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(11/11/03 12:00pm)
High school suicide may not be recognized as a prevalent problem in today's society because it is often too delicate an issue to discuss. However, the American Association of Suicidology says that, nationwide, one in five high school students surveyed reported they had seriously considered suicide during the preceding year.
According to The National Center for Health Statistics, suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15-to-20-year-old youths. Additionally, the National Institute for Mental Health states males between ages 15 and 19 are five times more likely to commit suicide than females.
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) cites diverse explanations for this problem. Family plays a large role, as many adolescents who commit suicide have poor communication with a close family member who attempted or committed suicide.
Suicide rates tend to increase after there is a film or news story relating to it. Suicide attempts may also be more frequent among homosexual males. People whose mothers were exposed to harmful substances during pregnancy or did not receive enough prenatal care are also more susceptable.
Depression is related to more than half of all suicides, and psychiatric diagnoses are found in 90 percent of cases. About half of the teenagers that commit suicide have previously visited a mental health professional. Also, roughly one-third of victims have made a prior suicide attempt.
The foundation urges people to be alert to suicide "danger signals" in loved ones. Common indications include indirect talk about "leaving" or "saying goodbye," giving away valued articles or simply depression in the form of lost pleasure and withdrawl from activities. People must take these signs seriously and, often, seek professional help for the teenager.
High schools also try to prevent suicides. Locally, for example, Trenton Central High School has a Crisis Response Team to handle potential suicide cases.
According to the high school's student handbook for 2002-2003, the administration refers those students contemplating suicide to the team, which counsels the teenagers and contacts their families. For further assistance, the team may refer the students and their parents to the Helene Fuld Crisis Center.
The high school's Student Assistance Program, free and confidential, is also available to students with family, drug, alcohol or emotional issues. A counselor provides individual or group sessions to aid the students with these risk factors.
These Trenton Central High School organizations reflect a national high school trend in which suicide prevention programs are increasing, according to the ASFP.
Administration within Ewing High School, Trenton Central High School and Daylight/Twilight High School in Trenton would not comment, due to the sensitive nature of the topic.
(10/14/03 12:00pm)
Students who fail to pay their tuition bills for the current semester will receive holds on their Simple Online Courseware System (SOCS) accounts.
In the past, students with outstanding financial obligations were barred from registering, and their schedules were deleted. The office of Student Accounts will now restrict SOCS access for students who make no attempt to pay the College or contact the Office of Student Financial Assistance.
The SOCS holds method is meant to inform students they owe money, not to penalize them, Steve Sferra, Student Accounts manager, said.
"We're here to work with them," Sferra said. "We're not here to work against them. We want to see all students succeed."
SOCS encourages Internet interaction between students and faculty. It lists students' e-mail addresses, allows professors to post resources or discussion documents and offers an electronic dropbox to submit assignments.
Student Accounts received several complaints that with the SOCS holds it is impossible to obtain required coursework. "Students understandably are not happy that we've taken away their access to their key ingredient of getting their assignments," Sferra said.
Students had three opportunities to pay their fees or apply for the financial aid process this semester.
The initial bills went out on July 28 and were due on Aug. 15. The College gave students a grace period in which late fees were not assessed.
The next bills were sent Sept. 15, with a due date of Sept. 26 and a grace period until Oct. 2. The current bills, issued Oct. 3, are due on Oct. 20.
Approximately 60 students received SOCS holds after the Oct. 2 deadline.
Once students begin the financial aid process or pay a large portion of their bill, the hold is removed and SOCS access is restored the following day.
Sferra said this method is both successful and highly logical. "It's a service, much like you would be provided outside the College," Sferra said. "If you don't make car payments, what are they going to do to you? If you don't pay the mortgage on your home, what are they going to do? They're going to repossess these items. So it's the
same sort of thought aspect for the SOCS holds."
"Part of the fees that they pay every semester goes to support the SOCS system, and if students don't pay their fees, we can't support the system," Sferra said.
The administration retains the right to "de-register" students if necessary.
However, since the implementation of the SOCS holds, no class schedules have been deleted.
"What we're trying to do is save the student more work in the long run by just putting a hold on their current classes, than having to have them go through the process of going through multiple offices to get re-registered and get back into the classes," Sferra said.
He added that because of this method's effectiveness, it appears that its use will continue in the future.
Since formal warnings of holds are sent through e-mail, there are many concerns that students do not consistently check at their Webmail accounts.
The administration also believes that some students think their parents have already paid the bill, Sferra said.
"We are dealing with adults at the institution, and they have to accept responsibility for their actions and/or their outstanding balances," Sferra said.
Frank Cooper, director of Records and Registration, said students should be "proactive" and check The Electronic Student Services (TESS). According to Cooper, it is students' responsibility to view the "Entry Office" link and contact the particular office to remove any hold flags.
If scholars with outstanding bills remain inactive after they receive SOCS restrictions, they will receive registration holds in November.
According to Cooper, those with hold flags will receive an e-mail around Oct. 27. Registration occurs Nov. 10-19.
The specific scheduled dates and time frames for student enrollment can be found at tcnj.edu/~recreg.
(09/16/03 12:00pm)
Students, faculty and staff gathered on the steps of Loser Hall last Thursday morning during a ceremony sponsored by the Student Government Association (SGA) to remember and commemorate the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"Sept. 11, 2001 is a day that will forever be in our memories," Barbara Gitenstein, president of the College, said, as she addressed the crowd.
"It changed our lives," Gitenstein said. "It changed the world that we lived in. It changed everything," she added.
Although the office of Campus Life oversaw last year's memorial, SGA was offered the task this year.
Christina Puglia, SGA president, said that SGA undertook the task well.
"We tried to keep the same format," Puglia said. "Dr. Gitenstein has provided support by speaking. (The College) is helping any way they can."
In addition to Gitenstein, Puglia also delivered a speech to the crowd.
The Army Reserved Officer Training Core (ROTC), contributed to the ceremony by providing the colors.
ROTC cadet Audrey Hsieh, senior international studies major, read a letter from Christine Ferer, who was widowed on Sept. 11.
"They could not understand why it was important for me, a 9/11 widow, to express my support for the men and women stationed today in the Gulf," Ferer's letter said.
"The reason seemed clear to me: 200,000 troops had been sent half way around the world to stabilize a kind of culture that breeds terrorists like those who I believe began World War III on Sept. 11, 2001."
The crowd listened silently as the details of Ferer's trip to Iraq unfolded through correspondence.
The ceremony ended with the ringing of the bells in Green Hall and a moment of silence.
Overall, Puglia said she was confident with the ceremony. The only setback SGA faced was in their request for classes to be cancelled during the memorial.
"We wanted classes to be cancelled for that time (because) we thought that it would be appropriate for something this important," Puglia said.
Ellie Fogarty, executive assistant to the Provost, said that cancelling classes for the time block of the memorial was considered, but since Sept. 11 is not yet a national holiday, administrators felt it unnecessary to pull students from class.
Despite the College's insistance that Sept. 11 is not a national holiday, other institutions have acknowledged the date as Patriot Day.
Approximately 900 students were scheduled to attend classes during the memorial.
Puglia said that having classes would not damper the ceremony.
"(The administration) did say that if students really feel that if they want to go that professors should be accepting of that," she said.
Puglia also said that there was a good turnout despite the fact that classes were held.
The audience extended from Loser Hall to the Music Building, and, according to Puglia, was similar to the size of the crowd that attended last year's ceremony.