Somber Campus Mourns Loss of Young Lives

Last week's mostly gray, clouded skies and gentle rain seemed to match UCSB's somber mood. A tree was planted in Isla Vista's Little Acorn Park and memorials were held on and off campus as people tried to reach some acceptance of four lives prematurely cut short.

UCSB students Nicholas Bourdakis and Christopher Divis, Santa Barbara City College student Ruth Levy, and visitor Elie Israel ranged in age from 20 to 27. A fifth victim, Ruth's brother Albert, was reported improving, with his condition upgraded from critical to serious.

Understanding why someone would drive a car into a peaceful group of pedestrians strolling Sabado Tarde St. last Feb. 23, a Friday night, would have to await more facts--if it ever came at all.

The dead were mourned in private and public ways: with prayers, candles, mounds of flowers at the scene of the collision, and vigils as well as e-mail messages, media interviews, letters-to-the-editor, and memorials that drew thousands.

Chancellor Henry Yang, and his wife, Dilling, were on scene that Friday night to lend assistance, and other top administrators were in attendance. Last Thursday's Storke Plaza service and candlelight procession to I.V. drew a crowd that police estimated at 2,000 people.

Instructors allowed students to postpone midterms and papers, and some students went home to their families. In a campuswide memo, Michael Young, vice chancellor, student affairs, urged understanding for the trauma and offered his staff's assistance in special arrangements for students so shaken that they may have trouble completing the quarter.

Counselors were one of Chancellor Yang's first uses of campus resources. Dennis Nord, director of Counseling and Career Services, deployed 16 counselors and interns to I.V. and to posts at the CCS and student health centers the weekend of Feb. 24-25.

They have worked with many witnesses as well as friends and acquaintances of the victims, and will continue to do so. "There is no time limit for how long we work" with those in need, Nord said.

Also counseled were staff members and even a couple of television cameramen covering the initial carnage, Nord added. However, he said John Berberet (x3318) and Terrie Furukawa with Human Resources would be the people for faculty and staff to contact if needed.

Suggestions about stress relief are available on the CCS Web site counseling.ucsb.edu as well as an explanation of the grief process and guidelines for dealing with it. These ideas are found under the heading "Isla Vista Tragedy."

Other Web sites also offer information and assistance. These include the Student Affairs Division's <www.sa.ucsb.edu/memorial.htm> and the UCSB Home Page link titled "The Tragedy in Isla Vista." Particularly helpful during the first week's aftermath, dubbed a "Week of Remembrance" by student organizers, this link carries the chancellor's personal message to the campus.