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jonesey
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« on: January 14, 2010, 05:27:26 PM » |
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From The New York Daily News:Sam Roweis, 37, a computer science professor and father of twins, died Tuesday after he leaped from the 16th floor of his Washington Square Village apartment.
Roweis, an expert on identifying patterns among large bodies of data, got his undergraduate degree in engineering science from the University of Toronto.
In 1999, he received his doctorate from the California Institute of Technology and went on to teach at his undergraduate alma mater until last year.
Along the way, Roweis garnered several accolades, including the University of Ottawa's Premier's Research Excellence Award. Terrible. |
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Jonesey, I know you're a being of sensitivity and refinement. |
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verbena
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« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2010, 07:35:47 PM » |
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That's just so sad. His poor wife. She must be in such pain.
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"My kind of paper, into lots of fiber."
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labronx
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« Reply #2 on: January 14, 2010, 07:57:58 PM » |
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I don't think this is terrible or sad. I think the man is an idiot.
I had a room-mate way back years ago who once told me he wanted to jump out the window. So I told him to wait until I moved my car because if he hit it, it might soften his fall and he might not die.
I have no patience or tolerance for these stupid games.
However, this case is different... FATHER OF TWIN!!!
What a selfish a-hole!
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verbena
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« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2010, 08:13:55 PM » |
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However, this case is different... FATHER OF TWIN!!!
I think there were two of them, actually. I'm sorry you're too upset to count or punctuate properly, or to show compassion. |
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"My kind of paper, into lots of fiber."
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skinnymargarita
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« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2010, 08:22:46 PM » |
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I don't think this is terrible or sad. I think the man is an idiot.
I had a room-mate way back years ago who once told me he wanted to jump out the window. So I told him to wait until I moved my car because if he hit it, it might soften his fall and he might not die.
I have no patience or tolerance for these stupid games.
However, this case is different... FATHER OF TWIN!!!
What a selfish a-hole!
You are right and wrong. It is terrible and sad for his loved ones. He was very selfish in thinking this was going to help. I think a little compassion is in order. |
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Because you are dangerous, you must not enter ~Sign located by an exterior rock wall at Nagoya Castle~
This is why I loved technology: if you used it right, it could give you power and privacy ~Cory Doctorow~
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mountainguy
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« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2010, 09:07:53 PM » |
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Suicide is indeed a selfish act. Yet I have only compassion for Professor Rowels and his family.
Speaking as someone who once came close to suicide myself (but couldn't actually go through with it), it doesn't seem like a selfish act. The emotional pain that a person with suicidal ideation feels is overwhelming. And speaking as someone who lost a friend to suicide during high school, I can say that moral condemnations of the deceased were the last thing that I and other people wanted to hear in the aftermath.
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systeme_d_
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« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2010, 09:13:30 PM » |
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Suicide is indeed a selfish act. Yet I have only compassion for Professor Rowels and his family.
Speaking as someone who once came close to suicide myself (but couldn't actually go through with it), it doesn't seem like a selfish act. The emotional pain that a person with suicidal ideation feels is overwhelming. And speaking as someone who lost a friend to suicide during high school, I can say that moral condemnations of the deceased were the last thing that I and other people wanted to hear in the aftermath.
Exactly. |
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Systeme_D is right. <rah rah RESEARCH!> |
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grasshopper
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« Reply #7 on: January 14, 2010, 09:15:45 PM » |
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And speaking as someone who lost a friend to suicide during high school, I can say that moral condemnations of the deceased were the last thing that I and other people wanted to hear in the aftermath.
An important point to consider, when we think of the possibility that some of the people in his life might be on these boards. |
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ucprof
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« Reply #8 on: January 14, 2010, 09:17:22 PM » |
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Very sad. I could not imagine raising kids in the Wash Sq Village apts although plenty of NYU faculty do. I wonder how much of it was the change of venue. NYC can be a stressful place. Wash Sq Village is right next to the computer sci dept so you basically never leave work. He'd only been there a year from Toronto.
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stanwyck
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« Reply #9 on: January 14, 2010, 09:17:43 PM » |
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What a selfish a-hole!
Yeah....until you've experienced so much pain that you've stood there with the razor against your wrist, you're not qualified to judge. Until you've sunk so deep into the darkness that you can't tell the difference between the world before you pulled the trigger and the world after, you're not qualified to judge. Until you've come to the incontrovertible conclusion that your friends and family could only be happier with you dead, you're not qualified to judge. In short, you're not qualified to judge. |
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history_grrrl
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« Reply #10 on: January 14, 2010, 09:22:24 PM » |
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This is very sad news. I'm bothered that the police report seems to attribute the suicide to an altercation between the prof and his wife over the care of the sick twins. From what I know about suicide (a fair amount at this point, since I have four close friends who are suicide survivors -- brothers in three cases, husband in one), I think it's far more likely that he was suffering from mental illness and was struggling with demons that he thought could only be driven away by suicide. A particular incident -- a fight, for instance -- might have seemed like a trigger, but it's only the tip of a much bigger iceberg (sorry for the stupid metaphor). His colleagues' descriptions of him, while positive, seemed to pain a pretty manic picture.
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[R]eality sometimes has a left-wing bias.
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carebearstare
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« Reply #11 on: January 14, 2010, 09:26:17 PM » |
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This is so incredibly sad. It's also sad that NYU now has a bona fide reputation for jumper suicides.
Best wishes to his family, his department, his students, and the entire NYU community.
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Well, some posters were being naughty here.
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history_grrrl
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« Reply #12 on: January 14, 2010, 09:26:44 PM » |
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Just wanted to add: my knowledge of suicide isn't just anecdotal but comes from having done a fair amount of reading on the subject because of my friends' experiences.
And stanwyck, I think your description of what someone who seriously considers suicide is experiencing is accurate.
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[R]eality sometimes has a left-wing bias.
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alleyoxenfree
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« Reply #13 on: January 14, 2010, 10:08:25 PM » |
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Other news coverage pointed out that he could have been suffering from male postpartum depression, which is apparently well-documented with hormonal changes that lead to depression. Chime to the fact that no one in their right mind jumps.
Other elements in the coverage should give us pause as academics. The twins were premature and may have had health problems that made their care difficult. After graduating from Caltech (no stress there), he had taught at his alma mater, so this job was his first outside of a familiar comfort zone of institution. And one person said he took the job so that they could be nearer family members to help them care for the children.
What's really sad is that we haven't figured out how to be a village for people who need a village when the kids don't pop out like Gerber babies, and the teaching and publication don't go off without a hitch, and the marriage is stressed. So sad that he came unhinged over what was obviously not one fight but a long series of stresses.
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