<p>mrmrmom, I am so very, very sorry to hear about your loss. The years go by, and these tragic deaths continue to happen. </p>
<p>I agree with everything alamode said in post #74. There must be an army of lawyers telling the administration not to acknowledge that some spots are more dangerous than others. The currents change with the season and the bottom of the gorge changes over time; I understand that for those reasons, no-one can say for sure where it <em>is</em> safe to swim. Still, some places are known to be trouble, and Cornell should be much more up-front about why. How they let this situation go on is beyond me.</p>
<p>My heart aches for the friends and famililes of all those whose lives have been lost in the gorges.</p>
<p>Islander, of course I am not a student at Cornell but I did have two kids at Cornell. They were all over the Ithaca area, and often took rides to distant parks in the upstate area. When Saturday morning arrived they piled friends in their car, and they headed to many of the great places in and around Ithaca. </p>
<p>It is likely that freshman without cars may not venture far, but to say that they don’t leave the campus to go into town is rather hard to believe. The students attending Cornell are neither provincial or ignorant in regard to what is available outside of the campus.</p>
<p>mxmmstudent…If your friends are all going to the gorges to dive or swim you could figure out what you are comfortable with. Don’t forget that gorge swimming does not last long in Ithaca due to the weather. There are areas to lay out and enjoy the beauty or suggest heading to the lake for a great day. If being left to your own devices for a couple of hours while friends head to the gorges for diving will make you feel uncomfortable, than you need to steel yourself to prepare for the many times when you will need to make decisions that you are uncomfortable with.</p>