Student
dies after night of drinking
Jason Kirsinas
By
Sean Emery
On-line Forty-Niner
Jason
Kirsinas, a Cal State Long Beach student
and President’s Scholar, died Thursday,
three days after lapsing into a coma following
a night of drinking on his 21st birthday.
A
gifted student, dedicated athlete, artist
and a lifelong resident of Long Beach, Kirsinas
was a junior business administration major
at CSULB.
According
to Tracy Aldhous, a friend of the Kirsinas
family, his life was cut short last Thursday
when he died of complications from alcohol
poisoning at Long Beach Community Hospital.
According
to Rebecka Chiles, Kirsinas’ girlfriend,
he and his friends had been at the Liquid
Lounge at 3522 E. Anaheim St. in Long Beach,
celebrating his birthday on April 26. Family
members declined to discuss how much alcohol
Kirsinas had in his system.
“We
were having a good time,” said Steve
Baranowki, a junior communications major
CSULB, and a friend of Kirsinas. “Just
hanging out and reminiscing.”
Later
that night, after leaving the bar, Kirsinas’
friends began to notice that something was
wrong. According to Chiles, he was acting
disoriented, and was having trouble breathing.
“I
knew that something was wrong,” Chiles
said. “He hardly knew who I was.”
His
friends tried to perform CPR, and, when
Kirsinas didn’t respond, took him
to the emergency room at Long Beach Community
Hospital. Last Thursday at 9:44 a.m., three
days after being admitted to the hospital,
Kirsinas was pronounced dead of alcohol
poisoning.
According
to his friends, Kirsinas was not normally
a heavy drinker.
“He
was not a hardcore drinker,” Baranowski
said. “He was just a normal college
student.”
According
to Stan Olin, the housing director for CSULB,
Kirsinas’ death highlights the dangers
that go along with excessive alcohol use
by students.
“This
is just the thing you don’t want to
hear in concern to alcohol,” Olin
said. “He was one of those persons
who just had too much in too short a period
of time. I’m so afraid that young
people aren’t grasping how dangerous
that [alcohol] can be. Do all student’s
even know that alcohol can kill you?”
Kirsinas’
friends remember him as an extremely friendly
and outgoing individual who was always quick
to make friends.
“Jason
was a very kind-hearted, loving guy, who
was always looking out for other people,”
said Baranowski. “He was one of those
guys who would always be there when you
needed him.”
A
former high school athlete who ran track
at Wilson High School in Long Beach, Kirsinas
was a fitness enthusiast who, according
to friends, went to the gym every day at
2 in the afternoon.
“He
was loving, supportive, successful and fun
to be around,” said Chiles. “He
had a smile that you couldn’t forget.”
Friends
also describe Kirsinas as being extremely
artistic. He worked with his father making
custom add-ons for houses, and in his spare
time liked building skateboards. He also
enjoyed working on his Volkswagen Beetle.
“Whenever
we rode in the car he would jam to his favorite
songs,” Chiles said. “It was
nice to see him so happy when he did that,
and it would always make me laugh.”
There
was also a strong reaction from the President’s
Office, which worked with Kirsinas during
his participation in the President’s
Scholar program. President Robert Maxson
visited Kirsinas in the hospital, and has
prepared a statement to be read at his memorial.
“He
was a young person who had his whole life
ahead of him,” said Armando Contreras,
the executive assistant to the president.
“In these times our hearts go out
to his family and friends.”
There
will be a memorial for Kirsinas Thursday
at 3 p.m. at El Dorado East Regional Park
in Long Beach. In lieu of flowers, the Kirsinas’
family is asking that donations be made
in Jason’s name to Community Hospital
of Long Beach.
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