Suicide Nets: College Attempts To Stop Deaths

An Ivy League college in New York state plans to install netting on several bridges over gorges where three students jumped to their deaths in 2010.

Cornell University and the town of Ithaca have reached an agreement that will see netting put up on five bridges in the area, starting on Monday.

The three students committed suicide within a month of each other in spring 2010.

Twenty-seven people, including 15 students, are reported to have died by jumping from the five bridges between 1990 and 2010.

Fencing has already been put up to prevent further suicides and a public debate began on whether nets should be installed, the Ithaca Journal reported.

Installation of the netting - some of which will extend 15ft (4.5m) from the bridges - will begin on Stone Arch Bridge, Trolley Bridge and Thurston Avenue Bridge.

A second phase could see similar netting put up on Stewart Avenue and Beebe Dam bridges.

Cornell has been haunted by a reputation for suicides, although it maintains its suicide rate over time is normal for colleges.

In November 2011, Howard Ginsburg, the father of Bradley Marc Ginsburg, sued Ithaca and Cornell for $180m for not preventing his son from taking his own life off one of the bridges.

The lawsuit is still pending.