This article was published in the NY times almost 16 years ago. When will things change???

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/05/nyregion/another-fatal-plunge-has-corn...

Why aren't the railings on all of the bridges higher?

umm the railings are extremely high in my opinion...I can't even see over them...

They are very high, Im a freshman at cornell as well, I feel sad about all of this but I dont see why people dont talk, dont use the services that we have. Each time we lose someone it makes it harder on us.

I hope whoever he is, he rests in peace.

If you post an article, try reading it. From the 1994 article posted above:

"All we know for sure is if you put a barrier up on a bridge, that people won't die from that bridge," said Nancy Rosen, the executive director of the Suicide Prevention and Crisis Center in Ithaca. "Even if barriers were installed, people could just go somewhere else."

and

"National statistics show that on average, campuses across the country tend to have about one suicide per year.

"Although the recent deaths of the two men is tragic, they give a distorted image of the Cornell community," said Paul Kriegel, a student from Port Washington, L.I. "The majority of the students are satisfied the the quality of life here."

Trying to make the bridge railings higher won't change anything, there are plenty of other ways to die. There is a lot of outreach on campus, but there could be more, especially geared toward at-risk groups like kids who are in the most intense programs or who have a lot of parental pressure and need help dealing with that. These things slip through the cracks because friends don't always pay enough attention, and freshman classes (it seems like a good number of these incidents are freshman) are usually bigger than other classes so if students don't have a good relationship with a professor, it's easy for students to go relatively unnoticed as they struggle. Advisors and student advisors should really be the ones who are on the look-out for these problems and who encourage younger students to come in more often than once a semester to select grades. Someone has to be responsible for noticing these kids who are too lost to get the help they need, or this will continue to be a rising program as competitiveness in academia rises.

If someone is really determined to jump, high railing or no railing, it will happen. See any major US bridge or the Golden Gate Bridge documentary. The problem here stems from more inherent personal issues as the NY times article touches on.

The railings on the bridge are high, but there are side areas near the bridge where they aren't as high as they probably should be. Take a look at the stone barrier on the side of the bridge near Rand.

My condolences to the family.

just because you can't see over them doesnt mean they're high. These railings should go up and curve in or atleast have a small ledge around the edge to prevent accidents.

Honestly, the railings have very little to do with suicide and they are sufficiently high to prevent almost any accident. The Thurston bridge, where both recent deaths occurred, is not the bridge with the lowest rails, nor is it the one that is easiest to climb. Although we might be tempted to blame the gorges or their accessibility due to the dramatic nature of the suicides, it's most likely not the case. You could fill in every gorge with cement and I doubt it would stop suicides as people would just find another way. In order to prevent suicides we have to look towards the cause and finding a solution far earlier in the chain of events that leads someone to this decision rather than just making higher railings.

One of my friends in a different college committed suicide two weeks ago. Like the first suicide here, it came as a shock to all who knew her. We are clearly missing something in our collective understanding of suicides, warning signs and how to prevent them. Until then, I'm not sure what can be done.

It's not the bridge, it's the school. Don't blame the railings on the bridges, blame the school.

Although I do not know if this incident involves a freshman, but since the earlier two cases were freshmen I would suggest freshman advisors to meet with their respective advisees as a group once every week (or every other week) and conduct group discussions on subjects that are relevant to the student community. This can be assigned as a mandatory freshman course. This way the advisors can see how their advisees are making the transition to college life. The students may also open up to their advisors if they begin to know them. I know some schools are already doing this.

Cornell Parent -

That sounds like a great idea, except that advising here is terrible, if it exists at all. From a faculty perspective, the focus at this institution is exclusively on research to lock down federal grants and tenure. I think that rather than trust advisors to fumble the ball, this well-endowed university owes it to its students to increase its counseling support. If we require every student to pass a swim test, why can't we require each student to attend a diagnostic or preventative counseling session too?

As a Cornell alumna, it saddens me to see that this is a problem still plaguing our community. The railings of the bridges have gotten higher and Cornell has increased outreach; however very few has changed. We need to come up with different initiatives because what we've been doing isn't enough. Cornell is a wonderful place and an outstanding institution, but more has to be done to ensure that at-risk students are being reached.

It's this fucking school. Death is romanticized at Cornell as if it were the inevitable product of the rigorous atmosphere of this miserable place.

Fuck Cornell.

"I would suggest freshman advisors to meet with their respective advisees as a group once every week (or every other week) and conduct group discussions on subjects that are relevant to the student community. This can be assigned as a mandatory freshman course. "

There is already a mandatory course like this for first semester freshman in the college of engineering.

It's not the school. Yes, Cornell is intense, but lots of students work hard and still get bad grades, and they don't commit suicide. Being that deeply depressed is usually a result of a lot of problems. I mean, think about it. You studied for 50 hours for the big exam and you still got a grade that's a ton below the mean. That sucks. You'll probably cry, be ashamed, maybe your parents will be mad at you. But even then, you have to be really emotionally unstable to think that from there jumping is the only option. It is definitely not Cornell's fault.

The railings aren't going to change anything. We lost another of our fellow students less then a MONTH ago. I don't know what the solution is, but Cornell has a responsibility to students, families, and faculty to look into the rigor of the academic courses, and the resources available to students before another life is lost.

Stop blaming the bridges and the gorge, if you want to die, there are so many ways to die at Cornell.

I know at MIT they developed a program to help relieve the stress of students once a month where where classes are taken off for the day. I agree with the fact that advisors and students should have meetings at least once a month. as a cornell student, I have met with my advisor once over the past year and have never been check in on by him.

@Concerned parent: They may never change. The New York Times article 16 years ago isn't the first place that's mentioned it. Kurt Vonnegut even included a small bit about it in "Cat's Cradle" (published in 1963) in correspondence between two of the characters (one of whom was at Cornell). This is not a new phenomenon, and it's unlikely to change. Suicides among college students also aren't uncommon, particularly around exam time. Winter here is pretty gloomy and college is high-stress (not only in terms of classes, but socially it can be too), I can see how that can wear on people. We have had a higher number of gorge fatalities than usual this year though. And it's always sad when it does happen. Condolences to the family.

All MIT freshmen take S/U for their very first semester.

The suicide rate at MIT has reduced drastically in the past 10 years while Cornell's rate continues to soar. The administration will tell us that it's on par with the national average. What lies!!

Since Cornell has racked up so many bodies this year, I guess they might want to consider this in the future. If, for example, an engineering freshman realizes that he/she barely passed his courses but managed to get S in each of them, he/she can quickly figure out if he wants to remain in engineering or transfer internally to say Arts and Sciences to be a humanities major without hurting his/her GPA.

This is a sad story; I crossed these bridges many times in my years at Cornell. The college and bridge are not to blame though. I went through some very trying times while attending college and the counselors were great. When I was seen crying outside of one of the building, I had a number of students and faculty approach me to make sure I was alright and even lent a shoulder to lean on. They made certain to stress that suicide was not an option and asked in different ways to make sure that I wasn’t thinking about suicide... It is too bad that the signs weren’t caught before this, or that the students hid their pain, but it isn’t the colleges or bridges fault! If you don’t like it there, transfer out or just get out! Don’t use these sad events as a means to put the college down.

It’s a good school, a tough school, but still good. It is stressful and challenging, but that is what makes it so prestigious and wonderful.

Even if the bridges had higher railings, there are other ways to do the deed, and there are places along the gorge that would be just as lethal to jump from as the bridges, so what are we supposed to install inscalable railings along the whole gorge?

Engineering '08: Really? You are smart enough to go through Engineering at Cornell and yet you are unable to realize that people who commit suicide do so not because they are selfish, or in any way to blame, but because they are beyond their limits to cope? There are many factors for being in such a state, and the decision to commit suicide is hardly one that is taken lightly. Perhaps you should do a little more research before you make such ignorant and insensitive comments again. You could see, for example, the National Institute of Mental Health: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/index.shtml

My condolences to the family and friends of William Sinclair.

For the person who thinks death is romanticized at Cornell, there must be something wrong with the people you hang out with. I have never seen death romanticized here. The problem has more to do with numbers and demographics than anything, along with the fact that reports of suicides significantly increase suicide rates for a short period of time afterward, regardless of the place or how it is portrayed. Don't blame the school, Cornell is what you make of it.

I actually believe suicide barriers on bridges would make a difference. Bridges are suicide destinations, and studies suggest when people cannot use them due to barriers, they usually do not end up committing suicides at all. Jumping suicides require little forethought and can be impulsive, while other methods require more means.

The Golden Gate Bridge is a good example, it has no guards and so over 1300 people have committed suicide from there, an average of once every other week since it has opened.

It's unfortunate that this is the fourth suicide of a Cornell student this year, which seems to debunk the myth that our suicide rate is the national average.

This is a good article on understanding suicide jumpers:

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/10/13/031013fa_fact?currentPage=1

Everyone here is talking about the bridges and whatnot but I just want to say something positive about William. I met him a year and a half ago during his first semester as a freshman. He stumbled into our bible study in RPCC on a random Friday evening and we welcomed him with open arms. We didn't know him and had no connections to him but after that Friday, he kept coming. We got to know him very well as he continued to come to bible study, various events we had, game nights, and church.

I don't know what kept him coming but I know he seemed to have a great time when he was there. He was somewhat quiet and wasn't extremely open but we tried our best to reach out to him and enjoyed his company. He was such a sweet guy who loved to talk about physics, computers, and many other things I was completely oblivious to. lol. I'm definitely going to miss him and wish there was something I could have done to prevent this tragedy. RIP William.

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away" Revelation 21:4

William was a great guy. This is very very sad.

Why do people immediately assume that he committed suicide? I know William and he was perfectly fine the last time I saw him(a week ago). We had a snowball fight and he was having a blast. I know that he enjoyed solitary walks and he was a definitely a nature person. I remember running after a deer with him last semester. Maybe he got too close to the gorge and slipped? The snow was melting, so the rocks may have been slippery...

It's absolutely this school. This place is ridiculously stressful and nobody gives a shit about anybody else, unless it means they will get a good grade or get a officer title in a club or get an opportunity that will look good on a resume. Nobody here would EVER notice if one kid was lonely or depressed or had warning signs for suicide. Thank God my sister went to school elsewhere, so when she tried to kill herself, random strangers stopped her.

Cornell is horrible.