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Body of UHS student found in music building
The body of a female University High student was found Wednesday morning in the music building. Two Fresno State students noticed the body at around 9:50 a.m. in a piano practice room on the north end of the second floor. Music professor Sandy Giersch came upon the couple and a third Fresno State student, Katie Sanford, just before a 10 a.m. class and discovered the girl apparently had died of suicide. Giersch told music professor Wendy March about the body, and March said she called campus police. Campus police Lt. Jim Lusk said there was a note found in the room but did not say what was written on it. University spokesman Tom Uribes said the police investigation is still ongoing and the cause of death is yet undetermined. Very little information has been released, and the girl’s family requested her name be withheld, according to a UHS press release. The body was removed from the building before noon. Giersch left the scene at 10 to teach her class. “ After I conducted my class and everything, I came in here and had a good cry,” Geirsch said in her office Wednesday . She said she advised the students who saw the body to see a counselor, but by Wednesday afternoon, Sanford said she had not. “ I don’t really need to talk to anybody,” Sanford said. “I just want to understand.” Dr. Morton Silverman, senior director of the Suicide Prevention Resource Center in Massachusetts, said there is never one reason why a person would decide to kill him or herself. Instead, Silverman said there are many pressures, such as physical and brain chemistry changes, personal relationships and meeting success expectations, that 15- to 24-year-olds face making them more at risk of suicide than other age groups. The 25 percent of suicide victims who leave a note shed some light on the cause, Silverman said, but those who do not leave notes force others to piece things together. “ Why now?” Silverman said. “Why end your life prematurely? I wish I had the answer for that one.” Counseling was made available to UHS students Wednesday afternoon and all day Thursday, UHS administrator Brad Huff said at a parents meeting yesterday afternoon in UC 200. Huff explained to parents how the school has dealt with the incident, and he answered any questions parents had. One of them asked if the music practice room area is a common place for UHS students to go. Huff said it was off limits. But even though students are not necessarily allowed to be in the area, Huff said during off times, lunch or while students are supposed to be in regular college courses, they aren’t being supervised. March said music practice rooms are unlocked during the day and pianists often aren’t the only ones using them. “ Sometimes students just go in there and do homework and practice,” March said. University Director of Public Safety David Moll said the music department’s policy on the rooms is that they are primarily set aside for music majors and there are student assistants who regularly patrol the rooms. According to Moll, the music building is open between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. The perimeter doors are locked electronically at 6, and the individual classrooms and practice rooms are unlocked manually beginning at 4 a.m. Outside of those hours, only key card entry is allowed. “ We try to keep a close eye on it,” Moll said. At the parents meeting, Superintendent of Sierra Unified Don Witzansky said the girl reportedly spoke with other people as late as 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. Sanford said a witness at the scene reported noticing something in the room shortly after 8:30. Moll said there aren’t plans at this point to change the door locking policy. “ It’s a very, very unfortunate incident,” Moll said. “We’re all saddened by it, and the people that worked on it were deeply affected.” |
