<p>Number of Boston University Student Deaths ‘Staggering’</p>
<p>[Number</a> of Boston University Student Deaths ‘Staggering’ - Yahoo!](<a href=“http://gma.yahoo.com/number-boston-university-student-deaths-staggering-032825759--abc-news-health.html]Number”>http://gma.yahoo.com/number-boston-university-student-deaths-staggering-032825759--abc-news-health.html)</p>
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<p>In 2007, the U.S. death rate for people aged 15-24 was about 0.9 per 1,000. In Massachusetts, for the same age group, it was a little below 0.6 per 1,000. The death rate in the past year among Boston University students, almost all of whom are in the same age range, is .33 per 1,000 – just over half the statewide rate. In other words, it’s not really “staggering.”</p>
<p>I think that the proper comparison would be with universities of similar size and stature.</p>
<p>And one needs to look at it over time. There are clusters sometimes that will boost the stats over a given time period. One needs to look beyond that. My family suffered a series of deaths in pets over an 18 month period that exceeds our entire lifetime of such losses. Not equating human lives with those of our beloved animals, but i’m using the statistics of this as an example.</p>
<p>Of course the “proper” comparison would be with other universities . . . if you could find the appropriate data anywhere. The article about BU includes kids who died while studying in New Zealand. Who keeps statistics like that? </p>
<p>But whatever the comparison to other universities shows, the fact of the matter is that the deaths at BU are well within a normal range for its location and the age of its population. In the years when no students die, no one writes articles about how “staggering” the lack of tragedy at BU was that year.</p>
<p>(Also, because the figures given were for 13 months, the rate is .31/1,000, not .33.)</p>
<p>" The article about BU includes kids who died while studying in New Zealand. Who keeps statistics like that? "</p>
<p>At least some universities do. My D’s UG university notes the passing (and circumstances) of students studying abroad. Fortunately there have only been two during the past decade … both in bizarre accidents.</p>
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<p>These data do not refute the use of the word staggering. One could only do that by making a proper comparison with similar universities.</p>
<p>It seems like a lot of deaths to me (BU Alum). I spoke to the dad of a student there and it’s something that he has kept in the back of his mind. One of the problems is Commonwealth Avenue and the student that’s not paying enough attention to the road and the traffic. The most recent even, a student in off-campus housing in a building with code violations and not zoned for being a rooming house (what I heard on the radio) is another problem that isn’t specific to Boston University. But it’s something that parents and students should have in mind when they are looking at off-campus housing. I saw a burned out home when I was looking for off-campus housing for our kids. That was a bit of a reminder to look for safety features of a property: sprinklers, a way out from every room, not being too high up to jump. The driving too fast thing? Son was at an internship and they were going to an outing and he was in a car where the driver was doing 95 with a car full of students. That’s the sort of thing that parents don’t want to hear.</p>
<p>I do hope that Boston University does something to address the things that they can address, if only through informing their students of various risks.</p>
<p>Statistically, it’s not staggering, but statistics don’t address the freak-out factor. For college students, losing someone their age, someone they maybe knew, is a jolt. And when there’s a cluster, it can lead to a sense that the world is very dangerous and out of control.</p>
<p>Son’s school had three students that died jumping off the same bridge one year. They (not sure if it was the school or the city) put up a much higher fence and nobody has jumped since then. Alcohol was involved in one of the cases. I don’t recall the findings of the other two. This isn’t necessarily even a college issue - if this is happening in a city, then I’d expect the city to take the necessary steps.</p>
<p>BCEagle – I didn’t know you were a BU alum – assumed BC! I am a BU alum also. </p>
<p>It really seems like plain bad luck. Most of the deaths were genuine accidents (and one bombing and one murder), not college students behaving foolishly. And I believe most deaths happened off campus. Not sure this is something BU has any real control over.</p>
<p>Socioeconomics affects the death rate significantly in the 18-25 range. People who are not college educated in this age range have much higher death rates than those who are in college or who have graduated. Therefore, assessment of whether BU’s death rates are unusually high should be done by comparing it to college-educated students in the 18-25 range, not the overall death rate.</p>
<p>Does this mean it’ll be easier to get off the wait-list?
;)</p>
<p>^Exactly what I was thinking. The overall rate for all people of a certain age group does not necessarily correlate to the rate for students of that age group. There are demographic subgroups where the rate would naturally me much higher, but not so high for students. Context is important.</p>
<p>In the “cluster” vein, a friend’s daughter (who attends USC) is currently on a study-abroad program in South Africa. Within a few days of one another, two friends died: the first, a friend from USC who died while on spring break in Cabo San Lucas, and the other, a friend from Penn who was in her program and died in a rock-climbing accident over in Africa.</p>
<p>Even though I am a seasoned traveler, study abroad makes me a little nervous. I know of another tragedy on semester at sea this past year. Is there extra risk on some of those trips?</p>
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<p>I don’t think travel is inherently risky, but those drawn to travel, especially to exotic locations, tend to be more adventurous. Such people may be inclined to partaking in riskier behavior no matter where they are located at a given moment. Rock climbers sometimes get badly hurt while XBox fanatics might get sore thumbs.</p>
<p>Lol, Lorem! As the parent of a BU sophomore, I am extremely impressed with the campus safety and security. Yes, we have had a fluky bad year or two, and yes, I was worried before she left. I went to a small school an hour from home in a small city. I tried to push DD toward this experience but she insisted on only considering big city schools…Guess what…she was right… Many more fun things to do in the city equals more choices than standing around “making your own fun”. She is much more confident, much more mature, and much more street savvy than I was, and drinks much much less. (And I was a “good girl!”<br>
At, BU, the vast majority of incidents have been off campus,and those on campus have been handled extremely well. In regard to going abroad, My daughter has gone with BU last summer, and will attend an independent program this summer. Yes, there were students who behaved unbelievably stupidly when given the choice to drink. As they said at orientation, it’s not the drinking (drugs) that causes the most issues, it’s the stupid choices you make while under the influence. There are always gong to be terrific kids who have sad tragedies occur, and kids who make really poor decisions habitually that eventually have tragic consequences. BU is no different …just bigger.</p>