if I was this student I'd be outraged that this story had been printed like some tacky tabloid paper jumping on a private story

I considered very carefully before publishing this story. Given how serious it is, and the number of surrounding residents, I decided it was in the public interest to let people know what had happened. There are further details I am aware of that I have opted not to publish at this time.

As for this being a "private" story, the incident has clearly had an effect on other people so I do not consider it private.

The article has been updated with information on the counselling available for anyone affected.

It's amusing to note that the content of this article is getting shorter and shorter as the days pass... I can understand adding updates as they arrive (as with the addition of the counselling info), but why remove content? Was it speculation which turned out to be wrong?

Actually, it got shorter once as part of an agreement between the media and the wardening team, so as to protect the student in question until firm details are known.

From that could it be construed that this was no mere accident, and that somebody can be blamed for this?

He didnt 'fall through a window' ... he jumped. If you're going to report it why not report what really happened. 200 people live in Southwell and i think prettty much all of us are aware of what happened that Sunday night.

"if you're going to report it why not report what really happened"

1. When this article was written on Monday afternoon, we had little more than speculation as to the manner in which the student exited the window
2. Given the traumatic effect it was likely to have on some students, re-apps and the wardening team we aren't going to push them for information for this week
3. The precise circumstances in which the student exited the window - and any motives behind what took place - are unknown to us

Basically: if you know some facts about the incident, get in touch. We aren't going to be hounding Southwell residents who have enough on their plates with exams and last Sunday without us grabbing them in the street...

Felix is showing the same level of respect to the residents, which is why you won't find mention of this story in this week's issue (and why I pulled their photos from the article).

jumped? tell us more!

I hear he went out headfirst... is this true editor?

ouch, i would rather fall a further floor than be impaled onto those spiky railings. anyone have more details? like what tabloid was this printed on?

I have heard many things about the incident, but I wouldn't like to say any of them was definitely "true".

I find it difficult to believe that people at Imperial could have posted some of the above comments as I thought that education generally instilled insight, sensitivity and respect for oneself and for others. Whatever the truth is, it is the concern of those involved and not those shallow-minded freaks who like to jeer and speculate at other people's tragedies, like tabloid-reading guttersnipes. Grow up, all of you, and if you don't understand what I'm talking about, I suggest you leave Imperial and go to live and work amongst those who experience the negative side of life, the disabled, the mentally ill, the homeless, and other disdvantaged groups in society. It is pointless for you to leave Imperial with a string of degrees but with no sense of humanity or empathy with the suffering of others.

The tone of some of the comments is inappropriate, but it can only be a (vocal as usual) minority who are interested only for the scandal value. A lot of people reading this are involved in the student union with a remit covering student welfare, and would want to know if either halls health and safety or the student support networks have failed, to consider if anything can be improved.

If you think that's bad, you should try listening to a doctor's sense of humour. In my eyes, education breeds cynicism so this is only really to be expected.

This is not to say that this whole affair isn't tragic from beginning to end, but still, it's hardly as grim as you paint it.

Any updates on his condition?

I can't see how this story is a tabloid story, more than that it discusses an event that happened to a person. More worringly, the story is self-sensored after publication and is wrong in the title as to what really happened, as he was jumping, not falling... Of course he was falling when outside the window, but seing as the window is vertical, it's hard to 'fall' through it. I hope he will be able to walk after it as it cut him pretty badly around in the hip region.

Even more worrying is the fact that you can't spell worryingly, or indeed censored...

Self-censorship is not always a bad thing - the information I have indicates that there's not really a systematic failing here that needs to be exposed, just an unfortunate incident. Why is it appropriate to report all of the details, just because some people are interested?

Besides, many people have said "we know what happened" but haven't come forward with the information as fact. Information for articles does not appear out of thin air, it comes from people on the ground - if you know what happened, email editor@cgcu.net and tell me. Otherwise, stop whining that we're not reporting the facts. My skills do not extend to telepathy on anonymous persons.

thanks for the level headed reporting of this story. Is there any further information about the students recovery?

The student will apparently make a full recovery. Thanks to all for cooling the story, which is now over.

You effing hypocrit

"I suggest you leave Imperial and go to live and work amongst those who experience the negative side of life, the disabled, the mentally ill, the homeless, and other disdvantaged groups in society."

How can you lecture us on being bad people when you associate the negative side of life with those who are metally ill and disabled. I know lots of disabled people who lead extremely happy lives. You insulting prick! Its you who should be leaving Imperial now!

Spelling hack: Yes, if I can't spell those words I must be a bad person -- but what I write makes sense when I have apt and forthcoming individuals like yourself, telling the confused masses what I actually meant! Considering that English is not my first language and that I got 92% on TOEFL, please keep your ad hominem fallacies to yourself, will you! :)

Editor: I think your conclusion is correct; that it's about a single incident, not a systematic failure of some safety measure or another, but what I wrote about is the fact of self-censorship, from a public newspaper which Live! after all is, post publication. Reading other online newspapers, they don't do that; they publish updated articles which correct their previous articles and possibly add notifications on top of their original articles. I can't send you any mail about what happened since I'm not a first hand-source. I never saw it but live here, have seen a photo of it and talked to other residents about it. Also being anonymous is a result of your lovely form publicly showing the e-mail address which is kind of non-standard and a GREAT way to attract SPAM-bots. Not putting my name is because I can't remove my comments and because googlebot is well versed in finding comments even 5-10 years after the fact, so I don't want my name linked with this tragic accident even if what I write is sensible. I hope these reasons make sense to you.

Anyway, it's great he'll make a full recovery! If he's reading this I wish he gets well quickly and painlessly!

You are correct that online newspapers do not typically remove information after publication, however most are not as close to the community as Live! is. I take censorship and freedom of information very seriously, having had many arguments with many people about things I have published and refused to take down.

However there were a number of elements in the article which could have caused unnecessary speculation - we run a responsible publication and I felt it did not detract from the story to remove them. When I added the information about counselling, I removed the two photographs supplied by Felix (at their request, due to the agreement they had not to publish for a week) and a mention that the police were investigating the incident. Police would have investigated the incident regardless of how the student exited the window, so it brought nothing to the story except an avenue for extra speculation ("was he pushed?", "was someone negligent" etc etc).

As a member of the Union I have the duty to protect the students at this university, even if it means I leave out fairly irrelevant bits of information from time to time. As entertaining as idle speculation may be, there are times when it is not helpful. There are plenty of other things to speculate/argue about which don't involve picking apart the fate of a student who has had found themselves in an unfortunate circumstance.

On the subject of anonymity, my comment was not a complaint that you were anonymous, more that I had no way to contact you to find out if you had any information. Even if I was capable of telepathy, I would need to know which person to direct my powers towards.