Article: Cornell..."Suicide School?" Naaaaw! Forum

[PDaddy]

But just in case, remind me to withdraw my application tomorrow.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35902704/ns ... ?gt1=43001

[bighead715]

thats cool

[dakatz]

Sorta creepy. I was standing by that very gorge on Friday afternoon thinking how beautiful it is. Never did I even consider the crazy rate at which people jump from it. I still loved my visit, but its still a scary thought.

[Bankhead]

I'd probably be pretty happy if I had gone to Cornell, I'd think.

[Thomas Jefferson]

Sorta creepy. I was standing by that very gorge on Friday afternoon thinking how beautiful it is. Never did I even consider the crazy rate at which people jump from it. I still loved my visit, but its still a scary thought.

"Crazy rate"? You do realize that Cornell's suicide rate over the last few decades is lower than the national collegiate average, right? The media just loves to make a big deal over any "cluster" of suicides at Cornell because the gorges turn them into a public spectacle, which suicides normally aren't.

[eandy]

At least at Cornell it doesn't seem to be a huge, collective fail on the part of the school's psychological services office (*cough* MIT).

This, in particular, is what I'm referencing. Warning: I found this incredibly disturbing.
http://tech.mit.edu/V121/N70/70shin-timeline.70n.html

[HBK]

I went to suicide school. Ever heard of it?

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[flyingpanda]

"New York University, for instance, installed see-through barriers around the atrium of its Bobst Library after two students jumped or fell to their deaths in 2003. The deaths came amid a spate of suicides over the course of two years that drew national attention to the school."

[OneKnight]

"New York University, for instance, installed see-through barriers around the atrium of its Bobst Library after two students jumped or fell to their deaths in 2003. The deaths came amid a spate of suicides over the course of two years that drew national attention to the school."

This happened again last November. Unfortunately, those see-through barriers cannot deter the truly motivated person. Either way, the connection of these suicides to Bobst makes many students stay away from the building. Truly sad, but it does demonstrate how such "dramatic" suicides can give a school an unwarranted reputation for being more prone to suicides...

[stinger35]

I'd go to Cornell if it was the only t14 I got in...this forum, article, etc. isn't going to change that

[LawandOrder]

At least at Cornell it doesn't seem to be a huge, collective fail on the part of the school's psychological services office (*cough* MIT).

This, in particular, is what I'm referencing. Warning: I found this incredibly disturbing.
http://tech.mit.edu/V121/N70/70shin-timeline.70n.html

Now THAT'S how you commit suicide.

[jonas586]

At least at Cornell it doesn't seem to be a huge, collective fail on the part of the school's psychological services office (*cough* MIT).

This, in particular, is what I'm referencing. Warning: I found this incredibly disturbing.
http://tech.mit.edu/V121/N70/70shin-timeline.70n.html

What an abrupt and tragic ending to the story.

I wouldn't consider the efforts of the school's psychological services a collective failure, though. Granted, they made some bad judgement calls, like not contacting the parents or escalating the levels of treatment, but they weren't grossly negligent to her situation either. They were always there to provide services when requested from the patient or concerned friends, and they operated with a reasonable level of regard for her symptoms. It's easy to look back and point fingers at certain parties when the pieces are all in place: how could they not have done this, or why didn't they see or do that? But things aren't always as clear as they seem to be in retrospect, and, at the end of the day, a health facility can only do so much before a patient either recovers or deteriorates.