Meanwhile, a recent MTV/Associated Press survey found 12 percent of college students found “life was not worth living” at least sometimes. About 10 percent have considered suicide in the last 12 months, according to the American College Health Association, and more than 1,000 commit suicide annually.“At Wake Forest, every year we see more people, every year the demand increases,” said Marianne Schubert, director of the university counseling center. But, “I don't think people are being paranoid. I think given the circumstances of what has happened (at Virginia Tech) and the culture and society we live in, I think it's appropriate.”Privacy. In Virginia, a measure signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Tim Kaine requires colleges to bring parents into the loop when dependent students may be a danger to themselves or others. Even before Virginia Tech, Cornell University had begun treating students as dependents of their parents unless told otherwise — an aggressive legal strategy that gives the school more leeway to contact parents with concerns without students' permission.
In Washington, D.C., meanwhile, federal officials are trying to clarify privacy guidelines so faculty won't hesitate to report potential threats.
“Nobody's throwing privacy out the window, but we are coming out of an era when individual rights were paramount on college campuses,'' said Brett Sokolow, who advises colleges on riskmanagement. "What colleges are struggling with now is a better balance of those individual rights and community protections.''
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