Althouse: "Police investigating after videos show dropped TV narrowly missing woman at UW-Madison fraternity."

July 4, 2018

"Police investigating after videos show dropped TV narrowly missing woman at UW-Madison fraternity."

Headline at the Wisconsin State Journal. Here's the video:

This girl was an inch away from death @5thyear
A post shared by Barstool Wisco (@badgerbarstool) on Jun 30, 2018 at 5:36pm PDT

94 comments:

tim maguire said...: Darwin candidate.

Looks like a poorly executed suicide attempt to me.; 7/4/18, 10:22 AM
Big Mike said...: I’ve heard of litterbugs, and seen some on the road, but this one sets some new sort of record. Tell me, Professor Emerita, how do the fraternities choose which girl to drop a TV on? Is there a contest? Do they have to write an essay?; 7/4/18, 10:23 AM
Gahrie said...: Investigating what?; 7/4/18, 10:24 AM
Charlie said...: Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life.; 7/4/18, 10:24 AM
Gahrie said...: How much do you want to bet that that girl texts while driving?; 7/4/18, 10:25 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: GEEEZ!; 7/4/18, 10:28 AM
YoungHegelian said...: I almost ran some clown over yesterday. He was walking against the light across a six lane street while talking on his cell phone.

He took my honking at him as a personal affront, though no doubt much less of one than my bumper at 40 mph would have been.; 7/4/18, 10:33 AM
MadisonMan said...: What Gahrie said! This seems like keep-busy work for the Police and for University Administrators.; 7/4/18, 10:36 AM
traditionalguy said...: She probably knew stuff on the Clintons. Close but no bullseye.; 7/4/18, 10:36 AM
Bob Boyd said...: Holy shit.

“God has a special providence for fools, drunkards, and the United States of America.”

― Otto von Bismarck; 7/4/18, 10:39 AM
gspencer said...: No harm, no foul; 7/4/18, 10:40 AM
rhhardin said...: Ghost Town (2008) has a similar problem with window air conditioners. Just misses a guy who, startled, jumps and is killed by a bus.; 7/4/18, 10:45 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Why is it the girl's fault? Am I missing something? Seems she could be more situationally aware but she did not throw a tv out a window?; 7/4/18, 10:46 AM
Shane said...: Next on CNN:

Video of a woman in shorts is nearly killed when a television is thrown from a fraternity window! Maybe now Trump will stop saying the press is 'the enemy of the people!'; 7/4/18, 10:46 AM
Dad29 said...: Suicide? Stupid??

Looks like some Lord-of-the-Flies wannabees deliberately dropped a heavy object at a passerby. I think assault and battery, plus attempted first-degree homicide, would be just the ticket for these assholes.

By the way, some of your commenters seem to think that the targeted woman should have been utilizing techniques taught by Armed Forces for invading or pacifying enemy cities. If that's the case, she should have sprayed a couple of mags of .223 in self-defense after that bombing attempt, or maybe called in a nice little Patriot strike on the building.; 7/4/18, 10:48 AM
Bob Boyd said...: The school might decide that the students who dropped the TV should be re-united with their parents.; 7/4/18, 10:51 AM
Paul said...: Stupid is as stupid does... and she was stupid to walk underneath were they were doing that stunt.

Case closed.; 7/4/18, 10:52 AM
Shane said...: Next on AMJoy:

If you don't think Donald Trump directed the firing of that television remotely from CentComm in Tampa, well, what more proof do you need?; 7/4/18, 10:52 AM
Shane said...: Maxine Waters:

If you're gonna projectile a television at me, you best projectile it straight.; 7/4/18, 10:53 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Was that one of Hillary's devices?; 7/4/18, 10:54 AM
Shane said...: Hillary Clinton:

I can clearly remember arriving at a fraternity in Bosnia in 1994, and our group being immediately and directly under fire from televisions falling from almost every window. I was lucky to escape the country alive, but those rabbit ear burns left a mark that I, much like Churchill during the Blitz, still carry with me.; 7/4/18, 10:56 AM
Gahrie said...: Why is it the girl's fault? Am I missing something? Seems she could be more situationally aware but she did not throw a tv out a window?

There is a large crowd energetically and vocally waiting to watch someone throw something out a window...….and she decides to run right through the landing zone while talking on her cellphone?; 7/4/18, 10:56 AM
Browndog said...: The grave yard is chuck full of people that did nothing wrong, but 'could have been more situationally aware'.; 7/4/18, 11:01 AM
David Begley said...: The pride of the Big Ten.; 7/4/18, 11:08 AM
Michael The Magnificent said...: The video doesn't start early enough to tell if she had been part of the crowd and thus aware of the impending falling television, or if she had just come from around the corner of the building and was on her way to somewhere else, and figured the clearing was the easiest path through the crowd.; 7/4/18, 11:08 AM
Bob Boyd said...: I'd like to see more of the jumping girl in the white bikini.; 7/4/18, 11:14 AM
Crimso said...: We roof-tested a number of things back in the day, ranging from eggs to a refrigerator (yes, it included a few TV sets).; 7/4/18, 11:17 AM
tim maguire said...: Dad29 said...
Suicide? Stupid??

Looks like some Lord-of-the-Flies wannabees deliberately dropped a heavy object at a passerby. I think assault and battery, plus attempted first-degree homicide, would be just the ticket for these assholes.

Seriously? Watch the video again. Notice the big crowd of people gathered around where the TV is about to be dropped--they all know what's going on and are eagerly anticipating it. IT's a planned event. Then watch a girl on a cell phone push through the crowd, completely oblivious to what's happening, and walk right into the path of the TV.

She knew the crowd was there. She cut through because it was easier than going around and not one synapse in her brain wondered why all the people were looking at this spot she was just about to step on.; 7/4/18, 11:22 AM
Michael K said...: In 1995, I visited my mother who was in her 90s and found that Chicago had a heat wave and her building had not turned on the air conditioning. It was 95 outside for days.

I went right out and bought her a big window A/C unit. Then I had to install it in the window of her 17th floor apartment.

I got a kid who worked in the building to help but I had visions of someone walking under if we dropped it.

It would have been spectacular but we got it installed without dropping it.

Everybody in the building was dropping by for a visit for a week after. She had never been so popular.; 7/4/18, 11:22 AM
Ron Snyder said...: May have been natural selection as she was so focused on the phone to her ear that she was not paying attention to her surroundings.; 7/4/18, 11:22 AM
Michael K said...: Common problem.; 7/4/18, 11:25 AM
Lyle said...: I know an old Dean of Students from UW-Madison. She said the students were way more violent and riotous than any southern college kids she ever worked for.; 7/4/18, 11:31 AM
Trumpit said...: White people are crazy. Nuclear war and extinction are in mankind's future on account of Caucasian fools like Trump. The fraternity that was involved in that mayhem should be shuttered and shackled. Kick those frat brats out.; 7/4/18, 11:37 AM
Robin Goodfellow said...: "Ghost Town (2008) has a similar problem with window air conditioners. Just misses a guy who, startled, jumps and is killed by a bus."

"Damn MTA's a menace!"; 7/4/18, 11:37 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Missed your morning meds did we...?; 7/4/18, 11:45 AM
Michael The Magnificent said...: A Fish Called Wanda; 7/4/18, 11:48 AM
Big Mike said...: @tim maguire, I agree with you, to a point. But why did no one grab her shoulder or arm as she was pushing through the crowd and yell "Look out!"?; 7/4/18, 11:48 AM
FleetUSA said...: How much do they pay a year for this type of education?; 7/4/18, 11:52 AM
tim maguire said...: Good question Mike. If I were to defend the kids around her, I'd say that it happened fast--the circle is no bigger than it needs to be for nobody to get hit. Judging by the top of the screen, by the time it was clear she was going for it, it was already too late to stop the TV. The other kids may not have realized what she was doing until it was too late to stop her.

Note, though, that nobody seemed too fussed that she almost got hit. The celebrations went on without pause.; 7/4/18, 11:54 AM
James K said...: If one sees a crowd gathered, one doesn't normally think that it's because a heavy object is about to drop from the sky. I would presume she was just trying to get where she was going. I agree with Big Mike: someone should have grabbed her, and the idiots who dropped the TV should be charged with a crime.; 7/4/18, 11:56 AM
DavidD said...: Situational awareness fail.; 7/4/18, 12:03 PM
chuck said...: They needed to be better prepared: yellow tape or safety guards and a countdown. Fools are everywhere, even attentive folks have moments of oblivion. There is a reason there are standard procedures whenever potentially dangerous things are going down. I hope the all involved learned something.; 7/4/18, 12:04 PM
Roughcoat said...: Isn't time to ban fraternities? /sarc; 7/4/18, 12:05 PM
MadisonMan said...: and the idiots who dropped the TV should be charged with a crime.

Why? And what crime?

Not everything is worth investigating, nor prosecuting.

Re: Window units. The difficulty is that when they start to go, and you grab the electric cord, the cord is pulled right out and the unit falls. I've seen this happen twice. Once was on Campus. The Police did not investigate.; 7/4/18, 12:06 PM
Michael K said...: "Kick those frat brats out."

At least they aren't as crazy as you are.; 7/4/18, 12:09 PM
Gahrie said...: They needed to be better prepared: yellow tape or safety guards and a countdown. Fools are everywhere, even attentive folks have moments of oblivion. There is a reason there are standard procedures whenever potentially dangerous things are going down. I hope the all involved learned something.

This appears to be a semi-impromptu event fueled by alcohol...you know your average college event.; 7/4/18, 12:15 PM
tcrosse said...: Actually, a CRT television set should be properly disposed of in a qualified recycling facility, due to the potentially dangerous chemicals contained in its circuitry. Our rising generation of intellectuals seem not to be environmentally aware.; 7/4/18, 12:17 PM
Big Mike said...: @MadMan, how about littering?; 7/4/18, 12:20 PM
Big Mike said...: Or reckless endangerment?; 7/4/18, 12:24 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: Situational awareness? You must be fucking kidding. She wasn’t trying to run across the freeway or traverse the ghetto at 2AM. The fraternity idiots should be prosecuted. One of the things I tried to make clear to my sons as they went through their teens was that they would be held responsible for the stupid shit they might do. Intent doesn’t lessen the harm.; 7/4/18, 12:29 PM
clint said...: Really hard to tell what happened with everything that came before cut out of the video. Presumably that was an editorial choice.; 7/4/18, 12:31 PM
Trumpit said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/4/18, 12:34 PM
walter said...: Looks like she may have been clipped slightly.
Those drunk dudes weren't exactly out of the way of flying pieces.
Jumping on the tv immediately is a nice touch.
Yeah..the drunks had a lotta "situational awareness"; 7/4/18, 12:42 PM
Trumpit said...: @Michael K,
I don't respond to Trump trolls like you. You're addicted to painkillers, but that doesn't forgive your vulgarity. Please remove you hideous mug from your profile; it makes me gag every time it crosses my screen.; 7/4/18, 12:42 PM
Fernandinande said...: TV's fall from grace
Gravitational constant
Nearly hit my face.

++

The TV is falling,
And so am I-
Can't you hear me calling?
Cover me with the sky.
I bask in your screen's blue glow,
All though it's ten below.
I'll be with you, wherever you go.

The TV is falling, the TV is falling.

++

My pain and misery and TV fall from the sky
So hard I try to ignore it, but it still gets by.
Surrounded with memories of what could have been,
The hatred screams under my skin.
Pulsing through my veins are the glass shards I feel.; 7/4/18, 12:45 PM
Yancey Ward said...: I have macabre interest in dash-cam video- most of which is from Russian drivers interestingly enough. The lack of awareness in those was kind of shocking to me. I guess the thing that bothers me is that I can understand what happened in a lot of the instances because I recognize things that I as a driver or pedestrian have done without thinking- most of them earlier in my life, but a handful in the more recent past. Situational awareness is a learned thing, not instinctual.; 7/4/18, 12:55 PM
Bill Peschel said...: Question: If the video didn't exist, would anyone care?

Would the woman have complained to police? Probably not. She might learn a lesson from this, or she might not.

Is this a good use of limited police and judicial resources? Are you kidding?

I'm not going to let my emotions trump reason.

Walk away. Just don't use your cellphone while doing so.; 7/4/18, 12:56 PM
James K said...: Yes, reckless endangerment. Tossing a heavy object from a height that could kill someone, and almost did, shouldn’t be laughed off. There are kids who do this from freeway bridges and every so often do kill someone.; 7/4/18, 12:57 PM
Leland said...: I'm happy to see the students at Madison care enough about our environment to properly dispose of electronic devices. I really appreciate the model citizenry they show. We should look to them as our future leaders.; 7/4/18, 12:58 PM
walter said...: Question: If she was killed, would people respond the same?; 7/4/18, 12:59 PM
Michael K said...: " it makes me gag every time it crosses my screen."

Good. Thank God I don't have to look at yours.; 7/4/18, 1:08 PM
chuck said...: > I recognize things that I as a driver or pedestrian have done without thinking

We all have had those "there, but for the grace of G*d" moments. One lesson that stuck with me was rubbed in by a dressing down from an ex navy guy. At a minimum, those kids need to be lined up against a wall and yelled at by someone who knows how to do it.; 7/4/18, 1:17 PM
Rabel said...: Did they spot Dave Letterman on top of the building?; 7/4/18, 1:19 PM
Rabel said...: If the TV had hit her and killed her would that have counted as a sifting or a winnowing?

Maybe a little of both.; 7/4/18, 1:24 PM
James K said...: “She might learn a lesson....”

Wow, SHE might learn a lesson? It’s the hooligans who almost killed her that need to learn a lesson. What lesson is she supposed to learn? Always be on the lookout for large falling objects? Sure, she could have been a bit less oblivious to what was going on, but you can’t go through life (or walk around Manhattan) on the lookout for falling objects. Blaming her is like blaming a crime victim for being out alone at night.; 7/4/18, 1:26 PM
rcocean said...: So, she was *almost* hit by a TV, but wasn't.

So what?

Was it an accident? Was it planned? What was the intent? Did they see her? Why was she crossing at that particular moment?; 7/4/18, 1:54 PM
loudogblog said...: I hate to say it, but it reminded me of the intro to the old SCTV comedy show where they throw TVs out of the windows. (To signify the viewer's disgust with the program.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGrs5ycQNf4; 7/4/18, 2:12 PM
Rick said...: Are they investigating how stupid she was to run into an area everyone had intentionally cleared?; 7/4/18, 2:30 PM
Trumpit said...: The age of Trump is the age of incivility. Violence and vulgarity is all anyone will remember about his reign. Hopefully, most of Althouse's Trump trolls will all have died by then, one hopes from brain tumors that they've manifested on this blog, and Trump will be incarcerated for high crimes and misdemeanors. Trump will enjoy daily the "most beautiful piece of crusty bread, and fluoridated water that you've ever seen." That will cure his hotheadedness, and his fatheadedness.; 7/4/18, 2:49 PM
gilbar said...: i don't understand; none of this makes any sense
You keep talking about a TV falling on a young lady; So?
TV's weigh like what? 10 pounds? With their air resistance, their terminal velocity couldn't hurt anyone.

Then, i watch you video; and i see this lady almost DIE after someone drops a Huge piece of history on her: now, Everybody Knows that History is DANGEROUS...
Why would you drop a piece of history on someone?
WHERE would you Get such an artifact? Is there a museum in Madison?; 7/4/18, 3:12 PM
Michael K said...: " Violence and vulgarity is all anyone will remember about his reign."

Still crazy, I see.; 7/4/18, 3:29 PM
Granny said...: Safe space, coming right up.; 7/4/18, 3:31 PM
Jupiter said...: It looks to me like she knew what was going to happen, and thought she could avoid it by staying close to the wall. As indeed she did.; 7/4/18, 3:55 PM
Trumpit said...: @Michael K,
How many patients have you killed, and how many have you left maimed for life? Fortunately, your license to practice medicine has been revoke. Unfortunately, you make an ass out of yourself on the internet as a troll-thug.; 7/4/18, 4:15 PM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/4/18, 4:16 PM
Michael K said...: Trumpit has a vivid imagination and I should leave it alone lest it find my address.

It is crazy. I do have a Colt .45 in the bedside table should you learn where I live,; 7/4/18, 4:40 PM
PB said...: That's nothing. One time the Delt pledges at my school were tasked with cleaning out the chapter room on the 5th floor of the frat house. They found an old motorcycle and instead of navigating it down the stairs they just tossed it out a window (conveniently large window) and narrowly missed the director of undergraduate housing who happened to be walking by.; 7/4/18, 4:59 PM
tcrosse said...: Just some crazy History Majors reenacting the Defenestration of Prague with the materials at hand. It's educational.; 7/4/18, 5:52 PM
Original Mike said...: ”Re: Window units. The difficulty is that when they start to go, and you grab the electric cord, the cord is pulled right out and the unit falls. I've seen this happen twice. Once was on Campus. The Police did not investigate.

A friend and I dropped an air conditioner we were trying to deinstall for a woman from a 2nd story window onto a concrete stoop. It was hard on the air conditioner, but the woman did not see fit to call the police.; 7/4/18, 5:58 PM
steve uhr said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/4/18, 6:01 PM
Ralph L said...: She's barefoot.
How could anyone try to navigate through a mob that large and noisy while on the phone? She's lucky she wasn't groped, too.; 7/4/18, 7:07 PM
James K said...: A friend and I dropped an air conditioner

You see no difference (re criminality) between an accident and an intentional act?; 7/4/18, 7:24 PM
Dad29 said...: Notice the big crowd of people gathered around where the TV is about to be dropped--they all know what's going on and are eagerly anticipating it. IT's a planned event. Then watch a girl on a cell phone push through the crowd, completely oblivious to what's happening, and walk right into the path of the TV.

She knew the crowd was there. She cut through because it was easier than going around and not one synapse in her brain wondered why all the people were looking at this spot she was just about to step on.

That's a PUBLIC sidewalk. Not reserved for drunken morons in a frat. Since she is not a drunken frat-moron, she does not know "the plan," no matter who is staring at what. However, I'll go along with JimK and settle for reckless endangerment with 5 years' IN prison and 15 years probation.; 7/4/18, 9:04 PM
Rick said...: Trumpit said...
The age of Trump is the age of incivility. Violence and vulgarity is all anyone will remember about his reign.

People will certainly remember how his presence provoked his opponents into revealing how insane they are.; 7/4/18, 10:14 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Parents, bounce your kids out of the frat. I certainly wouldn't pay extra to have my son act like a complete moron and almost kill someone.; 7/4/18, 11:04 PM
stevew said...: Close only counts in horshoes and hand grenades.

-sw; 7/5/18, 5:24 AM
stlcdr said...: Here's a quick tip for the police: go to YouTube.; 7/5/18, 5:59 AM
Rusty said...: Trumpit said...
"@Michael K,
I don't respond to Trump trolls like you. You're addicted to painkillers, but that doesn't forgive your vulgarity. Please remove you hideous mug from your profile; it makes me gag every time it crosses my screen."

You don't respond to logic or reason yet here you are. A barely concealed example of leftist rage.
Yeah. Doc. remove that ugly photo because the world revolves around little Trumpit and that world must not be tarnished with reality.; 7/5/18, 7:11 AM
MayBee said...: Everybody does something really stupid a couple times in our lives. I'm glad the girl is ok, so there are no consequences for her. And I'm hoping there are no serious consequences for the partiers. We've gotten too life-ruiny when it comes to trying to make people pay for their mistakes.; 7/5/18, 7:17 AM
richard mcenroe said...: Dad29: by God, I have a RIGHT to walk under large falling objects, do you hear me? A RIGHT!

However stupidly that crowd was behaving, that woman has the survival instincts of krill...; 7/5/18, 11:55 AM
mikee said...: Both the object-droppers and the walking dead here are stupid, no doubts about that.
Physics gives us the answer to who was more stupid here.

The woman takes 3 quick steps from her safe location before TV impact, about 1.5 seconds.

The dorm in the background has 3 stories, so about 30 feet for the 3rd story window height, and maybe 40 for the roof. That means much less than 1 second to drop to the ground, even from the roof. (Calculations are left to the reader, as I don't type math.)

So assuming the TV was pushed off the ledge, the droppers likely looked down, saw the landing zone was clear, and pushed the TV. Between the time they saw a clear landing zone and the pushing of the TV, less than a second, little Miss Better View leaps into action and steps into the Danger Zone.

I will argue the above demonstrates the fault of increased risk of being hit by a falling TV lies with the idiot holding the cell phone, not the idiots dropping the TV. Although, once again, let me reiterate that everyone involved in this deserves at minimum glass fragments in their faces for being so stupid.; 7/5/18, 1:08 PM
mikee said...: OK, it has been demonstrated that I didn't use Newton's formula correctly.
The TV drop takes less than 2.0 seconds from the roof, a maximum height of 40 feet.

My argument remains the same. Bad timing on the part of the idiot below deserves the win for the Darwin runnerup award.; 7/5/18, 1:10 PM
FredwinaD said...: Thank God she wasn't hurt. But it's crazy to say someone should be criminally charged! Holy cow! It was just a stupid college kid trick. And I'd say there's 99% chance she knew exactly what was going on and was too stupid to stay clear. It's extremely doubtful anyone was intentionally targeting her, either. Hopefully they all learned a lesson with not too much harm done. I agree with May Bee - everyone is too hot on punishing mistakes in judgement these days. We have all done really stupid things, especially at that age. There's no reason to ruin someone's life over what *could have* happened.; 7/5/18, 5:34 PM
Twelve said...: If that had been Wile E. Coyote it would have been an anvil falling. And it would have hit him. But some people still believe in the patriarchy.; 7/5/18, 6:12 PM