While he was fighting cancer, Champion started a blog and began posting stories about his experience of fighting cancer said his girlfriend. Courtesy photo

After a vigorous three-year battle with bone cancer, mechanical engineering sophomore Chris Champion died on Aug. 5 before he could enter his third year at Cal Poly. While he was fighting cancer, Champion started a blog and began posting stories about his experience of fighting cancer said his girlfriend.

The blog reached thousands of people from across the nation and the world with posts about his cancer remissions, relapses and his faith in God.

Emily Barber, Champion’s high school sweetheart and girlfriend at the time of Champion’s passing, said that he would receive words of encouragement from people across the national and world.

“This blog was one more way to let his story inspire people, and to show them how much he was trusting in God for his safekeeping,” Barber said.

After being diagnosed with cancer in his left femur in 2006, Champion had a hip and femur replacement his senior year at Stockdale High School. The summer before he came to Cal Poly, he went through chemotherapy and finished his treatment right before WOW.

Biological sciences junior Mike Safina met Champion in the Yosemite dorms their freshman year. When he first met a bald-headed, post-chemotherapy Champion, Safina thought he was a skinhead.

“I was wrong. He was a man of faith that could not be rocked by any circumstance. When he was told by doctors he wouldn’t live much longer, he didn’t cash in his chips. He signed up for classes,” he said.

During fall 2007, Champion noticed some swollen lymph nodes in his leg. He went home to Bakersfield and had surgery to replace from the middle of his femur to the middle of his tibia. He returned to Cal Poly to attend for his second year and lived with Safina in Poly Canyon.

Winter 2009, Champion began getting headaches. He went to  the French Hospital where they found lesions in his head and problems with his lungs. Champion went back home, so Safina went to see him in the hospital in Bakersfield.

“I remember a couple months before he died, my friend and I went to visit him in the hospital. When we first saw him, I expected him to be depressed and dealing, but he greeted us with a giant smile and shouting. He was so excited we were there, not just because he missed us, but he really wanted an In-and-Out burger and was trying to convince us to bust him out of the hospital by tying his bed to my friend’s truck. That was who Chris was. A champion. A fighter. A man of truth faith. The best man and best friend I have known,” Safina said.

As the spring months came, Champion’s doctors and family thought he might not make it through the summer. Champion pulled through and was out of the hospital and in a wheelchair by the fourth of July. In August, his sickness suddenly came back and he unexpectedly died. His family held a memorial service for him on Aug. 15.

Before he was diagnosed with cancer, Champion led an active life. He played the trombone in the marching band and on family vacations he enjoyed wakeboarding.

“He lost his ability to run and jump before I met him, but that never slowed him down. He was a fighter until the day he died,” Safina said.

Champion remained as active as he could while he was sick. After his father, John Champion, died in January 2009, from an aggressive form of brain cancer, Champion put together a team to particpate in Relay for Life, an American Cancer Society charity that raises money for cancer research by having teams get sponsorships to walk or run for a given amount of time. Though Champion was still fighting cancer and dealing with the physical pains of his sickness, he still participated and dedicated his team to his father. The fund raised $1,275.

“He and his dad shared a mischievous streak,” Barber recalled. “One day, his mom was chiding them both about how fast they went through orange juice, and she bought a huge container and told them to make it last. Soon after, when she wasn’t looking, they poured out all the orange juice into another container and left the empty jug in the refrigerator. His mom discovered it and flipped out. Chris and his dad high-fived and basked in their achievement for days,” Barber said.

On one of his most popular blog post titled “What Happens When I Don’t Pay Attention in Church,” Champion commented, “The effect I’ve already had on people’s lives is enough to make me honestly say that I would do it again, if given the choice.”

The parents of Carson Starkey filed a wrongful death lawsuit Tuesday against the national organization of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE), the local chapter and nine former members of the fraternity.

Starkey died last year after he was given large amounts of alcohol at a Sigma Alpha Epsilon pledge event known as “Brown Bag Night.”
The four former members of the fraternity who have been criminally charged for the incident are named in the lawsuit in addition to the officers of SAE at the time of the incident.

Ivo Labar, one of the lawyers representing Scott and Julia Starkey, said that they decided to file the lawsuit now to coincide with the beginning of school to raise awareness about the dangers of hazing.

The Starkey family has started a non-profit organization called With Carson, to help educate students about alcohol. A bill was also passed in Texas, Starkey’s home state, called the Carson Starkey Alcohol Awareness and Education Act.

Labar said that they have not asked for any money in the suit at this time.

Labar also said that other fraternities have been sued over wrongful deaths successfully in the past.

“The national fraternities do not take charge,” he said.

There is no outside supervision in these organizations; teenagers are supervising teenagers, he added.

Scott and Julia Starkey hired two different law firms, one from Washington D.C. and one from San Francisco. Both have experience in litigation involving fraternities.

“We will continue to honor Carson by doing everything we can to end widespread misconduct by fraternities,” said Scott Starkey in a press release. “By bringing this lawsuit, we hope to bring attention to the dangers of hazing, cause fundamental change in fraternities and prevent other families from suffering as we have.”

Rodriguez was about to enter his third year at Cal Poly when he died at Sequoia National Park on Aug. 10. Photo courtesy of Rodriguez family

Cal Poly electrical engineering junior Kevin Trevor Rodriguez fell to his death at Sequoia National Park Aug. 10, officials from the National Park Service (NPS) said. Rodriguez is survived by his sister, an older brother and his parents, Robert and Trinidad.

Rodriguez, 19, was about to enter his third year at Cal Poly when the hiking accident occurred. He had just finished three courses at Moorpark Community College during his summer break and was celebrating his academic success by going to Sequoia National Park, said his father, Robert Rodriguez. Rodriguez left for the park with two childhood friends and his family Aug. 9.

Rodriguez and his friends left to go hiking around 11 a.m. on Aug. 10, his father said. Rodriguez’s family dropped off their son and his friends near a trail and planned to meet up later that day. Rodriguez was hiking near Tokopah Falls, a very rocky area, when the accident occurred in the late afternoon. Rodriguez was hiking down a steep drop when he slipped.

He fell 50-60 feet to the base of a canyon and suffered severe head injuries, landing in what the California Park Service described as a small pool below the rocks. His family was informed of the tragedy around 6 p.m., after his body had been airlifted by a medical helicopter to a nearby city.

Park authorities and paramedics at the scene attempted CPR for about one hour before pronouncing him dead at 4 p.m.

Park officials speculate that Rodriguez and his hiking companions chose to take an easier route.

“While less steep, the rocks they chose to descend were made slippery by water passing over them during high water,” according to a statement from the NPS.

One of the roommates he would have been living with this year was with him on the hike.

Rodriguez was a member of the renewable energy club at Cal Poly. Club president Patrick Bernard said that without Rodriguez the club would not exist. Rodriguez was the only person to show up to Bernard’s first meeting as president. It was not only his commitment to the club that Bernard remembered but also his outgoing personality.

“He always wore a smile,” Bernard said. “He was always inviting people to dinner and was always down to go to the beach or on a hike.”

Bernard also said that Rodriguez was his go to guy and was smart beyond his years.

“In five years Kevin would be a millionaire, gazillionaire genuis,” Bernard said.

Bernard regrets not taking pictures at club meetings because he feels like he does not have enough tangible moments of Rodriguez.

The passing of Rodriguez, a Malibu resident and former Malibu High School student, prompted the creation of a 447-member strong Facebook group, titled “In Loving Memory of Kevin Rodriguez, R.I.P.” Rodriguez’s younger sister Diana started the group.

Many members of the group shared reactions to the news of Rodriguez’s death on the group’s Facebook wall.

“Kevin was always such a nice person,” one member wrote. “I didn’t know him well, but he made going to Malibu High a lot easier for me as an incoming freshman some six years ago. I’ll always remember you as the caring, smart person who accepted everyone for who they were and always had something nice to say.”

Rodriguez is remembered by friends and family as a friendly face and someone who enjoyed learning. He liked surfing, both at home in Malibu and at school around Pismo Beach and Morro Bay. His friends described him as respectful and loving.

Rodriguez was interested in programming and software development and wanted to develop his own computer games, his father said.

Robert Rodriguez noticed that his son was becoming increasingly spiritual about three to four weeks before the accident.

“There was no time to say goodbye the day you went away,” Robert Rodriguez wrote about his son’s passing. “We think of you in silence, we often speak your name. All we have are memories, and your picture in a frame. If tears could build a stairway and heartaches make a lane, we would walk the path to Heaven to bring you home again… Fly well sweetie, till we meet again.”

“He always believed in this: ‘knowledge is power,’” Robert Rodriguez said. “He always liked to treat others the way he liked to be treated. He always said, ‘never assume’ or ‘never judge.’”

A church memorial service took place on Aug. 23 in Westlake Village. Rodriguez would have been 20 this November.

Electrical engineering junior Kevin Trevor Rodriguez fell to his death at Sequoia National Park on Tuesday, Aug. 10, officials from the National Park Service (NPS) said.

Rodriguez, 19, was hiking near Tokopah Falls when the accident occurred in the late afternoon, officials said. Rodriguez fell more than 50 feet down to the base of a canyon and suffered severe head injuries, ultimately landing in what officials described as a small pool below the rocks.

According to the press release, park authorities and paramedics at the scene attempted CPR on the 19-year-old for about one hour before pronouncing him dead at 4:00 p.m.

NPS officials said Rodriguez was not alone when he slipped to his death. Authorities think Rodriguez was hiking down a steep drop when he accidentally slipped.  In a press release from the NPS, officials speculate Rodriguez and his hiking companions chose to take an easier route.

“While less steep, the rocks they chose to descend were made slippery by water passing over them during high water,” the release said.

The passing of Rodriguez, a Malibu resident and former Malibu High School student, prompted the initiation of a 447-member strong Facebook group, titled “In Loving Memory of Kevin Rodriguez, R.I.P.” Rodriguez’s sister, Diana, started the group.

Many members of the group shared reactions to the news of Rodriguez’s death on the group’s Facebook wall.

“Kevin was always such a nice person,” one member wrote. “I didn’t know him well, but he made going to Malibu High a lot easier for me as an incoming Freshman some six years ago. I’ll always remember you as the caring, smart person who accepted everyone for who they were and always had something nice to say.”

Editor’s note: We’ll soon have more information on Rodriguez’s death. Check back to mustangdaily.net and twitter.com/mustangdaily next week for the full story.

The last of four former Cal Poly students arrested in connection with a  hazing-related student death pleaded not guilty Thursday.

The charges are related to the death of freshman Carson Starkey who was found unresponsive in a local home in December 2008 after attending a Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity party.

Earlier this week, Haithem Ibrahim, 20, Zacary Ellis, 22, and Russell Taylor, 22, pleaded not guilty to one felony violation of hazing causing death or great bodily injury and one misdemeanor violation of permitting a minor to consume alcohol.

Adam Marszal, 21, who appeared in court Thursday, also pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor count of the same violations.

The four men were arrested on May 21. They each surrendered themselves  after warrants were obtained for their arrests and were booked at the San Luis Obispo County Jail, but each posted bail on the same afternoon.

Starkey died Dec. 2 after spending the night at an SAE  pledge initiation event called “Brown Bag Night.”

He was given large quantities of alcohol allegedly purchased by Ellis, Taylor and Marszal. Ellis, the SAE pledge educator, reportedly told the 17 underage pledges to finish their portions of alcohol within an hour and a half.

When Starkey became unresponsive later in the night, a few SAE members reportedly tried to take him to the hospital, but returned to the house on Highland Drive when Starkey began vomiting, police said.

The next morning Starkey was taken to Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center, where his autopsy showed that he died of respiratory arrest due to acute ethanol toxicity, or alcohol poisoning. His blood-alcohol content was between 0.39 and 0.45 percent.

Previous coverage:

• Four Cal Poly students charged in Starkey’s death
• Alcohol poisoning and hazing determined to be causes of Starkey death (Jan . 21, 2009)
• Greek life discusses future at summit (Jan. 12, 2009)
• Greek life still suspended after student death (Jan. 6, 2009)
• Deceased freshman remembered by students and community members (Dec. 5, 2008)
• Freshman student dead after fraternity party (Dec. 3, 2008)

Jurors found two San Luis Obispo residents guilty Monday of first-degree murder for the 2007 death of a Cal Poly alumnus, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported.

Chad Westbrook, 37, and Patrick Wollett, 19, were convicted of killing 36-year-old Joshua Houlgate, a 1995 Cal Poly graduate and son of retired Cal Poly philosophy professor Laurence Houlgate.

According to court records, the two men were charged under California Penal Code 187 for pre-meditated murder.

The murder took place at Wollett’s home, the Oceanaire Mobile Home Park on Orcutt Road, after the victim had allegedly been caught having sex with the fiancé of Wollett’s brother, Sarah Lonsinger-Rey, 24.

According to earlier testimony from Hope Tanore Westbrook’s sister, Wollett, Westbrook and Houlgate were under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the shooting. Tanore said that she and the two men convicted had been awake on a five-day methamphetamine binge and had been drinking earlier in the evening.

The autopsy in January 2008 revealed Houlgate’s death was caused by a single shot to the chest from a 12-gauge shotgun.

At the preliminary hearing in February 2008, the Mustang Daily reported that Houlgate’s parents wiped tears from their eyes during the testimony of Lonsinger-Rey.

Jurors found Westbrook and Wollett — who were also tried for the assault of Lonsinger-Rey with a baseball bat at the time of the murder — guilty of felony assault with a deadly weapon, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported. Westbrook was also found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Both men are scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 5 and face up to the maximum penalty of life in prison. Westbrook and Wollet remain at the San Luis Obispo county jail without bail, according to court records.

­­­— Daniel Triassi, Tim Miller, and Lauren Rabaino contributed to this report.