It can be difficult when the media gets a hold of something - as happened with the university's decision to restrict access to balconies at Carlyle Court and Coral Towers - to remain focused on the key issues.

We are an institution of higher learning; students, faculty and administrators come together in this university principally to create and transmit knowledge. But we all know it is not that simple - in reality, we learn together, spend our days together, socialize together and share meals together. We are a community - an academic community, to be sure, but a community nonetheless.

The model by which we approach student well-being is one of wellness. That is, we want students in our community to be healthy - mentally and physically - so that they can pursue their academic goals successfully.

Beginning in September 2003, after seven years without a suicide on our campus, we confronted a year of unprecedented sadness. Not surprisingly, it focused our attention on the issues of suicide prevention. We consulted with experts in the field and took a number of steps that have been widely heralded. We created the Wellness Exchange; we enhanced training for RAs; we added a mandatory wellness program to our Welcome Week; we created teams of mental health professionals to respond to crises during off hours; and we expanded the staffing and the hours of our counseling service, to name just a few of our efforts.

But in facing a tragic period such as the one this university faced, it is worthwhile to think broadly. Research has shown that means restriction - preventing access to methods for committing suicide - is an effective technique in reducing suicides, and the mental health experts we consulted advocated this approach as well. Moreover, research shows that the overwhelming majority of those who are thwarted in attempting suicide do not go on to commit it later.

So we came to feel there was a compelling case for means restriction as part of the safety net we were building. Our first step was the installation of barriers in Bobst Library; the restriction of balconies is, in reality, a continuation of that effort.

Most major decisions are a matter of balancing different imperatives, interest and concerns. Like all campuses, we will always have students who are vulnerable and at risk for harming themselves. Thus, in this case, we felt the key issues to be balanced were a modest inconvenience for a small number of students - some 700 out of 40,000 - against a potentially lifesaving undertaking. Moreover, each suicide - as we now know all too well - can have a wide and devastating impact: They are heartbreaking for family and friends, distressing to our community, and hold the potential to inspire others who are already vulnerable. Frankly, it seems like a straightforward decision.

We realize that there is some feeling among students that they should have been consulted on this matter. We do respect the thinking of students, and we solicit their input on many topics. For example, we consulted with students on the future of the housing lottery, mixed-sex housing, guest policies, selection of faculty fellows-in-residence, providing free HIV testing and designing the new Office of Career Services. The impact of student opinion can be seen in these matters.

In matters of health and safety, however, the university's obligation is somewhat different - the decisions we make involve judgments of what is best for the entire community, and the advice we seek must be that of experts. However, we still should have done a better job of notifying students, getting their feedback and, most importantly, explaining why we were taking the actions that we did. Though we have gotten much better in communicating with students over the past few years, we didn't do a great job here, and for that, we are sorry.

One way to judge communities is how they treat their vulnerable members. We doubt the vulnerable students would feel comfortable speaking out on their own, so the university administration has acted on their behalf. Given how small the impact of this inconvenience is, we think the NYU community will quickly and compassionately come to embrace this decision, and ultimately recognize the difference it can make.