<p>Out of respect for the student, I think it's best to keep the jokes out of this. Nobody really knows why the student was up there, or why he fell. I think I can speak for everyone, though, that I hope he has a quick recovery.</p>
<p>I second legendofmax here.</p>
<p>Some posts on this thread might sounded apathetic about the subject. I'm sure we all care and want him to recover, but the way we respond in words differ. Some people choose to lighten the subject and not express their feelings outright. I even joked about my own illness and acted like it was nothing when it basically affected my quality of life ahead and there wasn't even a cure for it. Chinese has this saying...Mouth is knife, but heart is tofu.
Anyways, I actually called a friend at Penn to ask about it. He has a complete different reasoning behind this.</p>
<p>how did this not wake me up! i had no idea this happened today. so sad</p>
<p>Engineering</a> sophomore falls from fifth floor of Quad - News</p>
<p>:( It was a student from Harrison; he fell from the fifth floor of the quad, not the roof...</p>
<p>omg....why?? so sad...especially a week before early decision date....
hope the kid is ok..</p>
<p>umm starcrane, he is already at penn...</p>
<p>^yeah...unless this somehow affects your stress levels because you care too much?</p>
<p>Well I hope the guy gets back on his feet and, if he did jump, then I hope he also gets some help...My sympathies go out to the family.</p>
<p>wow so scary :(</p>
<p>He did indeed fall from the roof - the reference to the 5th floor is to signify what part of the quad they're talking about. At some points the roof is only 2 stories up, and at others it's more like 6 stories. </p>
<p>It's a very difficult situation. The roof of a quad is actually a popular hangout spot - it's fairly easily accessible from many windows, and people go out there all the time to just chill or smoke or whatever. Actually, people hang out on roofs around campus all the time - college hall, fisher fine arts, the quad, hill, many frat houses, off-campus houses, even the highrises -all have accessible roofs where people just like to hang out. On one hand, it's entirely possible that he was just chilling up there and fell accidentally. On the other hand, it happened at 10:30 am on a saturday.</p>
<p>To those of you applying: Penn (and any college) isn't some miracle fairyland where people are just cheery 24/7 because they get in. Getting through (for most people) is much more challenging.</p>
<p>Just heard from a friend who knows his grandfather that he was drinking and smoking pot before he fell. What a tragedy.</p>
<p>^What an imbecile you mean?</p>
<p>is this why the flag on locust walk is at half mast today</p>
<p>I think it's been at half mast for a while.</p>
<p>Poor guy... Nothing to joke about</p>
<p>theoneo,</p>
<p>It's been at half mast for over a month... do you know why?</p>
<p>Could it be because of Mumbai?</p>
<p>It has indeed been at half mast for a while now</p>
<p>Nope, no idea.</p>
<p>It's been over a month (long before the Mumbai events). IIRC a Pennsylvania state elected official may have passed away somewhat recently, and that may be the cause</p>