottom line is that an innocent bystander lost her life on the scene and it may become just as easy to dismiss as this event, for example.

Meanwhile, a local public access show host made this music video at the scene of the event.  The video displays the surroundings of the crime scene as more than just a little out of control.  There was very little evidence that the vehicular homicide incident changed anyone's behavior that day, and did not cast even the slightest shadow on the tailgating event, which litters the neighborhood with massive piles of garbage.  

Additional Background Information:  Other Media Coverage

The guy with the helmet on also interviewed the head of Yale Recycling to hear what kind of hilarious explanation he would give, for the overflowing ocean of plastic bottles and cans.  To give the guy a fair chance, here's that interview:


CJ from Yale Recycling

Here is an article posted by WTNH-8.  By not shutting down the crime scene, the investigation needed to be rushed in order to allow for the tailgating to continue as planned.  Even if it were an accident, it remains clear that this particular incident, involving a U-Haul truck full of beer being driven by a college student, might bear some negligence on behalf of the organizers of the event for allowing people to literally drive into the field their own rented trucks full of alcohol.  "They didn't even start doing CPR yet.  She was just out," one eyewitness said about the event, referring to the woman who died on the scene.  The only recourse for the event was a moment of silence at halftime.  The truck was driving 35 miles per hour, said an eyewitness. 

Here are some still-frames from the weekend video, which was supposed to be a story about how much unnecessary garbage is produced by the event.  Head of Yale Recycling's CJ made it clear that he would do his best to contain the situation.  Meanwhile, plastic bags and cups floated into the adjoining neighborhood of Westville. 


Lookin' Bad-Ass

Plastic cups in a puddle

Complicity

In A Hurry.

Fallen Man on the Sidewalk

Passed-Out Harvard Student (in car)

Special Deal on Turkey Dogs

Lots of garbage

It wouldn't fit in all shots



Discuss the usual topics, such as we talk Trash with Yale Recycling's CJ, witness some silliness, and talk about how to make extra money by renting your backyard as a parking lot.