(U-WIRE) MEDFORD, Mass. —The pressures of university life and its effects on students have been put under scrutiny by a recent spate of suicides at New York University.

The three suicides this semester at NYU have left parents and administrators wondering what steps to take.

Michelle Glucagon's off-campus death on Oct. 18 was preceded by Stephen Bohler's Oct. 10 death and the loss of junior John Skolnik in September, both of whom leaped to their death at the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library.

According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, for people 15 to 24 years old, suicide is the third leading cause of death, behind unintentional injury and homicide. In 1999 more teenagers and young adults died from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke and chronic lung disease combined.

Senior staff psychologist at the Tufts University Counseling Center Julie Jampel explained that going off to college can exacerbate the already stressful and painful period of adolescence — regardless of which school the student is attending.

"Students are away from home, one is on one's own, and there is the stress of academics and the stress of trying to decide what to do with one's life," Jampel said. "These things are all part and parcel of college life and can be stressful and depressing for some people."

Jampel stressed that depression and suicidal feelings are both treatable. "If someone seems depressed or suicidal, I would urge their friends to really encourage that person to get help. It doesn't have to be that way."

"We do see people who feel suicidal" at the Counseling Center, she said. "It is not uncommon in a college population from time to time."

However, these statistics can be misleading in the sense that they make it look like suicide is much more common among younger people than older people, Jampel said.

"The primary reason [for these statistics] is that younger people are not dying of the things that kill older people," Jampel said. "Illness and disease are less common in younger people and so suicides and accidents are more likely to be the cause of death at a certain age."

—Giuseppe Aldina