Student dies on spring break

An IU student vacationing in Acapulco, Mexico, died over spring break from cardiac arrest and gastrointestinal complications. \nBrandon Rotstein, a junior from Northbrook, Ill., died in a small airplane as he was being transported to Chicago.\nA funeral is being held today at 10 a.m. in his hometown.\nRotstein was elected last year to the IU Student Association Senate as an off-campus representative. He was a School of Public and Environmental Affairs major and an entrepreneur who owned the Web site www.jerseys4you.com, an online company selling hockey jerseys from Europe and Russia. He was also IU's representative for College Boxes, a shipping and storage company.\nFriends remember Rotstein as a guy you could always rely on. \nFreshman Naomi Fox met Rotstein just two weeks ago when he gave her a ride to Chicago. He made an immediate impression on her.\n"He was the nicest guy with the biggest heart," Fox said.\nRotstein awoke on Tuesday morning complaining of stomach pains, his friend Brad Lipton said. An ambulance came to the hotel where Rotstein and his friends were staying and took him to the hospital where he stayed overnight. A doctor said Rotstein would be fine the next day. \nHis mother, who was in California at the time, came to the hospital. When he didn't improve, she decided to fly Rotstein home to Chicago. \nHe died during the flight.\n"He was a great person," Lipton said. "He was like everybody's best friend."\nLipton said his friend was very outgoing and loved college basketball. \nFreshman Jenny Ruchim, who went to the high school prom with Rotstein, said he had a enormous lust for living.\n"He was so friendly and nice," Ruchim said. "He was always smiling. He made everybody feel comfortable about themselves."\nRuchim said during the winter, Rotstein would call her to offer her rides to class, so she wouldn't have to walk in the cold. \n"He was a very nice kid," she said. "When you saw him, it made you happy."\nStudent body president Bill Gray, a pledge brother of Rotstein in Alpha Epsilon Pi, said Rotstein would do anything for anyone.\n"He was the type of guy who always knew somebody who could get a solution to your problem," Gray said.