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Dead Body in NYU Library (Updated)
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iplaudius
03:32 PM

In reply to James Franco's Not Done Sleeping in Class
The Scene is like the Style section of the Times. It is much silliness much of the time. I mean to say:
   YDN Scene < YDN news proper
   NYT Style < NYT news proper
Also:
   YDN news proper < NYT Style
So, never mind. #jamesfranco
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Pizza!Pizza!Pizza!
02:33 PM

In reply to James Franco's Not Done Sleeping in Class
That looks more like a Big Bopper spread. Get it right. #jamesfranco
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i'm a bottle
01:54 PM

In reply to James Franco's Not Done Sleeping in Class
With that sweater he's definitely ready for a Ph.D. in English from Yale. #jamesfranco
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Helio
02:43 PM

@i'm a bottle: it's funny cause it's true! #jamesfranco
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Cecil's Wielder
01:52 PM

In reply to James Franco's Not Done Sleeping in Class
Can't he just play the professor that inspires all the students but is hiding a secret in a movie? Preferably one coming out inside the next two months? #jamesfranco
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minge
11/03/09

In reply to Dead Body in NYU Library (Updated)
A couple of things:

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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raincoaster
11/03/09

@minge: Panopticon prisons are associated with a vastly increased rate of violence among prisoners. But you probably knew that. #nyu
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JPGorgon
11/03/09

In reply to Dead Body in NYU Library (Updated)
A hobo wandered into a dorm on my campus and peacefully died in his sleep on a couch in one of the lounges.

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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britneyspearstears
11/03/09

@JPGorgon: Yet quite beautiful in its own special way. #nyu
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JPGorgon
11/03/09

@britneyspearstears: Yeah, everyone flipped out, but all I could think was "Huh, after years on the streets this guy got to die all peaceful like, warm and cozy on a couch."

Not to bad in my opinion. #nyu
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raincoaster
11/03/09

@JPGorgon: We had something similar at UBC when I was there in the 80's. The nude beach is just down the cliff, and we had what we called "beach creatures" who'd live there but sneak into the dorms to use the showers, etc. One of them died in the shower. #nyu
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RollsRoyceRevenge
11/03/09

In reply to Dead Body in NYU Library (Updated)
We are assuming it was a suicide and that the suicide involved someone jumping, no?

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
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DahlELama
11/03/09

@RollsRoyceRevenge: From WSN:

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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Solomon Grundy
11/03/09

In reply to Dead Body in NYU Library (Updated)
A kid just died at Yale, too. #nyu
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Conchie Birdie
11/03/09

@Solomon Grundy: Wow, and some people think it's rough over here. #nyu
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Buttafooco
11/03/09

In reply to Dead Body in NYU Library (Updated)
I wonder if it's possible that it's Nouriel Roubini, passed out from self doom and gloom? #nyu
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smhsmh
11/03/09

In reply to Dead Body in NYU Library (Updated)
On my campus tour of the school in 2000, our tour guide told us that the architect of Bobst did purposely add some elements to prevent suicide. The glass walls were added during my Junior year at NYU.

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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Spirit Fingers
11/03/09

In reply to Dead Body in NYU Library (Updated)
Well, that certainly does look cold, ominous, and sort of science fiction-y, so yah, I can see why it's scary and draws the suicides. So why not just start over in their construction? Make the place more inviting, comforting even. Lot's of stress takes place in a college library, maybe it's not the best idea to have it look like a chrome and steel prison. The NYU kids seem to really enjoy the Barnes & Noble, Starbucks, and Cosi design aesthetic and environment...maybe take a page out of their playbook and make it more congenial and inclusive...might go a long way. That thing looks like a spaceship. #nyu
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valhalla_i_am_coming
11/03/09

@Spirit Fingers: Jesus, put some plants in, already!! Do these so-called "academics" know NOTHING about feng-shui??

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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Spirit Fingers
11/03/09

@valhalla_i_am_coming: HA! You're mocking me, I can feel it. Seriously though, if your university needs to have a library, and I'm betting most do, why make it look like American Me in that joint? Not saying it needs to be all Feng-Shui hippie crap, but at least make it look less like the building wants death. Sheesh. #nyu
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girlnextdoor
11/03/09

In reply to Dead Body in NYU Library (Updated)
i was in the library when it happened early this morning. what is equally upsetting to me, though, is that nyu didn't offer the students any support or really even acknowledge what we knew had happen. it's odd to me that there isn't a theraputic action plan in place to handle these situations. witnessing/hearing someone die can be a very trauma-inducing experience. mismanagement of these types of things can cost lives. very poorly done, nyu. i know you can do so much better. #nyu
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Unsolicited Advice
11/03/09

In reply to Dead Body in NYU Library (Updated)
A person can't screw things up that bad that young. If you're in college, you've literally decades to correct whatever you feel is making life unlivable. Don't kill yourself, please. #nyu
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ms_priestypants
11/03/09

@Unsolicited Advice: College is also the time for many when we are first truly out on our own, making decisions without our parents' watching/providing support, and to put it starkly, when some mental illnesses first present themselves. There isn't any explanation for this kid making the decision he seems to have, but the dean's message is a good step in the right direction. If I worked there I'd have social workers on a 24 hour rotation, just in case someone l0oked vaguely unhappy. Overdoing it, perhaps, but there is something about this building. #nyu
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Edited by ms_priestypants at 11/03/09 1:01 PM ms_priestypants was starred ms_priestypants was unstarred

l'américaine française
11/03/09

@ms_priestypants: good point about having social workers on a campus... exams time around top-tier schools (well, maybe all colleges) are really depressing - and it shouldn't be that way. I laughed when I read "vaguely unhappy," because I'm pretty sure every single person at my own school walking around during midterms/finals had this expression, ha!

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
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ms_priestypants
11/03/09

@l'américaine française: Every time I would call my mother during college with some existential disaster/freak out going on, she would calmly ask me, "What do you have due tomorrow?"

And she was almost always exactly right. #nyu
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Island of Misfit Toys
11/03/09

In reply to Dead Body in NYU Library (Updated)
This sounds like the beginning of a Dan Brown novel. #nyu
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Sergio Hernandez
11/03/09

In reply to Dead Body in NYU Library (Updated)
When I wrote for the WSN, I did a story on NYU's campus psychiatric services in light of a 2007 suicide.

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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