Cornell Spends $575,000 On Suicide Response So Far

The Cornell Daily Sun:

Of the approximately $575,000 the University has spent so far in response to last spring's student suicides, $350,000 -- or about 60 percent -- has gone towards the construction of "means restriction" barriers for seven bridges on and around campus, according to officials. In addition, $150,000 has helped bolster the University's mental health counseling -- though student demand for services, according to administrators, still exceeds Gannett's capabilities.

Read the whole story: The Cornell Daily Sun

Comments

[Cornelius Dribble]

09:35 PM on 11/22/2010

Suicides are often surprisingly resourceful people. Denied one means of self-extinction, they'll usually find another. Fence off the bridges and all somebody has to do is walk another twenty feet and jump off a cliff, or just walk into the water and let the current carry them over Ithaca Falls. Ithaca's suicide rate is not appreciably higher than other college communities, but the symbolism of the gorges makes the situation appear worse than it is. The mental health counselors at Gannett do excellent work, and the additional resources provided by this plan will make them even better. However, the suicide barriers on the bridges will do nothing to prevent suicide, and may even be counterproductive. All around campus, awe-inspiring vistas have been replaced by funereal chain-link screens between man and nature, incurring who knows how much psychological damage on those already predisposed towards equating the educational institution with a prison.

[fem56]

02:27 PM on 11/22/2010

Pass/no-credit for the freshman first semester-take the pressure off and give the freshman time to adjust and take risks. That would be free. Still the barriers etc are undoubtably a great idea. Cornell has such a beautiful campus and Ithaca is gorgeous especially those gorges! I have heard that academics are really tough especially for the science and engineering students. I could see how a super despondent student might be drawn to them. Still I have heard that, comparatively speaking, the suicide rate at Cornell is not high-except last year. In fact I think I read somewhere that it is actually on the lower side.

[perpetual astonishment]

11:25 AM on 11/22/2010

I think that maybe one reason for the barriers that was not mentioned is that these bridges have become so famous that folks not even going to Cornell find them appealing places to commit suicide.

[Cornelius Dribble]

08:57 PM on 11/22/2010

That reason hasn't been mentioned because it's not true. People rarely travel hundreds of miles to commit suicide, and none of the suicides reported in the last year were visitors from out of town.

[perpetual astonishment]

09:54 AM on 11/28/2010

I wasn't referring to just one year. Go back further and you'll see what I'm talking about

[TeacupKitten]

10:48 AM on 11/22/2010

It's their freshmen adjustment programs they need to work on.