andAfter a two-month review that did not include consultation with student Outing Club leaders, [Penn State] university’s offices of Student Affairs and Risk Management, made the determination that the hiking, canoeing, kayaking, trail building and camping activities the student-led club has long engaged in are too risky.
andTimothy Hackett, the Outing Club’s outgoing treasurer, said he knows of no student injuries on any Outing Club trips over the four years that he’s been at the school. He said the club did not participate in the risk assessment and has not seen the finished report.
...[Penn spokeswoman] Ms. Powers responded, saying the university conducted a “proactive risk assessment,” that was not based on any previous participant injuries. She said PSOC activities were rated high risk because they take place in remote environments with poor cell phone service, and sometimes far from emergency services.
Thanks Jerry Sandusky! Also, I hear using actual numbers to draw conclusions is for chumps, so bravo to Penn State for being a model educational institution and helping us to learn this important lesson.“Our increasingly litigious society is making it far more difficult for people to get outside without the fear of lawsuits for any misstep. I can hardly blame Penn State for protecting itself against further litigation after a number of high-profile scandals in the past decade,” she said.
Where is my #tortreform?