Last week, UCSD suffered a loss that touches us all. Whether we knew John Muir College junior Natalie Summerfish or not, the death of a young and talented student like her can devastate a campus — and that grief, shared or personal, is part of an important healing process.
The Guardian would first and foremost like to extend our heartfelt sympathies to Summerfish’s family and friends. Nothing we can say can really ease their pain at this trying time, but we hope that they find solace in sharing their memories of Summerfish and in celebrating her life.
There is a temptation in these kinds of situations to question the circumstances that led to such a tragedy. Perhaps the most frequent response to hearing of this occurrence was a variation of “”Does anyone know why?”” As we struggle to put this into an understandable frame of mind, it is important to consider using the different resouces available to all students to help cope.
In an e-mail sent to students on Feb. 10, Muir Dean Patricia Mahaffey wrote that Summerfish’s death “”diminishes us all.”” While it is true that we all suffer a loss when a student passes away, it is also heartening that the administrators at UCSD are working to keep our loss to a minimum.
Our thanks go to those at UCSD who responded so quickly and so sensitively to this tragedy. That counselors were dispatched to Pacific Hall immediately afterward is a sign of the dedication of UCSD’s team of psychologists.
These professionals from Psychological and Counseling Services are available to all students free of charge in response to last week’s tragedy. However, it bears repeating that their doors are also open to any student in need of psychiatric help or simply someone to talk with about anything. We sincerely hope that students suffering from depression will take advantage of this valuable and complimentary service — and get help before it’s too late to turn back from a desperate course of action. Psychological and Counseling Service’s offices are located in Galbraith Hall and can be reached at 534-3755.
