Cornell Suicides Raise Questions about Ithaca's Gorges, 6 suicides in 6 months

[Liberal_in_LA]

Cornell Suicides Raise Questions about Ithaca's Gorges

More By Heather Horn on March 18, 2010 10:51am

Six deaths in six months have aroused intense concern about student suicide at Cornell University. As Cornell students, professors, administrators, and alums seek explanations for the wave, the big question both on campus and off is this: to what extent are Ithaca's famed and beautiful gorges, into which these students are flinging themselves, a part of the problem?

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/Cornell-Suicides-Raise-Questions-about-Ithacas-Gorges-2884/

[Hannah Bell]

1. to no extent at all. what a stupid question by the atlantic.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

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[Hannah Bell]

10. no question would be stupider than: is a land feature responsible for the rash of suicides.

sorry, wingman.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

14. This from the person who thinks "Breaking Bad" causes meth addiction?

Oy vey.

[Hannah Bell]

15. i never said anything like that, porn.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. Yeah, you did.

That was your whole point.

[Hannah Bell]

19. uh, no, it wasn't. you might want to go back & reread.

[anigbrowl]

16. For once, I agree wholeheartedly - a monumentally stupid article.

It is true that suicidal people can to some extent draw inspiration from each other and clusters of suicides can occur in the same place. something similar has happened near me in California, where there has been a rash of suicides at a particular train station outside Palo Alto. It has nothing to do with the location, and everything to do with the inability of some people suffering from mental problems to stop thinking about what happened there.

I am not really convinced about the efficacy of things like safety barriers, signs or telephones that connect to advice lines, as suicidal behavior is generally irrational anyway. however, there have been some claims of succes in Japan for a policy of installing large mirrors at such sites: seeing oneself from a different perspective apparently causes many people to reconsider their situation.

[Oregone]

2. One of my friends attended Cornell, and said it was pretty depressing atmosphere for some reason

Something about finals weeks and all the kids go out and scream into the air in desperation. At my school we all just did Jello-shots.

[Liberal_in_LA]

3. Other articles say that the recent bad weather left the students very depressed

[FarCenter]

13. Students from the top of their high school class are not well prepared for failure

So when they get into a highly competitive academic situation, there are many that can't really cope with it.

[kestrel91316]

4. Time to give a no-bid contract to Halliburton to level those damned hills.

Damned topography. It's the work of the Devil.

[Paper Roses]

5. When things get tough, the desperate take desperate measures.

It is a sad commentary that these young people have found such a drastic and final way to end their troubles. We all face problems that have us wondering if it is all worth it.

I was at Cornell years ago with my daughter for an interview. I found the greyness of the school depressing to me. That was my personal observation. If I was at school and everything was going wrong, I could see why some distraught student would decide to hop over that bridge. It is dangerous and easily accessible.

My heart goes out to these bright young kids. There will hopefully be a day when we will all feel that things are going well. It is too tempting to say "the heck with it". The gorge is "there".

[treestar]

7. People jump off bridges

No one says the bridge's mere existence is the reason for it -

They need to put up signs - to the extent they help - you know like they have on the approach to bridges - with counseling numbers and "life is worth living"

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. They've stationed guards at the bridges

[FarCenter]

11. What works is to plant a seed of doubt in the attempter's mind

Signs indicating that people have jumped, lived and been crippled or injured would likely work.

It also helps to put up nets or arrange obstacles in the would be jumper's path.

In other situations, putting planters, cars, furniture, awnings, etc. in the ostensible landing zone has been shown to prevent jumpers.

[gater]

9. I grew up and went to school near Ithaca...

and I never remember more than a couple of people "gorging out" a year, and remember plenty of years without anyone taking the plunge. I think its a statement of where we are as a society that has so many kids leaping. BTW, when I hung out at Cornell, I seem to remember fences and netting to make gorging harder to do. Wonder if it's still all there?

[JVS]

12. Fill them in with cement!

[Edweird]

17. Gorge control! Won't somebody think of the children!

Actually, the movie 'Heathers' comes to mind.