Eight Frostburg State University students were charged with manslaughter in the alcohol poisoning death of a freshman.

The freshman, John Stinner, 20, consumed at least six beers and 12 shots of vodka in two hours at an off-campus fraternity party, Allegany County State’s Attorney Lawrence Kelly said Monday.

Stinner was found dead on Nov. 9 in his dormitory room where friends had carried him after the party. His blood alcohol level was more than three times Maryland’s legal intoxication level of 0.10 percent.

The eight were charge with reckless endangerment. They were also charged with sale of alcohol without a license because Stinner and other underage drinkers wanting to attend the party had to pay a $3 admission fee, Kelly said.

Is it fair for these eight young students to be charged with manslaughter?

The freshman was 20 years old and old enough to know what he was doing.

In this country you can be tried as an adult at 18 and you can die for your country, but one is still considered underage when it comes to alcohol consumption — at least until one turns 21.

Where is the line for maturity? Is it age or is it knowing when and how much to drink?

Granted, this is a sad incident, but the 20-year-old freshman was old enough to realize the consequences of drinking. The alcohol he consumed was, though provided by others, consumed by his hand alone.

One of the things people learn in college is choosing for themselves what’s right and what is wrong.

A college freshman chose to go to this party and chose to drink until his life was at risk.

The only mistake the other eight students made was to take him to his room and leave him unattended. They should have taken him to the hospital, especially if they knew the amount of alcohol he had consumed.

Yes, drinking underage is illegal and the selling of alcohol to minors is illegal, and these eight students should be punished. But they shouldn’t be charged with manslaughter.