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Professor Leaves Class, Kills Himself

Public suicide takes place at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia

By Sarah Whitmire,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 5, 2011 1:03 PM CDT

(Newser) – Rough story from a Philadelphia college: A math professor walked out of his class and dove headfirst over a second-floor balcony to his death, falling as far as 30 feet to the marble floor of a hall at Chestnut Hill College, reports the Philadelphia Daily News. "He had a history of depression," a police spokesman said of 71-year-old Rudolf Zaffino. "He had been having suicidal thoughts and mentioned harming himself in the past." Zaffino's wife, also an adjunct professor, was in the building at the time.

File photo.
File photo.   (Shutterstock)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 31 comments
Kookey90
Aug 5, 2011 9:16 PM CDT
Sorry about the professor, but about his poor students? Does this mean they get an incomplete for the math course? Comb please.
schmidtkoff
Aug 5, 2011 7:49 PM CDT
i have said before that i do not understand suicide. i've know a few people who elected to opt out. yet most people, i think, have an ingrained and hardwired genetic push to survive. to fight against death. with every grain of their being.  i think of people on the run who have committed serious crimes. when confronted by police either choose to surrender or blow out their brains. i think of myself in a similar predicament. because i have a self-preservation instinct, i would acquiesce, give myself up and accept, comply to avoid my demise. i would think that prison would be the alternative to a bullet in my brain. i like myself. i would at all costs protect myself from what i would perceive as a premature death. perhaps there is hope thrown into the mix. i think i'd be able to acclimate myself into any situation in order to advance my life!
baranoww
Aug 5, 2011 7:40 PM CDT
Chalk one up to ???

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