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New York, 6:37 AM
Sun Nov 8
10 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/03/09
1) Supposedly Philip Johnson was inspired by Foucault's writings to model the library after a 'panopticon', an architectural form used for prisons and asylums in the 19th century. The design was (originally) meant to allow for efficient surveillance from a centralized point (although the depths of the stacks kind of mitigate this effect in Bobst).
2) The president of NYU signs off like Jerry Springer. #nyu
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Man, even our deaths are more boring than New York's. Wisconsin: not as cool as the coast since 1856. #nyu
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Not to bad in my opinion. #nyu
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While that would be my first assumption, without other info it would be equally feasible that a student could die of a sudden health problem or accident (falling down those stairs, for example). #nyu
11/03/09
Update: 11:31 a.m.: The NYPD could not confirm that the death was a result of a jump. They said all they can confirm is that the activity was "non-criminal." #nyu
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First, as mentioned by others, the floor's geometric pattern appears to rise up like spikes when you look straight down from one of the high floors.
Additionally, the original brass railing (you can see it in the pic, the plexiglass wall rises above it) was made of long thin poles in the shape of a cross. It's very deliberate and unmistakable. The idea was that the last thing you touched, if you did indeed decide to jump, was a symbol of Christianity.
There are a few other religious references in the library, but I can't remember them.
Did this person jump? The plexiglass walls are very high, so it's pretty impressive that someone was able to get over them. It would be a real struggle to get over the damn thing! #nyu
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11/03/09
Of course, at this point, it may be like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic, or putting fuzzy pillows on the Death Star....a full raze may be the only cure. #nyu
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Schools should do a little bit more to alleviate stress, whether or not it's keeping a small army of social workers on hand, or organizing study break activities. #nyu
11/03/09
And she was almost always exactly right. #nyu
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11/03/09
Part of that involved the unfortunate task of number-crunching. I don't still have the figures on-hand, but I was surprised to learn that NYU in fact has very few student suicides (even below the national average, I believe) for its size and population.
They're just way more publicized, sadly. #nyu
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Either way, that floor is freaky. #nyu
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As for the acid jumper, if s/he jumped, how would anyone know if s/he thought the floor was coming up at them? Doesn't NYU teach critical thinking anymore?
NYU doesn't have more suicides than normal, it's just that it's an expensive school that caters to wealthy clientele in a large city; of course a rich kid's suicide is going to get publicity.
That said, NYU has several a year and has had several a year for a long time. We had about 2 or 3 every year when I was there from 92 through 96. #nyu
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And we were indeed told during orientation that the pattern was supposed to look like spikes (though when I got drunk one night and went to the top floor to see if it was true, I didn't think it looked too spikey to me), and the thing about the crosses on the railings (odd for a secular university). I think they are just coincidences that someone pointed out and they adapted into campus lore. #nyu
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Did you find that NYU could be a very lonely place to go to college?
I get the impression that unless you are extremely social it can be very difficult to find friends because everyone is so widely dispersed. My friends who went there told me they didn't make any new friends after their freshman year. #nyu
11/03/09
Frankly, I found freshman orientation utterly miserable, and if the rest of my year had been like that, I don't think I would have made any new friends that year either. #nyu
11/03/09
10/27/09
10/27/09