It is a great tragedy for a parent to outlive a child. Even more painful is when the child commits suicide. Suicides among teenagers are particularly troubling because so many of them are preventable. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, between 500,000 and one million teens and young adults attempt suicide every year; most do so as part of a temporary impulse. The same research shows that if the impulse to commit suicide is thwarted by intervention or an inability to find a way to attempt suicide, the impulse passes, the teen lives and rarely tries it again.
Suicides on college campuses are an ongoing concern to administrations everywhere, and given the propensity of teens and young adults (18-24) to be more susceptible to a suicidal impulse, many colleges and universities have established mental health programs designed to decrease the number of attempted suicides and suicides on their campuses. Usually, these programs have several components: counseling services, peer-to-peer support, faculty training, and general increased awareness. But first and foremost, a college that is genuinely concerned about really implementing an effective suicide prevention program conducts an audit to determine which instrumentalities or means to commit suicide are present on campus and present the most serious danger of attracting students with suicidal impulses.
It only makes sense that if studies have shown that the college-age students on campus have a higher risk of attempted suicides than the general population, and these students often have fleeting or brief bouts of depression that may give rise to suicidal thoughts, then there should be a focus on removing or reducing students' potential access to the most dangerous means to commit suicide, such as access high buildings or bridges where suicides or attempted suicides have taken place.
In July 2013, I received a phone call from Howard Ginsburg, a real estate attorney in Boca Raton, Florida. He told me that one of his two children, Bradley Ginsburg, an 18-year old freshman at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, had jumped to his death from one of the bridges crossing the deep gorges cutting through the Cornell campus. The specific bridge from which he had jumped – the Thurston Avenue Bridge — connected Cornell's North Campus, where Bradley and other Cornell freshman lived, to the main academic campus. Bradley had crossed the Bridge on a daily basis before jumping to his death on February 17, 2010.
Bradley's suicide came as a complete shock to his parents and all who knew him. He came from a stable and happy family, with two devoted parents and a younger sister with whom he had a good relationship. He was an honors student in high school in Boca Raton, Florida, and was an A student in his first year at Cornell. He participated in extracurricular activities, was well liked by his classmates, worked diligently in one of the dining halls at Cornell, and was a pledge at one of the most popular fraternities on campus. Bradley had never suffered from depression or other psychological disorders.
By all indications, Bradley's suicide was an impulsive act that was tragically successful due to the ease with which he could climb over the low railing on the Thurston Avenue Bridge and leap to his death in the gorge far below.
After his death, a police analysis of Bradley's computer revealed that, in the few days before his death, he had researched topics involving depression and suicide, and listened to some somber and depressing songs just before he left the dorm. Bradley's roommates were unaware that he was dwelling on these dark subjects before his death. Outwardly he appeared to be as happy and well-adjusted as ever.
Before his death, Bradley left a suicide note on his computer, apologizing to all for what he was about to do. He then left his dorm room, walked the short distance to the Thurston Avenue Bridge, and easily jumped to his death.
Bradley was not the first; in fact, there had been jumpers from the Cornell bridges for decades. Bradley's father was himself an alumnus of Cornell, and the fact that the gorge bridges were used for suicides was well known to the student body even then. After Bradley's death, Howard Ginsburg, like many grieving parents before him, sought an explanation from the Cornell administration as to why, despite several decades of suicides by jumping from the bridges, Cornell had not insisted that safer railings or other suicide-prevention barriers be installed on all the gorge bridges.
Not surprisingly, he never got any good explanation from Cornell. What he got was an old fashion "run around." The first excuse Cornell offered was that since the Thurston Avenue Bridge was owned by the City of Ithaca, not by Cornell, so the university was not responsible to fix anything on the Bridge since it had no authority to do so. While Mr. Ginsburg was not a legal scholar or an authority on the shared responsibility of municipal facilities in a private setting, he knew intuitively that Cornell's answer did not make sense. Here was a world-class Ivy League college, which was of major importance to the City of Ithaca's economy, and the college administration could not do anything except watch in horror as year after year student after student jumped from the Bridge? While the Bridge was owned by Ithaca, it was an integral part of the college campus infrastructure. It was logical to assume that there had to be some connection or collaboration between the City and the college and that Cornell could at least exert some influence – if not joint control – over what measures should be taken to reduce this ongoing threat to student safety. City residents couldn't even get to the Bridge without passing over Cornell property, and Cornell students could not cross from one part of the campus to another without traversing it.
Even more obvious was the ongoing importance of the University to the City. It was (and still is) a major employer. Every year thousands of students arrive in Ithaca and, along with fellow students at Ithaca College, support the local business and provide prestige to the City. Contrary to Cornell's position that the Bridge totally belonged to the City, and that the University didn't have any say over how the Bridge's design and safety components, key documents obtained during the course of the litigation established that the reality was quite different. Hundreds of pages of documents revealed that Cornell had been intimately involved in the re-design and re-construction of the Thurston Avenue Bridge and that the railings and other safety components that were installed were totally ineffective in preventing the needless loss of student lives.
Before I became involved in the case, an experienced upstate New York lawyer, Leland T. Williams, learned that the Bridge had been redesigned and rebuilt only a few years earlier, during 2006 and 2007, and that Cornell had played a major role in that project. Cornell had given some lip-service to the idea that the railings on the Bridge should be designed to prevent suicides, but decided that the concern for "aesthetics" was more important than suicide prevention. This irresponsibility might have been understandable if no one had ever committed suicide from the gorge bridges at Cornell. It might have even made sense if there was no information about 18-24 years old being more susceptible to suicide, or if 27 people had not jumped from the gorge bridges between 1990 and 2010. Finally, scientific and well-respected psychological research concerning suicides among college students was plentiful and consistent. Regardless of all this evidence, tragically and inexplicably, the new railings were just as easy to vault as the old ones.
In seeking to avoid any responsibility for Bradley's death, as well as that of other students who had ended their lives in the same way, Cornell also relied on the argument that "if someone wants to kill themselves, they will find a way to do it." This age-old (but false) argument for leaving high buildings and bridges as they are and not installing any suicide barriers on them rests on the notion that any person contemplating suicide will just find another place or a way to kill themselves if at first they fail to succeed. In Bradley's case, Cornell argued that since Bradley was so hard-working and goal oriented, he would have found some way to kill himself even if he was prevented from doing so from one of the gorge bridges.
However, this argument – that it is virtually inevitable that someone contemplating suicide will find a way to do so — is completely unsupported by any studies on the subject or by psychological literature. The overwhelming evidence is that most individuals who would jump from iconic sites are ambivalent, act impulsively, choose a specific site, and if thwarted from an attempt at that site at a particular time will rarely seek out an alternative means to kill themselves. For example, after 480 suicide deaths on the Bloor Street Viaduct in Toronto, the erection of suicide barriers led to no significant increase in suicides on other bridges in the area. Cornell had its own home-grown evidence of the folly of this argument. In October of 1991, a student jumped from the Thurston Avenue Bridge and survived. According to Rob Fishman, a Cornell alumnus, writing for the Huffington Post, this student was the only one ever to survive such a jump and, once recovered, returned to campus and graduated from Cornell. The strong inference, therefore, is that the desire to kill oneself is, for the most part, temporary and when suicide becomes more difficult, people tend to get help rather than switching to another method. Finding help is what happened in England when the formula for gas ovens was changed, and carbon monoxide levels were reduced. The suicide rate was drastically reduced because an incredibly easy way to kill oneself (death by gas oven) had been removed. The U.K. continues to have a suicide rate about one-half that of the U.S.
Eventually, it became increasingly clear to Bradley's parents that the only thing Cornell or the City of Ithaca had to do to save Bradley's life, and the lives of the dozens of other students, was to install safety measures on the gorge bridges. The fix was simple: higher and suicide-proof railings could be installed, or nets could be placed underneath the bridges (or both). These simple but effective safety measures would have prevented Bradley from succeeding in his impulsive rush to end his life. However, this last line of defense against suicide was not there. Cornell and the City had done nothing to minimize or eliminate the risk of people intentionally jumping from one of the gorge bridges, despite the certain knowledge that, sooner or later, someone else would do so.
Finally, after growing increasingly frustrated with Cornell's response, on November 21, 2011, Howard Ginsburg filed a lawsuit against both Cornell and the City of Ithaca in federal court in upstate New York in his capacity as the Administrator of Bradley's Estate. The lawsuit charged Cornell and the City with negligence and other causes of action relating to the lack of effective suicide prevention measures on the Thurston Avenue Bridge.
An Amended Complaint was filed on December 8, 2011, with fourteen causes of action, essentially alleging that both Cornell and the City were negligent in failing to design and install adequate railings and other safety and suicide prevention measures during the reconstruction of the Bridge. The Amended Complaint further alleged that, since there was a long and tragic history of suicide by jumping from the bridges (popularly referred to by generations of Cornell students as "gorging out"), it was reasonably foreseeable that students and City residents would do the same in the future. According to the claim, Cornell and Ithaca knew or should have known the bridges were a real risk to the students and residents of Ithaca, and that the "do nothing" option amounted to gross negligence.
Cornell and the City filed motions to dismiss and for judgment on the pleadings in January 2012, and Ginsburg cross-moved to supplement the pleadings.
Plaintiff has sufficiently alleged that Ithaca and Cornell owned and controlled the Thurston Avenue Bridge and thus had a duty to maintain that property in a reasonably safe condition to prevent foreseeable suicides. Plaintiff has also adequately alleged that Ithaca and Cornell failed to fulfill that duty when they did not implement appropriate suicide prevention measures on the bridge despite having an opportunity to do so when the bridge was redesigned and reconstructed in 2006-2007.
Thus, Judge Hurd agreed with plaintiff's position that there was overwhelming evidence in the record that Cornell had sufficient "control" over the Bridge. Cornell's collaboration with Ithaca over the 2006/2007 redesign and reconstruction established a duty on Cornell's part to repair and prevent a known hazard, i.e., the ease with which a person could jump from the Bridge, and to be held accountable for damages resulting from its failure to remedy this known hazard.
Once I agreed to act as counsel for Bradley's estate in the case and had fully reviewed what had already taken place in the legal proceedings, including Judge Hurd's decision denying defendants' motions to dismiss, I started doing some additional research as to the correlation between college-age students and suicide. The statistics were shocking. For decades, every university, including Cornell, knew or should have known that the risk of student suicides is always a clear and present danger. A survey of 26,000 students at 70 colleges and universities found that over fifty percent of college students had suicidal "ideations;" 18% of college students had seriously contemplated suicide, and 8% had made an attempt. Ten to 15 percent of college students regularly contemplate suicide, and one to two percent actually attempt it.
These statistics meant that at Cornell, with approximately 20,000 plus students, between 2000 to 3000 students were contemplating suicide at any given point in time. Cornell, in particular, has been aware of the issue of student suicides, since the number of student suicides by jumping from campus bridges has been much higher than the national average. According to Cornell's own Timothy C. Marchell, Ph.D., while nationwide only 2% of student suicide deaths are caused by jumping, approximately 50% of Cornell's student suicide deaths are by jumping from bridges.
History of Cornell Suicides from Bridges.
The history of suicides at Cornell left little question that successive Cornell administrations must have been painfully aware of the dangers posed by the gorge bridges. Since the opening of the first bridge over the gorges in 1897, the specter of suicide haunted Ithaca. From 1970 to 1973, there were eight suicides in Ithaca, seven associated with Cornell, and four were at the gorges. Cornell considered installing suicide prevention railings and other "safety mechanisms" on the bridges but ultimately decided not to include these expenses in the university budget. Instead, the decision was made to do nothing.
It is not surprising, therefore, that over the years Cornell earned the nickname, Suicide U," and Ithaca was often referred to as "the suicide capital." The attraction of the gorges and the bridges over them continued to have a macabre hold on the imaginations of both Cornell students and graduates. One Cornell graduate returned ten years after his graduation to jump to his death into the gorge.
In the fall of 1977, however, Cornell was finally forced to take some limited safety measures following a series of three suicides by jumping into the gorge in rapid succession from the university-owned Suspension Bridge. Cornell declared a "mental state of emergency" and installed "suicide bars" (but no netting) on the Suspension Bridge. Unfortunately, however, neither Cornell nor the City of Ithaca, which owned the other bridges spanning the gorges on or near the Cornell campus, took steps to place any "means restrictions" on any of these other gorge bridges, which would have made it more difficult for a student to end his or her life by jumping from one of the bridges.
Two years later, on April 13, 1979, the body of a missing Cornell student was recovered from Fall Creek, which runs through one of the gorges. The boy's father issued an "open letter" to Cornell's president, noting that his son, like Bradley Ginsburg 31 years later, had no history of emotional problems, had graduated from high school with the highest awards and honors, came from a relatively happy and stable family, and had entered Cornell with otherwise excellent credentials.
The following month, in May of 1979, Cornell approved plans to add a 6 ½ foot metal bar railing to the Collegetown Bridge, but when opposition emerged, including complaints that the Suspension Bridge's "suicide bars" created a "prison-like atmosphere," the plan was shelved.
In short, despite the fact that Cornell and the City of Ithaca were repeatedly placed on notice by parents, community members and experts as to the need for urgent action to prevent suicides from bridges, defendants did nothing with regards to the Thurston Avenue Bridge or any other gorge bridges.
Finally, after the death of Bradley and two other students within a short time frame in February and March 2010, one of Cornell's leading psychiatrists acknowledged that the gorge bridges were "iconic hot spots" drawing people to them in moments of despair, and that "means restrictions" at such spots saved lives.
Cornell was not the only school facing the suicide by jumping problem. In 2003, New York University experience two suicides inside the Bobst Library. The students jumped from the open-air crosswalks inside the library. NYU's response was immediate; it constructed Plexiglas barriers on all stairways and crosswalks on all levels. In 2009, a third student managed to scale these barriers and jump to his death. This time, the University went even further, constructing a floor to ceiling metal barrier on each level. Unlike Cornell, NYU felt three suicides over three years was too many. Baruch College, another New York City college had similar suicides and, like NYU, responded quickly. Two suicides by jumping out of windows of a dorm on 18th Street in Manhattan led to the immediate placement of bars on the windows. A May 2014 suicide at a college building at 17 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan was met with similar action, including the formation of a college safety "Suicide Squad" to help curtail suicide attempts.
Iconic "hot spots" around the world like the Memorial Bridge in Augusta, Maine, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Empire State Building in New York, and the Bloor Street Viaduct in Toronto were all strong magnets for suicide seekers. Once suicide barriers were erected on all of them, the suicide rate dropped to nearly zero.
The puzzling question then is: If there have been so many suicide attempts from iconic high bridges or buildings, and they almost always result in death, why is it that effective suicide prevention barriers had not been installed at Cornell? As we continued to investigate, it became readily apparent that many people – including influential college professors and administrators – felt that the installation of effective physical barriers would detract from the aesthetic beauty of the iconic bridges and buildings that attract potential suicide victims. The art and architecture departments of most colleges and universities often have a substantial influence on the design or modification of campus bridges or tall buildings, while the corresponding lobby for suicide prevention through the use of physical barriers is virtually non-existent. Colleges like Cornell are willing to spend millions of dollars on first-class mental health counseling programs. Unfortunately, not all students, such as Bradley, seek help and do not show any outward signs of distress.
In other words, no one knows who will pick up an available gun and shoot, but logic and reason tell us with a high degree of certainty that over a period of time, someone will. Put another way, while it is impossible to identify all those persons who are suffering from severe mental health issues and will impulsively jump, without effective means restrictions, it is virtually certain that someone will try to commit suicide and succeed. Thus, the inescapable conclusion that our evidence showed, and which the federal court ultimately accepted in the Ginsburg case, was that cities and universities that have iconic suicide bridges on or near them are playing "Russian Roulette" with young people's lives by not implementing effective suicide-prevention measures on those bridges.
Another notable exception to the general worldwide focus on suicide prevention in the design and construction of suicide prevention barriers on iconic bridges and buildings was the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, where over 1600 persons jumped to their death since it opened on May 27, 1937. A record 46 people plunged to their deaths from that bridge in 2014 alone.
The railing on the Golden Gate Bridge, like that on the Thurston Avenue Bridge in Ithaca and most of the other gorge bridges, is only four feet high, and a short walk from a parking lot. The original plans in 1937 called for railings of 5 ½ feet, but for reasons that remain obscure, the height was reduced to four feet. Over the years, there were seven unsuccessful campaigns to persuade or pressure the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway, and Transportation District to erect effective suicide barriers. This failure to install effective suicide prevention barriers on the Golden Gate Bridge were particularly frustrating to mental health professionals since a 1978 study entitled, "Where Are They Now?", by Richard H. Seiden, a former professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, showed that, of 515 people who had been restrained from attempting suicide by jumping off the bridge during the period from 1937 to 1971, over 90% were still alive in 1978 (the year he conducted his study) or had died of natural causes. In other words, if prevented from committing suicide, there is less than a one in ten chance that the person will try again.
When Cornell and the City of Ithaca undertook to redesign and reconstruct the Thurston Avenue Bridge during 2006 and 2007, they ended up subordinating any concerns for suicide prevention to the competing and partially inconsistent goal of maintaining an "aesthetically pleasing" bridge design. In the June 6, 2002, Minutes of Project Meeting No. 2, passing reference was made to the "Use [of] railings with all vertical elements to minimize 'climbers.'" However, Cornell and the City left little question as to their main priority: "aesthetically pleasing bridge railings would be preferred." The July 9, 2002 "Cornell Information Meeting Minutes" noted that the only two priorities for the railing design were (1) meeting New York State Dept. of Transportation ("NYSDOT") crash test criteria, and (2) aesthetics. The reasoning was: "[T]he railing design is a high priority due to the aesthetic nature of the area and the function of the bridge as a 'gateway' into the Cornell campus." "Suicide prevention" was barely mentioned in the planning documents.
Indeed, when the new railings on the Thurston Avenue Bridge were finally built, they were actually lower than the original railings. Although the specifications called for an increase in the railing height from 3' 5" to 4'7," this intended increase was illusory. The reason for this is that, before reconstruction, there was no concrete parapet wall (sometimes referred to as a "concrete footing") between the surface of the Bridge and the bottom of the railings. However, during the reconstruction, there was a "concrete footing" installed that was 18" high at the bottom of the railing. A person could easily stand on this parapet wall, making it much easier to climb over the railing. Before the new construction, the distance from the top of the parapet wall to the top of the railing was 3'7." The new railing was, in reality, only 3'1" high, making the new railing four inches lower than the older 3'5" railing it replaced. In other words, the concrete footing completely defeated the purpose of raising the railing.
The railing was also designed with an inward curvature. If a person wanted to jump over the new bridge railing, he/she would simply stand on the concrete footing and hoist themselves up over the railing, with the curvature of the railing making it easier. Thus, the curved railings had absolutely nothing to do with enhanced pedestrian safety or suicide prevention, and neither Cornell nor the City took the trouble to have a study conducted to test this novel theory, i.e., that curved railings enhance bridge safety.
In fact, even before the reconstruction of the Bridge was completed, documents obtained from Cornell during the "discovery" process, where each side produces relevant documents requested by the other side, revealed that Cornell knew the railing design it adopted was inadequate to deter climbers. In an email exchange, dated February 22 and 23, 2006, between Frank Perry, Cornell Project Manager, and Curtis Ostrander, Cornell Police Chief, Mr. Perry wrote: "I do not see anything to keep people from crawling over the railing….The railing is curved to the inside as shown in the presentation, but only 1.4 meters or 4'7" high." Police Chief Ostrander agreed: "Obviously I'm not happy with the low height of the railing …" Their concerns, however, were apparently buried.
During the ensuing federal litigation by Bradley Ginsburg's estate against both Cornell and the City of Ithaca, Cornell denied any involvement in the 2006/2007 reconstruction of the Thurston Avenue Bridge, arguing that the City held title to the Bridge and was, therefore, completely responsible for its redesign and reconstruction. However, one of the documents that we obtained during the discovery process in the case was a May 2002 study commissioned by Cornell and conducted by the consulting firm of Sasaki Associates Inc. This study noted that while the City owned the Bridge, Cornell owned the property on both sides needed for the redesign and reconstruction of the access roads leading to the Bridge. Indeed, Cornell had considerable leverage over the design of the reconstruction project because the City needed to obtain an Easement and Right of Way ("ROW") from Cornell before it could finalize the design of the bridge project and get approval from the NYSDOT. Cornell finally agreed to "donate" this easement and ROW to Ithaca for no compensation, only after receiving the City's tacit agreement to incorporate Cornell's recommendations into the final plan.
Also, the City and Cornell, along with some other interested parties, entered into a formal "Partnership Agreement" during February-March 2006 for purposes of the Bridge reconstruction project. The design of the bridge railings fell within the area of Cornell's responsibility. Cornell's Sasaki Report showed that considerable time, money and effort was spent studying various means to protect the safety of pedestrians and bicycles. However, Cornell conducted absolutely no studies on the design of bridge railings that would prevent any further suicides from the Bridge. Apparently not one dime was spent studying the means restrictions on iconic bridges around the globe to determine what were the most effective suicide barriers. Was a railing height of 1.4 meters (4 ½ feet) high enough to deter climbers and prevent suicides? Was a curved railing a help or a hindrance to a person attempting suicide by jumping from the Bridge? If curved railings were a suicide deterrent, why weren't they being used on other iconic bridges that attracted suicide seekers? Apparently neither Cornell or the City of Ithaca deemed it important to answer these questions, with tragic results.
Moreover, Cornell had no "suicide prevention" consultant focused on eliminating the risk of future suicides during the Bridge reconstruction. No one from Cornell or the City ever sounded the alarm (or even questioned) as to whether the addition of an 18" footing at the base of the railing created a hazard by making it easier for someone to jump the railing.
After the six suicides of Cornell students during the 2009/2010 academic year, with three of those deaths (including Bradley Ginsburg's) taking place at the gorge bridges within a few weeks of each other, Ithaca's Mayor declared a public health emergency on March 26, 2010. This declaration permitted Cornell to erect and pay for temporary chain link fences on all three City-owned bridges crossing the gorges, including Thurston Avenue Bridge.
During the next two years, from mid-2010 through 2012, the threat and then the reality of the Ginsburg case in federal court, as well as the overwhelming public outcry to finally put an end to suicides from the gorge bridges shocked Cornell and the City of Ithaca into taking some effective action. On August 4, 2010, the City Common Council, at Cornell's request, issued a Resolution extending the public health emergency and allowing Cornell to erect and pay for the replacement of the temporary chain link fences with black-coated, "suicide-proof" rectilinear fences on all three City-owned bridges.
In short, when Cornell finally decided that the time had come to install effective "means restrictions" on the gorge bridges, it knew exactly how to take control and accomplish that goal, regardless of whether they were technically "City owned" or not.
After voluminous document discovery and depositions of at least one dozen witnesses from Cornell and the City of Ithaca, as well as various consultants, experts and Mr. and Mrs. Ginsburg themselves, Cornell and the City, both filed motions for summary judgment. The defendants claimed that the Court should not permit the case to move forward to a jury trial and that by law they had no legal responsibility for Bradley's death.
Even though Judge David N. Hurd had already ruled in denying defendants' motions to dismiss that the plaintiff (Bradley's Estate) did not have to prove that it was specifically foreseeable that Bradley would try to commit suicide by jumping from the Bridge, Cornell raised this issue once again in its motion for summary judgment. It submitted an expert report from a psychiatrist, Paul Barreira, M.D., for the apparent purpose of establishing that Bradley's suicide was not "foreseeable." Dr. Barriera speculated that since Bradley had left a suicide note that bore the date of June 6, 2009, about eight months before his death, that he "must" have been contemplating suicide for at least eight months, and that his decision to kill himself was carefully planned, not a fleeting impulse. Cornell's expert further argued that, since Bradley was unquestionably a "hard worker," if his "goal" were to commit suicide, he would have found a way to accomplish his goal, regardless of whether or not it was easy to jump from the Thurston Avenue Bridge.
However, a closer analysis of Bradley's suicide note revealed that the date of "6/6/09" for his suicide note must have been a mistake since Bradley did not even own the laptop computer on June 6, 2009, which was not purchased until two months later, during August 2009. Moreover, Bradley was not a student yet at Cornell on June 6, 2009, and yet Bradley's suicide note made references to the AEPi fraternity at Cornell. The inescapable conclusion, therefore, was that the note must have been created after Bradley had arrived at Cornell in the late summer of 2009, and most likely in the few days before his death on February 17, 2010, when he was doing extensive research on topics involving depression and suicide.
Cornell's argument that because Bradley was a "hard worker" and very goal oriented, he would have found an alternative means to kill himself, ignored the scholarly research showing that the overwhelming majority of people who try to commit suicide and survive, do not make another suicide attempt. Rather, they are more likely to obtain help from mental health professionals and then go on to live normal and productive lives. The more reasonable explanation, therefore, was not that Bradley would have persisted on his "mission" to kill himself, but that if the Bridge had effective suicide prevention measures in place, Bradley's suicidal impulses would have been thwarted. Then he would have sought psychiatric counseling to manage what was obviously his first serious encounter with self-destructive impulses.
By denying Cornell's motion for summary judgment, the district court appears to have favored the opinion of plaintiff's expert, Dr. Michael Bernstein, which was that Bradley was having a transitory bout with depression. Dr. Bernstein believed Bradly's suicide was an impulsive act, and that if effective means restrictions were in place on the Bridge, it is likely that his death would have been prevented. It was also pointed out that all factors present at the time of Bradley's suicide indicated that he was looking towards the future until just before his death. He had recently applied for and was accepted for a camp counselor's job that coming summer. He had asked his mother to send him his passport for a fraternity trip to Montreal the following week, and he had just changed some of the courses he was taking that Spring semester. In short, there was absolutely nothing about Bradley's life that indicated he was depressed or contemplating ending it.
Dr. Bernstein also noted in his expert report that numerous studies had shown that adolescents and young adults are more prone to impulsive behavior. A study found that 10% to 15% of college students are contemplating suicide at any given time, this means that at Cornell, with approximately 20,000 students, between 2000-3000 were thinking of suicide every day. In any event, Judge Hurd ruled that Bradley's state of mind was largely irrelevant to the issue of Cornell's duties and responsibilities.
The record in the Ginsburg case overwhelmingly demonstrated that Cornell had sufficient "control" over the Thurston Avenue Bridge and its 2006/2007 redesign and reconstruction, establishing a duty on its part to repair and prevent a known hazard. The hazard was the ease with which a person could jump from the Bridge, and the court held that Cornell could be held accountable for damages resulting from its failure to remedy this known hazard. The responsibility was especially true since Cornell had a detailed knowledge of the long tragic history of suicides from the Thurston Avenue Bridge and other bridges, and that it was common knowledge on campus that "gorging out" was a relatively painless way to end one's life. In other words, Cornell's liability arose from its "failure to exercise reasonable care to prevent or minimize foreseeable future danger." Cornell also assumed joint responsibility with the City to improve safety on the Thurston Avenue Bridge and represented that one of the major objectives was to design bridge railings that would prevent suicides. Having assumed responsibility for bridge safety, we argued that Cornell was liable for having failed to design bridge "means restrictions" that achieved those objectives.
Judge Hurd scheduled jury selection for September 29, 2014, with the trial to commence on October 1, 2014. On the eve of trial, Cornell offered to settle the matter in consideration of the establishment of a full perpetual scholarship in Bradley's name. The University initially placed a value on the scholarship (in writing) of $1.5 to $1.6 million. According to a letter from Cornell's counsel, dated August 23, 2014, that was the amount of an "endowment [that] would be required for a private donor to establish a scholarship with the terms we are proposing.
Plaintiff's calculations placed a value of a full perpetual scholarship at a slightly higher number, i.e., $1.8 million. These calculations were based upon the current Cornell cost of tuition, room and board, and other miscellaneous college expenses was $60,000 per year. The value of the scholarship to the Estate would, therefore, be, at a minimum, 30 years times $60,000 per year, or $1.8 million. On August 15, 2014, Plaintiff wrote to the district court explaining this valuation.
Bradley's Estate also received a "low-ball" settlement offer from the City of Ithaca for $75,000, which was increased to $100,000. On September 10, 2014, shortly before a scheduled settlement conference with the district court regarding a settlement with the City, Howard Ginsburg — against my advice — accepted Cornell's offer of a full perpetual scholarship in Bradley's name, and the City's offer of $100,000, thus terminating the case without a trial.
The suicide deaths of Bradley Ginsburg and two other Cornell students within only a few weeks of each other in 2010 finally shook Cornell University and the City of Ithaca out of their decades-long refusal to recognize the need for the installation of effective suicide-prevention measures on the other bridges spanning the gorges traversing the Cornell campus. With the City's consent, Cornell quickly erected some temporary chain link fences on Thurston Avenue Bridge, which were later replaced with sufficiently high and specially designed railings that were intended to prevent potential jumpers. These specialized railings were backed up by the installation of netting below the Bridge, and the installation of security cameras.
The results were dramatically positive: There have been no reported suicide deaths by jumping from any of the gorge bridges since these safety measures were installed. There is also no evidence that a student or student who was thwarted in their intent to jump from a gorge bridge committed suicide by alternative means.
One "take away" from the Ginsburg case is that litigation and heightened public awareness are often an effective means to force universities and municipalities to acknowledge the importance of physical suicide prevention barriers on major bridges and buildings. Simply put, universities and municipalities have a legal obligation to take reasonable safety measures to protect students in particular and all citizens in general who may be attracted to iconic bridges and buildings. These bridges and buildings are known magnets for those who may seek to end their lives by jumping to their deaths. Colleges and universities that ignore this obligation do so at substantial risk since the grieving families of suicide victims have shown an increased willingness to use the judicial system to hold them accountable.
1. See Naples News article, "Study Recent Virginia Tech Settlement Bring Spotlight to College Suicide," January 1, 2012.
2. "Lethal Beauty/The Allure: Beauty and an easy route to death have long made the Golden Gate Bridge a magnet for suicides," Edward Guthmann, SF Gate, October 30, 2005.
6.Howard I. Ginsburg, as Administrator of the Estate of Bradley Marc Ginsburg v. The City of Ithaca and Cornell University, United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, Civ. No. 5:11 cv 01374.
The district court based its decision on the established law that a landowner (or anyone else who "controls" property) "has a duty to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances in maintaining its property in a safe condition," citing In re Kush v. City of Buffalo, 59 N.Y. 2d 26, 29 (1983). See also, Pearce v. Holland Property Management, Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47723*12 (N.D.N.Y. 2009) (the primary focus in the inquiry on duty concerns "whether the defendant's conduct created a foreseeable zone of risk, not whether the defendant could foresee the specific injury that actually occurred," citing Stanford v. Kuwait Airways Corp., 89 F. 3d 117, 125 (2d Cir. 1996); and DeVeau v. United States, 833 F. Supp. 139, 142 (N.D.N.Y. 1993) (a plaintiff must demonstrate "that there was a dangerous condition and that either the defendant affirmatively created … or had notice [of it] …, after [such] knowledge or notice was received, the defendant had a reasonable opportunity to correct the dangerous condition …, and that the defendant … failed to correct the condition within a reasonable time thereafter").
7.See National Research Consortium of Counseling Centers in Higher Education, "New Data on the Nature of Suicidal Crises in College Students: Shifting the Paradigm," Dunn et al, Professional Psychology, Research and Practice, Vol. 40, No. 3, 213-222.
8.See "Ithaca Is No Longer Fences," by Alex Bores, The Cornell Daily Sun, 11/29/11; see also, in the "2006 National College Health Assessment," it was found that 10% of students are contemplating suicide at any given time, with 1.3% reporting that they actually attempted suicide. "A Public Health Approach to Campus Mental Health promotion and Suicide Prevention," Gregory T. Ells, PhD, Director of Counseling and Psychological Services, et al, Harvard Health Policy Review, Volume 13.
10. See Rob Fishman, "Cornell Suicides: Do Ithaca's Gorges Invite Jumpers?" Huffington Post, 3/11/10.
11. See guest editorial in the Ithaca Journal entitled, "Moral Concern: Safe Bridges," dated April 15, 1978, written by Nina Miller, the founder of the Suicide Prevention and Crisis Services (SPCS) of Tompkins County, and W. Jack Lewis, Director, Cornell United Religious Work, calling for means restriction on Ithaca's gorge bridges.
13. See "Means Restriction on Ithaca's Bridges: A Key Element of a Comprehensive Approach to Preventing Suicide," prepared by Dr. Tim Marchell (updated: April 14, 2011).
15.See Inside Higher Ed. (updated 3/16/2010, "Does 6 deaths in 6 months make Cornell 'suicide school?", Jennifer Epstein, reprinted in USA Today.
16. Dr. Tim Marchell, Paper, "Means Restriction on Ithaca's Bridges, A Key Element of a Comprehensive Approach to Preventing Suicide," (updated April 14, 2011), at 5-9.
17. "The Final Leap: Suicide on the Golden Gate Bridge," John Bateson, at p. 141.
See www.mhrsonline.org at 1. See also, Gannett Health Services: website section "Notice & Respond," Cornell website (http://gannett.cornell.edu/notice/resources/suicide.cfm), at page 4 of 5.
18. See Article, SF Gate, 11/03/05, by Carolyn Zinko.
20. New York Times, "Suicides Mounting, Golden Gate Looks to Add a Safety Net, Carol Pogash, March 26, 2014.
21.New York Times, March 26, 2014, "Suicides Mounting, Golden Gate Looks to Add a Safety Net," Carol Pogash.
25.Public opinion also seems to have changed in favor of suicide prevention since 1995, when the number of bridge suicides was approaching 1000 and a radio disc jockey offered a case of Snapple to the family of the 1000th jumper. 26.Id.
28. Howard I. Ginsburg, as Administrator of the Estate of Bradley Marc Ginsburg v. The City of Ithaca and Cornell University, United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, Civ. No. 5:11 cv 01374.
29.Cornell University North Campus Circulation Study, prepared for Cornell University by Sasaki Associates, Inc., dated May 2002 ("Sasaki Report").
31.Although New York courts have generally rejected the doctrine of in loco parentis at the college level, New York law has recognized that a duty may be found to exist where a college encourages students to participate in an activity and takes affirmative steps to regulate that activity. See, e.g., Hores v. Sargent, 230 A.D. 2d 712, 646 N.Y.S. 2d 165 (2d Dept. 1996) (community college found liable for failure to take reasonable precautions for the safety of participants in a college-organized bicycle trip); see also, Rothbard, 652 N.Y.S. 2d at 148.
32.The federal court for the Northern District of New York, which is where the Ginsburg case was pending, had previously considered a "premises liability" case involving a Cornell fraternity. See Lloyd v. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, 1999 WL 47153 at *4 (N.D.N.Y. January 26, 1999). In the Lloyd case, the plaintiff was a Cornell student who was pledging at the defendant fraternity. He sued the national and local chapter of the fraternity for the injuries he sustained as a result of "hazing" by members of the fraternity. The court granted defendant's summary judgment motion, finding that the factual record was insufficient to find that Cornell was "actively involved" in the fraternity hazing practices on campus. In Lloyd, as in the Ginsburg case, Cornell argued that a college may only be held liable for "premises liability" where plaintiff can show a physical defect made the premises unreasonably safe, and that the defendant college was negligent in not maintaining the premises in a reasonably safe condition, citing Basso v. Miller, 40 N.Y. 2d 233, 386 N.Y.S. 2d 564 (1976). See Lloyd at *11. However, the court in Lloyd pointed out that Cornell "sees the issue too narrowly," and that a college "may be held liable to a plaintiff for harm suffered – even where the plaintiff engages in a voluntary activity – if the [college] (a) had actual or constructive knowledge that injurious conduct was likely to occur or recur, and (b) fails to control that conduct despite the opportunity to do so. See Lloyd, citing Oja v. Grand Chapter of Theta Chi Fraternity, 680 N.Y.S. 2d 277, 278 (3d Dept. 1998).
33.See Campbell v. Cunningham Natural Gas Corp., 164 Misc. 1, 298 N.Y.S. 200, 204 (Sup. Ct. 1937), citing the landmark case on "proximate cause" decided by the New York State Court of Appeals in a decision written by Judge Benjamin A. Cardozo: Palsgraf v. Long Island R.R. Co., 248 N.Y. 399, 344 (1928); see also, 65 C.J.S. Negligence, Sec. 4(1) & 4(3).
34.Lloyd v. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, 1999 WL 47153, at *4 (N.D.N.Y. Jan. 26 1999). In Lloyd, the court distinguished the facts before it from the case of Furek v. University of Delaware, 594 A. 2d 506 (Del. 1991), where the Delaware Supreme court found that the university did, in fact, have a duty to prevent hazing on campus when there was at least a five year record prior to that date of plaintiff's injuries that the university knew of past hazing incidents that caused harm to students, and that it was "common knowledge on campus" that hazing occurred. See Furek, 594 A. 2d at 520-521. Prior to deciding Lloyd, the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York had previously decided another case involving Cornell's liability for "premises liability." See Nieswand v. Cornell University, 692 F. Supp. 1464 (N.D.N.Y. 1988), the Court denied Cornell's summary judgment motion, recognizing that a property owner has a "duty to take protective measures" when it knows or has reason to know of an existing dangerous condition, citing Nallan v. Hemsley-Spear, Inc., 50 N.Y. 2d 507, 429 N.Y.S. 606, 613 (1980). In Nallan, where the plaintiff was shot by an unknown assailant in the lobby of a building where there were 107 reported crimes during the 21 months before the shooting, the NYS Court of Appeals found that "a rational jury could have found from the history of criminal activity … that a criminal incident in the lobby was a significant, foreseeable possibility." 50 N.Y. 2d at 520, 429 N.Y.s. 2d at 613-614. See also, Sherman v. Concourse Realty Corp., 47 A.D. 2d 134, 136, 365 N.Y.S. 2d 239, 242 (2d Dept. 1975).
35.See Miller v. State, 62 N.Y. 2d 506, 514, 478 N.Y.S. 2d 829, 833 (1984) (defendant has a duty to take "minimal security precautions," such as locking a dormitory's doors); see also, In re Kush, 59 N.Y. 2d at 33-34.
36. See Pandekakes v. United States, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 186 (S.D.N.Y. 2000).
37. See Nieswald, 692 F. Supp. at 1469, where the court found that an "implied contract" existed between Cornell and its students since Cornell had assumed responsibility to maintain effective security measures on campus. Cornell was slo on notice that "the problem of propped open doors was well known," and that "the University failed to take steps to resolve the problem. " Nieswand, at 1471.


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THIS LEAGUE IS LAST YEAR'S OLD Est. 2017
One and Done - FFL: Week 3 | NFL: Championship
Sat Jan 18 3:55pm ET
Players: Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry
NEW ORLEANS (AP) A misdemeanor simple battery warrant for Cleveland Browns wide receiver and former LSU star Odell Beckham Jr. has been rescinded, the New Orleans Police Department confirmed Saturday.
The warrant was issued Thursday as video posted on social media appeared to show Beckham swatting a security officer's buttocks during LSU's locker room victory celebration after Monday night's college national championship game in the Superdome.
LSU players were seen smoking cigars - forbidden in the Superdome - in pictures from the post-game celebration. Authorities reportedly warned them they could face arrest.
In a 27-second video available on Twitter, a security officer is seen standing over an LSU player sitting on a locker room bench. The officer appears to be searching around the bench and pointing to the floor. He can be heard talking about a ''burn mark'' just before Beckham approaches him from behind and appears to swat his backside.
''The security officer in the incident involving Odell Beckham Jr. has decided to drop the charge,'' the department's public information office said in an email.
Beckham has also come under scrutiny over his apparent cash payments to Tigers players on the field after the game.
LSU athletics spokesman Michael Bonnette said last week that initial information suggested that Beckham handed out ''novelty bills'' to players, but further investigation showed that Beckham may have given away real money, Bonnette said.'
The NCAA does not allow players to receive cash benefits while playing college football. Those rules are designed to prevent institutions from luring talent through the promise of direct or indirect payments.
Beckham, 27, starred for LSU from 2011 to 2013 and was a first-round draft pick by the New York Giants. He was traded to Cleveland before last season.
The three-time Pro Bowler played most of the season with a sports hernia injury that may require surgery. Despite not being completely healthy, he still played in all 16 games and finished with 74 catches for 1,035 yards. However, he had just four touchdowns, his fewest in a full season.
The flashy wide receiver was fined by the NFL for wearing an expensive watch during a game and was asked by officials to change his helmet visor as well as cleats that did not conform to league rules.
Late in the season, as the Browns were falling from playoff contention, Beckham dismissed reports he was telling opposing players to ''come get me'' during games. Beckham said he had no intention of leaving the Browns and was committed to helping them win while playing alongside Jarvis Landry, his best friend and former college teammate.
Warrant for Browns WR Beckham rescinded
Packers, 49ers battle for NFC title
Titans, Chiefs one win from Super Bowl
Giants name ex-Cowboys coach Garrett OC
Jags to interview Linehan for OC opening
Browns interview Eagles VP Berry for GM
Bears name Lazor OC, DeFilippo QBs coach
Moore to keep calling plays for Cowboys
McCaffrey out of Pro Bowl, Kamara in
Mahomes starring as big payday looms
49ers GM Lynch named PFWA Exec of Year
Warrant issued to Browns WR Beckham
Browns to talk to Pats' Ossenfort for GM
Panthers bank on Brady igniting offense
Ex-player Gleason honored by Congress
Veteran ref Vinovich to head SB LIV crew
Chiefs' Mathieu, Clark prove their worth
Cards WR Fitzgerald returning for 2020
Tagliabue makes Hall in fifth attempt
Broncos name ex-Giants coach Shurmur OC
The Paur Report
Injury Status: Championship Round
Lineup Prep: Championship Round
Studs and Duds: Divisional Round
Injury Status: Divisional Round
Lineup Prep: Divisional Round
Studs and Duds: Wild Card Weekend
Injury Status: Wild Card Weekend
Lineup Prep: Wild Card Weekend
Championship Player Rankings
Championship Inactives
Tyreek Hill Jan 18 5:00pm ET
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill had an incredible performance against the Tennessee Titans during their Week 10 matchup. He caught 11 of his 19 targets for 157 yards and two touchdowns in the loss to Tennessee. He'll get another chance to run over the same team in the AFC Championship matchup on Sunday. Hill hasn't been able to get over 100 yards receiving in a single game since that matchup. DFS players know that Hill has a chance to be a complete bust, but the fact he destroyed Tennessee the first time is hard to ignore. Hill has given DFS players a lot to think about before Sunday's kickoff.
From RotoBaller
Travis Kelce Jan 18 4:50pm ET
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is coming off a three touchdown performance against the Houston Texans last week. He hauled in 10 receptions for 134 yards and three touchdowns in the Divisional Round victory. The Tennessee Titans main focus has to be slowing down Kelce. They allowed seven receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown to Kelce earlier in the season. Kelce isn't going to be cheap for DFS contests, but he's proven all season long that he's worth the risk.
Sammy Watkins Jan 18 4:50pm ET
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Sammy Watkins has been tough to watch all season long. He started off the year with a three touchdown performance, but it was downhill after that. Watkins was only targeted more than five times in a game once over the last five games. Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce have taken over the passing attack in Kansas City. Watkins was able to haul in five receptions for 39 yards during his regular season matchup against the Titans. DFS players shouldn't expect a better performance out of Watkins this time around.
Patrick Mahomes Jan 18 4:40pm ET
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is set to battle with the Tennessee Titans for the AFC Championship on Sunday. Mahomes is coming off a five touchdown performance against the Houston Texans last week. He's already faced off against the Titans once this season and Mahomes didn't disappoint. He threw for 446 yards and three touchdowns in that game. DFS players should be able to lean on Mahomes to at least be efficient on Sunday. He has a solid chance of being the best quarterback out of the bunch in the division title games.
Damien Williams Jan 18 4:40pm ET
Kansas City Chiefs running back Damien Williams is coming off a three touchdown performance against the Houston Texans last week. He rushed 12 times for 47 yards and caught two passes for 21 yards through the air. LeSean McCoy and Darwin Thompson have been absent from the backfield lately. The Chiefs have been leaning on Williams and it's been paying off. He's been able to find the end zone when he's called upon and piled up 109 yards against the Titans earlier in the season. Fantasy owners are aware that Williams has been up and down this season, but he's red-hot right now. He'll be used in both the rushing and passing attack, so DFS players should give Williams a long look for Sunday's slate.
Jimmy Garoppolo Jan 18 2:03pm ET
San Francisco 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo has the confidence of former 49ers QB and Hall of Famer Steve Young. 'When they've asked him to raise up and go win it, he did it,' Young said. 'Those are hard things to do. That just doesn't happen. When you see it in the NFL and someone is able to do it, you go, once you've done it, you can do it again. You can keep doing it.'
Fantasy Spin: Jimmy G wasn't a fantasy factor with his 11-of-19, 131-yards, one-TD, one-interception game in the divisional-round playoff win over the Vikings, but that's largely due to the Niners' overwhelming success on the ground (47 rushes-186 yards). When Garoppolo has been forced to pass, he's delivered the majority of the time, and his fantasy numbers Sunday likely will depend on how much the opposing Packers are able to get done against the San Fran defense.
From TheHuddle
Raheem Mostert Jan 18 1:23pm ET
San Francisco 49ers RB Raheem Mostert is the only player since special-teams tackles were first tracked in 2001 to lead his team in rushing yards and special-teams tackles in the same season.
Fantasy Spin: While Mostert is a breakout talent who led the Niners in rushing in each of their last six regular-season games, keep in mind that it was Tevin Coleman who led the squad in rushing attempts (22), yards (105) and touchdown runs (2) in the divisional-round playoff win over the Vikings as Mostert (12-58-0) battled a calf cramp which he said was an after affect of an illness he dealt with the week leading up to the game. In the meantime, it's a plus matchup Sunday against a Packers defense which allowed the ninth-most rushing yards (120.1) per game during the regular season.
Derrick Henry Jan 18 1:13pm ET
Tennessee Titans RB Derrick Henry has rushed for 377 yards on 64 carries in two wins this postseason, but Kansas City Chiefs DE Frank Clark says he isn't intimidated heading into the AFC Championship matchup with the Titans on Sunday, Jan. 19. 'He's not hard to hit,' Clark was quoted as saying on NFL Network. 'He's just a big guy -- 240, 245, 250 (pounds). Honestly he should be running harder at his weight and size. I don't see no difficulty in tackling him. ... He's just easy to me up front because I don't look at any running back like they can't be tackled. He's not one of the best guys at breaking tackles to me, honestly.'
Fantasy Spin: Henry is on a truly historic run -- with only Terrell Davis owning more 150-yard postseason games (four) than Henry's three -- and it will be challenge for Clark and the K.C. D, which ranked in the bottom fourth of the league in allowing 128.2 rushing yards per game and 4.9 yards per carry, to slow down -- let alone shut down -- Henry and the run-first Titans.
Odell Beckham Jr. Jan 18 12:43pm ET
Cleveland Browns WR Odell Beckham Jr. likely won't face simple-assault charges for slapping a security officer's buttocks Monday, Jan. 13, as the officer has declined to press charges, according to a source.
Fantasy Spin: The Browns -- and OBJ's fantasy dynasty-league owners -- are hoping this the final negative offseason headline the wideout generates for a good while and he starts focusing his energies on improving on his disappointing debut season with Cleveland.
Jan 18 5:23am ET
Confirming a previous report, the Dallas Cowboys have hired New Orleans Saints linebackers coach Mike Nolan to be their new defensive coordinator. Head coach Mike McCarthy said he plans to run a defense with four down linemen.
Jason McCourty Jan 17 10:53pm ET
New England Patriots CB Jason McCourty (groin) recently underwent surgery on the groin injury that hampered him throughout the 2019 season.
Jason Garrett Jan 17 8:03pm ET
Former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett has agreed to become the offensive coordinator for the New York Giants, according to a source.
Tevin Coleman Jan 17 6:03pm ET
San Francisco 49ers RB Tevin Coleman (elbow) fully participated in practice Friday, Jan. 17, and is not on the injury report for the NFC Championship game.
Fantasy Spin: Coleman is coming off one of his best games of the season last week and should continue to receive most of the carries in the running game. He should be a starting option in all fantasy leagues.
George Kittle Jan 17 6:03pm ET
San Francisco 49ers TE George Kittle (ankle) fully participated in practice Friday, Jan. 17, and is not on the injury report for the NFC Championship game.
Fantasy Spin: Kittle is one of the top options in the passing game for the 49ers and is a must-start option in all fantasy leagues.
San Francisco 49ers RB Raheem Mostert (calf) fully participated in practice Friday, Jan. 17, and is not on the injury report for the NFC Championship game.
Fantasy Spin: Mostert will have a solid role in the running game against the Green Bay Packers and could see a few targets in the passing game. He has a chance to be a flex option in fantasy leagues.
Dee Ford Jan 17 6:03pm ET
San Francisco 49ers LB Kwon Alexander (pectoral) was limited during practice Friday, Jan. 17, but is not on the injury report for the NFC Championship game. DE Dee Ford (hamstring, quadriceps) fully participated in practice and is not on the injury report.
Marcedes Lewis Jan 17 5:43pm ET
Green Bay Packers FB Danny Vitale (knee) was limited during practice Friday, Jan. 17, and is listed as questionable for the NFC Championship game. TE Marcedes Lewis (non-injury), LB Preston Smith (ankle) and CB Tramon Williams (non-injury) were limited during practice but are not on the injury report. S Adrian Amos (chest), OT Bryan Bulaga (non-injury), DT Kenny Clark (back), WR Ryan Grant (non-injury), LB Blake Martinez (hand) and OT Billy Turner (ankle) fully participated in practice and are not on the injury report.
Geronimo Allison Jan 17 5:33pm ET
Green Bay Packers WR Geronimo Allison (illness) fully participated in practice Friday, Jan. 17, and is not on the injury report for the NFC Championship game.
Fantasy Spin: Allison has only been targeted 12 times over the last five games and was held to nine yards in his last game against the San Francisco 49ers. He can be avoided in fantasy leagues.
Jimmy Graham Jan 17 5:23pm ET
Green Bay Packers TE Jimmy Graham (non-injury) was limited during practice Friday, Jan. 17, but is not on the injury report for the NFC Championship game.
Fantasy Spin: Graham likely will see a handful of targets in the passing game against the San Francisco 49ers and could be a stating option in some fantasy leagues.
Green Bay Packers Jan 17 5:20pm ET
The Green Bay Packers Defense faces a tough task this weekend in the NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers. In their regular-season meeting, the Packers gave up 37 points and only dropped Jimmy Garoppolo only three times. They also failed to generate any turnovers. Green Bay's defense may need to lend their offense a helping hand by creating a turnover or two to swing the field position game. If Za-Darius and Preston Smith can ramp up the pressure, the Packers will have a good chance of generating a turnover or two and winning the game. It certainly won't be easy, considering how formidable the 49ers offense has been this season.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Home/Scooters And One Wheels/Yamaha Presents The Futuristic Augur Scooter In Taiwan
Yamaha Presents The Futuristic Augur Scooter In Taiwan
Yamaha has just released a striking new scooter specific to the Taiwanese market. It's called the Augur, and it's quite possibly the most futuristic model to come out of the Japanese manufacturer's scooter lineup in recent years. It's packing a lot of futuristic features, all of which are accentuated by its radical styling. Let's take a closer look, shall we?
Right off the bat, the Yamaha Augur's unique styling turns heads. It makes use of a unique, edgy design full of angular sections, giving it an otherworldly aesthetic. Yamaha describes the styling as a combination of stylish and intelligent. Up front, the headlights get an arrow shape, while the front bodywork is slim and pointy. Furthermore, Yamaha has incorporated body panels with different textures—some smooth and glossy, while others textured and matte—to give the scooter a more unique look.
As for technology, Yamaha throws in all of its latest and greatest tech features such as a nifty Y-LLA, or Yamaha Lean Light Assist feature, which, as the name suggests, is a fancy way of calling corning lights. What's even cooler is that the LED headlight can change color depending on weather conditions and rider preference. It's not some fun party trick, either. The headlight can be toggled from white—for use in city road conditions with clear skies, to warm white—for better visibility in fog and rain.
Other features include a full-color LCD display with built-in navigation. As with most modern two-wheelers, you even have the option to pair your smartphone to the scooter to access features such as onboard diagnostics and ride stats. Last but not least, the Augur retains city-focused scooter functionality. A broad saddle enables comfortable riding, even with a passenger, while a flat floor board allows you to confidently plant your feet wherever you find it most comfortable. There's also ample under-seat storage, but don't expect to get as much room compared to bigger maxi-scooters.
On the performance side of things, the Yamaha Augur is powered by the tried and tested 155cc, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, single cylinder engine found in many other Yamaha commuters. The engine is similar to what we find in the Yamaha NMAX maxi-scooter, as well as the YZF-R15 and MT-15 in other Asian markets. It sends power to the rear wheel via a standard CVT, and even has a traction control system to ensure added safety on wet city roads.
These e-scooter legal guidelines may see riders in Newcastle and Sunderland fined £1,000 and even jailed
Yamaha Presents The Retro-Type Grand Filano Scooter In Indonesia
2022 Yamaha TMax 560cc maxi scooter debuts with new know-how and extra
Apollo Ghost Electrical Scooter Evaluate: Quick, Enjoyable, and Full Suspension!
St. Louis to increase downtown electrical scooter ban via early 2023 | Politics


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Propertybuyer provided reports on the prices of comparable properties recently sold; took us through building and pest reports so we were aware of any expenses that would be incurred after a sale. Propertybuyer also secured a good solicitor for us and we also received advice on a range of general matters. Propertybuyer also bid for us at auctions. Afterwards we felt satisfied. Our buyers' agent worked hard for us for several properties until we were successful. Propertybuyer are highly recommended. It strengthens your position as a buyer in the market place and increased your chance of success while eliminating the change of buying a "lemon".
It was an absolute pleasure working with Bryan and Cherie and I must say I was extremely happy with the very successful result and fabulous property we were successful in securing "prior to Auction" for such a wonderful couple. To be able to purchase a prime property so close to the ocean with views in a blue chip location, completely renovated at a very fair price prior to Auction is extremely difficult in this bullish, competitive market. We had missed out on a number of properties leading up to this with bidding going way over reserves with one property going $700,000 over reserve! We strategically positioned Bryan and Cherie confidently to be in the best position with providing market appraisals, deciphering building & pest reports efficiently, having the contract efficiently reviewed and executing a signed contract to the agent quickly and efficiently. So much work goes on behind the scenes to bring about a successful outcome such as this and I appreciate the trust our clients place in us to guide them along and to be able to place them in a winning position.
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Natalia Sol tells Dave about "After School All-Stars" … a wonderful organization, created by Arnold Schwarzenegger, that provides students with free activities (like zumba and kickboxing) after the school day ends. It's a program designed to keep kids off the streets and in a safe place, where they can flourish.
Also, middle-school student Victoria Torres talks about how "After School All-Stars" allowed her to travel to Washington D.C. AND to create an app that helps prevent people from texting and driving!


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the composer/arranger
A series of blogs from musician to musician. Comments are invited which will receive a human response.
Sketch Scores
It's often useful to make 'short score' concert pitch sketches when working on an arrangement or composition. They help to ensure the keys are right for everyone and the brass have time to remove mutes, etc. before wasting too much time on the full score. Instead of writing each voice or instrumental part on its own stave (staff), a whole section of the band or orchestra is written on one stave. With the big band I usually write the brass on one double stave (piano style) with the trumpets in the treble clef and the trombones in the bass clef. Ditto the strings and saxes, with the distribution of altos and tenors depending on range. Despite the tradition of writing saxes above brass on the full score (because that's where woodwinds go) I always do it the other way round in short scores and scores for my own use because the method is visually in keeping with the way the ensembles work. The tighter brass are cradled in a foundation of open harmony saxes. Instruments can also be written in different colours on the same stave, offering a useful method of avoiding confusion in short scores.
The biggest problem with short scores arises where accidentals occur. A contradictory profusion of accidentals and cancelled accidentals sometimes arises as a result of passing chords and chord changes within a bar. It's especially easy to miss a note recurring in the octave (up or down) that might require rectification (the computer spots them with relentless precision). What I do is to omit accidentals and write the chords and passing chords above the voicing and rely on my knowledge.
If you do decide to maintain a strict accidental scheme, you'll have to decide whether or not to treat the two halves of the great stave separately. There is no single standard governing this, believe it or not, so it's important to know what you intend. In view of the fact that, most of the time, your sketches will feature a homogenous section of instruments spread across two staves, there's a strong case for treating the great stave as one. But then, you won't be happy unless you write in the cautionaries anyway.
When we attempt to achieve conformity with a prevailing tonality, it's important to remember that, in the tonal cell situation prevalent in standard tunes and jazz compositions of the thirties, forties and fifties, the tonality will be constantly changing. Music of the 50's is full of these shopping mall 'cycle of fifth' chord sequences but the West Coasters did produce some truly memorable stuff with them. There are a number of examples in the book.
Where passing chords move in exact parallel, often where the lead voice moves from non-chordal to chordal by a semitone interval, I use three or four parallel lines as a symbol above or below the stave. That way you don't have to write the passing chord in full, just the lead line. Remember that the passing chord may also be on the beat and occur before the chordal voicing. We're using the usual loose terminology here. Jazz musicians always refer to passing notes even though, as described in the book, passing notes are just one of many types of unessential notes.
I make use of all kinds of symbols – asterisks, etc., anything, really. Each one refers to a motif, rhythm or phrase and acts as a shorthand method of identifying detail sketches worked out in the 'margin'. Where adjacent bits of musical sketches on one stave are not actually continuous in the final piece I use two vertical wavy lines side by side to separate them. They resemble engineering drawing style where a shortened view of a longer component is indicated in a similar way. Some kind of orderliness is necessary when writing sketches, which may fill many pages. Without this, there's the danger of returning to a composition after an interval and finding that we can't remember what we were doing. I've done it many times.
In many ways, the most useful sketches are those made on large sheets of plain paper where the shape and outline of the music is indicated graphically, using various colours. The rhythms and the rising and falling of the music are shown but pitches and harmonies are attended to once the piece begins to hold together. This method can be useful in overcoming inhibitions and in learning to control the music instead of allowing it to control you. Often, fresh harmonies are necessary to achieve the required shapes.
'Writing by ear' and 'writing away from the keyboard' are not strictly synonymous terms. They are two sides of the same coin. Although ear training is important, there is the problem of mentally hearing unorthodox scales and chord structures of the kind discussed in the book. One undesirable result of relying entirely on aural training, in this context, will be a tendency to conceive only in terms of those harmonies etc. that are within our experience. Our concepts will be constrained to a greater or lesser degree as a result. Foundation harmony instruction in education has changed little over the last three hundred years. Stravinsky often composed at the keyboard where he could work with the 'physical presence of sound'. So did Wagner.
It's difficult to get musicians to be honest about these things. Try asking a colleague if he or she has perfect pitch and notice the hesitation before an answer arrives. The fact is, musicians come in all shapes and sizes. I remember doing a big band gig when the lead alto forgot his pad. He played the entire concert of quite difficult stuff note perfect from memory. He could busk any tune in any key on demand. 'Body And Soul' in seven sharps? No problem. But he had a sound like a very blunt chain saw and his intonation was awful. As my grandpa (a Yorkshireman) used to say: 'There's nowt so queer as folk'.
It's interesting to note that many of the composers who showed most disdain for 'keyboard knights', as JS Bach used to call them, tended to write music that was constructed as much as it was created. The book deals in some detail with musical architecture and the way in which musical forms emulate our experiences of the physical world quite independently of programmatic content. The only area of possible dissent is the extent to which these factors apply to jazz, with its emphasis on spontaneity. Jazz arrangements are the framework within which spontaneity flourishes, with the added dimension of orchestral colour, form, dynamics and power.
Early jazz bands also used 'arrangements' to give shape to performances. The more musicians we use the more difficult it becomes to avoid chaos without them. With more complex arrangements for bigger bands it also becomes more difficult to perform without written parts. Even after weeks on the road the great bands of the past would have the book open as a reference. I saw all of them play in concert performances, many times.
One of the great things about writing each voice on its own stave in the full score is that the knobbly bits in the melodic style of each voice will scream out at you. It's essential to think linearly and not get hung up entirely on vertical chord formations. You're sometimes forced to treat a chordal note as non-chordal to achieve your aims (to cut a long story short).
If you play through one of the harmony voices and it proceeds by a series of disjointed melodic intervals, this is often a sign that the voicing needs a rethink. There are exceptions and, in any case, tempo has an important bearing on the issue. At slow speeds the ear is more tolerant because of the emphasis on harmonic flavour. At extremely fast speeds (either tempo or note duration-wise, or both) the melodic tendencies reach a point where they eliminate harmonic considerations. In such cases all voices will emulate the lead voice, resulting in a series of individual 'melodies' which effectively become modal derivatives using the prevailing tonality (each voice uses the same scale but starting on a different note according to its position in the chord). Rapid flurries of strings and woodwinds are an example, often featuring five and seven note tuplets.
Constant repetition, especially where there is a prior thematic significance, also renders situations to become more acceptable.
Players will encounter transcriptions done by lesser arrangers where the parts are difficult to pitch and execute cleanly. What results is a clean start and end to the passage with a garbled mish-mash in between. So if you're having trouble, it may not be your fault. There's nothing nicer than a really good excuse for playing badly.
And what about the book?
I now have two four star and two five star reviews. Thanks to all concerned for that.
Tagged arranging, composing, jazz, music theory.
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és un actor i escriptor estatunidenc.

Va ser guanyador de diversos premis Emmy, globus d'Or i un Oscar.

Louis Gossett, Jr. va néixer a Sheepshead Bay, Coney Island (Nova York). Es va criar amb la seva mare, Hellen Rebecca Wray Gossett, i el seu pare, Louis Gossett.
Després de graduar-se en l'escola secundària, va anar a la Universitat de Nova York. Amb una alçada d'1,93 m, es va convertir en un jugador de bàsquet durant els seus anys universitaris a la Universitat de Nova York. Els New York Knicks van quedar tan impressionats amb l'habilitat esportiva de Gossett que li van oferir un contracte professional en graduar-se. Va jugar breument amb ells el 1959, abans de triar centrar-se completament en la seva carrera d'actor, que era el que li apassionava.

Ja com a actor, és recordat per haver participat en la famosa sèrie de televisió "Arrels" (1977), en el paper de Fiddler; aquesta actuació el va portar a guanyar un premi Emmy. Són múltiples les seves aparicions en sèries de TV, minisèries i pel·lícules com la mini serie "Sadat" (1983), basada en la vida del president d'Egipte i "Els poders de Matthew Star", del 1982-1983.

El 1982 li va arribar la seva consagració al cinema, treballant juntament amb Richard Gere i Debra Winger en el taquiller film Oficial i cavaller, interpretant el personatge del recte i dur sergent Foley; la seva actuació va ser notable i va guanyar l'Oscar al millor actor secundari de 1983. Després, el 1983, roda Jaws 3-D amb Dennis Quaid. El 1985, va tornar a treballar amb Quaid al film de culte Enemy Mine, una pel·lícula de ciència-ficció i futurista, el seu personatge era un extraterrestre d'ètnia "Drag", anomenat Jeriba 'Jerry' Shigan, que estava en guerra amb els humans. El 1986, filma Iron Eagle, un film d'acció bèl·lic, que va donar origen a tota una saga de 4 films en total: Iron Eagle II, 1988; Aces: Iron Eagle III, 1992, i Iron Eagle on the atack, 1995. El 1991 filma Toy Soldiers.

Filmografia
Filmografia:

Premis i nominacions

Premis
 1977: Primetime Emmy al millor actor en sèrie de televisió per Roots
 1983: Globus d'Or al millor actor secundari en sèrie, minisèrie o telefilm per The Josephine Baker Story

Nominacions
 1978: Primetime Emmy al millor actor secundari en programa musical o de varietats per The Sentry Collection Presents Ben Vereen: His Roots
 1979: Primetime Emmy al millor actor en minisèrie o telefilm per Backstairs at the White House
 1981: Primetime Emmy al millor actor en sèrie dramàtica per Palmerstown, U.S.A.
 1984: Globus d'Or al millor actor en minisèrie o telefilm per Sadat
 1984: Primetime Emmy al millor actor en minisèrie o telefilm per Sadat
 1987: Primetime Emmy al millor actor en minisèrie o telefilm per A Gathering of Old Men
 1997: Primetime Emmy al millor actor convidat en sèrie dramàtica per Touched by an Angel

Referències

Actors de cinema de Brooklyn
Actors de sèries de televisió novaiorquesos
Escriptors estatunidencs en anglès
Guanyadors del premi Oscar al millor actor secundari
Escriptors de Brooklyn
Productors de cinema de Brooklyn
Alumnes de la Universitat de Nova York
Guanyadors del Globus d'Or al millor actor secundari
Actors de doblatge de l'estat de Nova York

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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W. Imara Canady
Currently serving as National Director for Communications & Community Engagement for AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the world's largest, non-profit, HIV/AIDS service and advocacy organization and Chair, Black Leadership AIDS Crisis Coalition (BLACC), W. Imara Canady, referred to as the "all around go-to guy" by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is a highly respected executive leader, nationally known for building partnerships and collaborations that have a sustainable community impact.
Prior to his current role, Imara served as the Area Development Director for the Atlanta Regional Office of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), where his portfolio included overseeing the community engagement and fundraising operations in South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee, annually raising over $2.5 million dollars, in support of the office's multi-million dollar goal to achieve the organization's mission of assisting students to get to and through college. Prior to UNCF, he was Vice-President of Programming and Strategic Partnerships for the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, where, as part of the institution's executive leadership team, he created and developed the Center's national programmatic infrastructure and foundation. Known as a "connector and bridge-builder" he worked with the national Board of Directors, CEO and Executive Vice-President, cultivating global relationships and building collaborations that connected the center's vision and mission with a broad array of local, national and international cultural, academic and community organizations and institutions, that led to the successful execution of the institutions historic groundbreaking in June 2012 and the framework for the Center's current impactful programs and initiatives.
Imara was raised in Atlanta, Georgia, graduated from Northside School of the Arts, though spent most of his early academic years at Woodward Academy. He received an Associate's Degree in Journalism from Atlanta Metropolitan College and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Mass Communications with an emphasis on Public Relations and Broadcast Journalism from Georgia State University. Currently residing in the Grant Park community in the City of Atlanta, he is an active member of the Baha'i' Faith, and lives his life in accordance to a quote from the Holy Writings which states "that service to humanity is like service to the Kingdom of God".


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Way of the Samurai: A Beginner's Guide to Warbands: Bushido
By Matt Skidmore 19 Oct 2017 0
I readily confess that I am no Sun Tzu, but hopefully, I can share a few hints and tips that should help new players get started with Red Unit Studios' Warbands: Bushio, an addictive game of turn-based warfare set in feudal Japan. If you are unfamiliar with what it is about then may I suggest that you start by checking out my review on Pocket Tactics, or even Martynas' review here on Strategy Gamer for a different perspective.
The Anatomy of a Unit
The units in Warbands only have a few statistics, which all have a very obvious effect.
Agility determines a unit's movement range and the unit turn order for each round. Remember that it is possible to postpone a unit's actions until the end of the round. For instance, you may want to hold back a melee attack until an enemy has been softened up by some ranged assaults.
Toughness represents the number of damage dice that a unit can roll, and the number of wounds that a unit can withstand. Hence, an injured unit will be less effective at inflicting damage.
Armour is used to absorb damage. Heavily armoured units, like the Nodachi Kasira, can be a little more gung-ho, since the loss of armour does not reduce the number of attack dice rolled.
War Point Cost reflects a unit's overall strength. The total number of war points that can be used to build your warband are limited by your experience or a particular scenario's restrictions.
Rarity and Honour
The rarity of a unit is indicated by the colour of its base. Remember that as a unit fights it will earn honour points and eventually progress to higher levels. Rarer units have the potential to reach higher levels.
Common units are grey, they can only reach level three. Try to replace these as soon as possible.
Green units are classed as rare, they can reach level four.
Blue, or 'epic' units can reach level five.
Yellow units are legendary and can reach the highest level, which is six.
The amount of honour that a unit must earn to reach the next level increases with each level. Also, the higher a unit's war point cost then the more honour points required. When a unit reaches level two its agility will increase. At level three the unit will gain a new ability. Fourth level units earn an extra armour point. At level five they will gain a second new ability and legendry units that reach level six will be awarded an extra point of toughness.
Assembling your Warbands
You can create up to four colour-coded warbands. The red warband takes part in arena battles and should include your best legendary units. Green and Grey warbands are used for face-to-face battles and the blue warband specialises in single-player scenarios.
Ranged units are vital as they can attack over longer distances without fear of counter attack. An archer's accuracy is reduced by one die for every six hexes of distance. The rifle-wielding Harquebusiers suffer no such reductions, although they cannot move and fire on the same turn. The Yumi Guard with its Steady Aim ability is a good starter.
The well-balanced renegade with its nasty pitchfork attack and the heavily armoured Tate-Mochi are two great value low-cost units. At the other end of the spectrum, the Kensei are an expensive but popular offensive unit. They may only have one armour and two toughness, but their Kenjutsu Master ability allows them to throw an additional three extra damage dice, which massively increases the chances of a hit.
Overall, there are no hard and fast rules about the makeup of your warbands, but a balanced approach with a good mix of ranged and melee units seems sensible.
Spend, Spend, Spend
You can spend your hard earned money on new scenarios, battle cards, and units. Initially, it pays to focus on purchasing new units. Getting legendary units into your warbands as soon as possible makes sense as you can immediately begin to work on improving their level. Legendary units are also needed to qualify for arena battles.
Money is in short supply, so regularly battling other players for achievement rewards and working your way through the single-player scenarios is essential.
Relying on the luck of the draw to acquire legendary units can be both lengthy and frustrating. At some point, you may want to try some Hearthstone-style crafting. Duplicate units and weak units that you no longer require can be dissembled into dust, which can be collected and used to purchase legendary units of your choice. Rare and epic units that have reached maximum levels can be exchanged for a lot of dust and since they no longer improve it is often more beneficial to dissemble them – you are going to need a lot of dust for those five-point legendaries.
The Art of Positioning
Combat involves rolling six-sided dice. Each die has three sides that represent a miss, two sides show a standard hit, and the final side is a special hit that also improves morale. It is not great odds, but the thoughtful positioning of your units can really improve your chances of successful strikes.
Position ranged units behind cover to reduce the chances of them being hit. You can also position them directly next to a friendly unit, which will also provide cover without blocking range of sight. It is possible, for instance, to place ranged units behind a Tate-Mochi shield unit that will act as a movable wall. The facing direction of a unit is usually irrelevant. However, surround an enemy unit with three allies and the enemy will roll one less damage dice. You can cause a further one damage dice reduction by flanking an enemy by having friendly units engage from opposite sides. These modifiers are cumulative and allow weak and injured units to still have a chance against stronger opponents.
Try not to leave your units isolated and open to flanking attacks. Ensure that enemy units do not have a clear path to ranged units as when engaged in melee combat they lose two attack dice. Finally, remember that if you attempt to disengage from a combat situation then any enemies you are adjacent too will get to roll a damage dice.
Play your Cards Right
Despite saying earlier that initial finances should be focused on purchasing units, cards are important and can easily swing a close battle in your favour. Your hand of cards is made up of a mix of order cards, ability cards (which are specific to a particular unit) and equipment cards.
At the beginning of the battle you are randomly assigned four cards, which you can swap. At the end of each round, a new card is added to your hand.
Breath of Wind allows a unit to increase its movement by two hexes, useful for flanking an enemy or closing in on a missile unit. Another way to flush out a ranged enemy is to use Provocation to make them involuntary charge two spaces forward. Meditation allows a gunpowder unit to both move and fire on the same turn. If you have high dice throwing units like the Kensei then Test of Valour is an excellent card for improving morale.
As battles progress, icons representing special equipment cards will begin to appear. Equipment is also available in some scenarios, most notably at the beginning of the Samurai scenario. If a unit ends a turn on one of these icons then he will earn a special bonus card. These aren't really covered in the rules, so here is a breakdown:
Boiling Pots cause one damage point and confusion to all units in a one hex radius.
Taiko Drum improves morale by five points.
Harpoon causes one point of damage to any selected unit on the battlefield.
Whetstone adds two damage dice to the next attack.
Freshwater heals two points of damage.
Kabuto Helmet repairs up to two points of armour damage
Spiked Pit sets a nasty unseen trap for your opponent.
Warbands: Bushido is a game well worth trying, and is available on Steam.
Tags: Warbands, Bushido, Red Unit Studios, Guide, Gameplay, Beginners, Turn-Based Strategy, Tactics, Squad, Management
Review: Jagged Alliance: Rage!
Phoenix Point's success may not lie with its XCOM heritage, but in games like Fallout
Jagged Alliance Returns


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Home » Reviews » Beast (2017)
Michael Pearce
Posted by CineMuseFilms on 19/09/2018 in Reviews | 3 Comments
It is rare to hear an audience leaving a movie buzzing loudly about a film's finale. Was she, he, or both, killers? There are no spoon-fed answers, only ambiguity and doubt. The psychological thriller Beast (2017)has all the hallmarks of a fine British drama mixed with the Hitchcock tradition of never reveal all.
Set on the isolated and windswept island of Jersey, it is a tale of two people who battle the beast within themselves. Striking red-haired 27-year old Moll (Jessie Buckley) is a captive of both the island and her family. A single episode of schoolgirl violence and a vindictive mother are a prison and her future is bleak. She meets ruggedly handsome game poacher and social outsider Pascal (Johnny Flynn) who represents everything her life is not: excitement, freedom, and defiance. The lovers are shunned until Pascal becomes chief suspect in a violent killing.
Given its conventional plotline, what makes this film stand out? The answer is cinematography, script, and cast. While the location helps, the filming has a languid noir style that accentuates social claustrophobia in contrast to the island's untamed beauty. This is no place for wordy exchanges and the film's minimalist dialogue stays on point. One particular scene stands out as an example of how much can be compressed into so little. At an elegant golf club dinner, Moll observes the contempt heaped on Pascal and jumps up for a toast: "to my family and all they have done for me: I forgive you".
By far the film's strongest suit is the darkly enigmatic couple who are perfect in their roles. Moll is an unconventional, almost androgynous, beauty who exudes repressed defiance and potential for violence. Pascal is the piercing-eyed smiling commoner who could equally be a psychotic killer or a harmless charmer. Each has a latent beast, but neither reveal enough for us to judge the power of their urges. The support cast is excellent, although developed more as caricatures: the abusive mother, the simpering brother, and the fawning constable.
This independent film refreshingly avoids simple genre labels. It orchestrates elements of drama, romance, and crime thriller with continually rising tension notes played like a grand piano while we are kept unsure of the significance of new insights and events. That is perhaps the hardest thing in psychological thrillers:moving the suspense forward on an upward curve and keeping you guessing. This is a tense portrait of unpredictable characters in a web of the unexpected.
Director: Michael Pearce
Stars: Jessie Buckley, Johnny Flynn, Geraldine James
← Crazy Rich Asians (2018) Ladies in Black (2018) →
Patrick Crellin 19/09/2018
Check out my interview with the director of Beast- https://theblogfromanotherworld.wordpress.com/2018/05/28/interview-michael-pearce-director-of-beast/
Interesting interview, thank you.
Dan O. 19/09/2018
Plenty of chills to go along with the romance. Nice review.


Hydraulic fracturing is a recent development in drilling technology that has caused an explosion of wealth, jobs, and oil in the Midwest as well as other areas. But what are oil workers and local governments going to do with the waste that is created throughout the drilling process?
On Monday Dec 9 at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, a controversial new theory to dispose of nuclear waste was presented.
Leonid Germanovich a physicist at the Georgia Institute of Technology unveiled a theory that would use fracking wells as a sort of nuclear waste garbage disposal. It sounds terrifying, but is actually just basic physics. The nuclear waste itself weighs significantly more than the rock that it would be injected to. This causes the nuclear waste to sink lower and lower into the earth over time. The problem is, nuclear waste remains radioactive for more than 100,000 years. So, worker safety is certainly a working issue. The scientists proposing the plan also do not know what effect it will have on the surrounding geology of the area yet, either.
The principle has been thoroughly tested in the lab, and is currently being transferred to field testing pending research.
There has also been some recent speculation on what to do with the excess fracking liquid that is being produced.
Hydraulic fracturing is a water conservationist's nightmare. It takes almost two million gallons to run each well, and in North Dakota the amount is doubled. According to the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources' website, there are currently 9,682 working wells in North Dakota. That means that there needs to be 19.364 billion gallons of freshwater to harvest shale oil in this state alone.
This wouldn't be so much of an issue if the water could be reused. However, the salt it gains through the fracking process makes it impossible to reuse on the rigs themselves.
New York State has begun to think of ways to make the waste created by fracking wells (brine) reusable. They have been using the brine to break up the ice on the roads caused by the recent extreme cold experienced by the majority of the country. It's working very well because of the chloride contained inside of the brine, which is the same chemical that is contained in the road salt that is used absolutely everywhere.
The major concern with this reuse of fluid is the amount of chloride inside of it. It is much more concentrated in brine and could cause major pollution issues if it is not contained properly. As well as the potential for a major increase in carcinogens injected into the local water supply.
There is a lot of controversy surrounding this issue, and there is currently a bill in process that would ban the activity altogether.
So spray carcinogenic waste all over the roads as a way to dispose of frack fluid? Who's messed up business decision was that? They should hang high, for endangering anyone who drives on those roads.