Steve Simple is a pledge in Zeta Iota Tau (ZIT) fraternity at Minor State Teachers College (MSTC). As part of his pledge duties, he is sent to climb the campus water tower to repaint the fraternity's Greek letters, which had faded in the last year. (The tower has been covered, virtually throughout its existence, with graffiti placed on it by students.) The night Steve climbs the tower, a tremendous thunderstorm is in progress, making the steps quite slippery and exposing anyone climbing the tower to a great danger of being hit by lightning. Fortified by a six-pack of warm Hudepohl beer ($1.89 at the local convenience store), Steve nonetheless decides to make the attempt. Unfortunately, Steve is electrocuted halfway up the tower by a short circuit in the tower's pumping mechanism. The short circuit was the result of a failure to perform proper maintenance (this being deferred by MSTC so that it could pay higher faculty salaries) and was something that had happened before (although only pigeons had been fried in the past).

Discuss the potential liability of all parties in this case. Consider the following when writing this essay:

• Negligence
• Fault
• Chain of causation
• Proximate cause
• Assumption of risk
• Contributory negligence
• Comparative negligence