http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2001/11/11-07-01tdc/11-07-01dnews-1.asp
Alumna dies; ecstasy a link 23-year-old PSU graduate Stephanie Yau died Monday night after attending a downtown rave.
By Lynne Funk Collegian Staff Writer
A 23-year-old Penn State alumna died Monday night at Geisinger Health Center in Danville from what the State College Police Department believes to be an overdose of the illegal drug MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy.
Stephanie Yau, who had been living in Woodhaven, N.Y.
since her graduation last year, was visiting friends for the weekend, police said. She went to a rave party at the Tall
Shiva Hookah Lounge at Simply Kind, 224 W. College Ave., during the early morning hours of Sunday, police said.
The exact cause of death has yet to be determined, but it is believed to be connected to consumption of the drug sometime between 3 and 5 a.m. Sunday, Lt. Diane Conrad said.
An autopsy will be performed today in Lehigh County, Conrad said.
Friends of Yau told police she had ingested the pill, described as a "double stack Superman." The pill was round, thick and pink with a "Superman" logo stamped on one side, her friends told police. They also said she became unconscious at about 9 a.m. Sunday, and they took her to Centre Community Hospital. She was then taken to Geisinger.
The pill was obtained locally from someone at the rave party in State College, Conrad said.Because friends of Yau told police it was possibly her first time trying the drug, Conrad said police are treating it as a suspicious death. Police believe the cause of death is strongly connected to the drug usage, but because the autopsy has yet to be completed, it is not conclusive.
"From what we've been told, she has not abused drugs or
alcohol," Conrad said.Conrad said if that was true, it makes the situation especially poignant. "One wrong decision could have these repercussions," Conrad said.
Conrad stressed the danger of taking the illegal drugs and wanted community members to be aware of those dangers.
"We feel very strongly that people need to be very aware and very careful of anything they are ingesting into their bodies," Conrad said. Although this could be the first death in State College resulting from an overdose of ecstasy, Conrad said police are "staff intensive" concerning trying to keep the area drug free, specifically from ecstasy.
"There's no quality control. You're not really sure when someone gives you something," Conrad said.
Byron Jones, Penn State professor of biobehavioral health
and pharmacology, reiterated what Conrad said.
"Any time you buy stuff off the street, God knows, you could be buying anything," Jones said.
Police are investigating the situation and if the person who supplied the drug to Yau is found, Conrad said criminal charges will be pressed.
Because of proponent Web sites and organizations about ecstasy, Conrad said many people do not know of the dangers of the drug.
Representatives of Tall Shiva Hookah Lounge and Simply Kind declined to comment yesterday. | 
