When students return from Thanksgiving break, those who live on North Campus will be in for a surprise: Both the Suspension Bridge and the Beebe Lake footbridge will be closed for much of the last week of classes and the entire finals period.

After nearly two years of heated debate over the future of the City’s iconic gorges, Cornell will install nets intended to deter suicide on seven campus bridges this summer. 

Though a large majority of community members at a Common Council meeting Tuesday spoke in favor of Cornell’s proposal to build suicide barriers under the city’s bridges, the issue may ultimately be decided by the ongoing maintenance costs of the project.

The University is proposing mesh nets underneath six bridges as suicide deterrents, rejecting previous plans to construct horizontal bars or vertical cable mesh at the bridge sites.

Seeing the budget numbers behind the University’s mental health and anti-suicide measures helped illustrate the sharp contrast between the Cornell of today and the Cornell of less than a year ago. 

One reader says that the bridge fences should not be the primary focus of our discussion about mental health.

Judah Bellin '12 takes on the empirical studies that show the effectiveness of bridge barriers.

Guest columnist Deirdre Mulligan '11 constructs a powerful argument against the on-going "Ithaca is Fences" campaign.

Florencia Ulloa '11 says the stickers on the bridge barriers are an undesirable medium through which to talk about student safety.

Sunday's “Reach Out” walk for suicide prevention represented more than just another well-executed event to build awareness — it was symbolic of the inspiring way that the Cornell, Ithaca College and Ithaca communities have come together for the shared goal of preventing suicide.