domini, I appreciate your thoughtful posts, but you copied and pasted something I said, and then proceeded to disagree with something that was not contained in the text.

fromPhilly: This is just a guess on my part, but I'd suspect that the number of lawsuits filed by mentally ill students against a school for the school having disclosed information about the student's mental health to his/her parents is closer to zero than to 10.--

domini: You would be wrong. The previous mental health article was about a student with mental health issues (suicidal throught, voluntary commitment) having health info disclosed by hospital (on a "need to know"- the academic term for health and safety exception) to the university, and the university disclosing and remocing the student from campus. There have been other high profile cases.--

If you read what I said, I said disclose to the PARENTS, not the university.

I would be interested in hearing about any lawsuits you know of that involve this scenario: a CHILD sues his/her university because the university disclosed information about the child to the PARENTS. I have no knowledge about whether such a lawsuit exists, but my suspicion is that the number of these lawsuits is closer to zero than to 10. If I'm wrong, please reference the cases so I can speak with greater authority in the future.

Elizabeth Shin's parents sued MIT because the university didn't disclose her mental state to them. I realize there are need-to-know laws, but what I'm saying is that, there is an untested "health and emergency" phrase in the law that can, theoretically, enable the university to contact the parents while keeping the university legally protected.

What amazes me most in peoples' responses to me is how much people are tied to the mantra: "nothing can be done; everyone's hands are tied." Ridiculous and untrue.

Don't forget that if the mentally ill person AUTHORIZES the release of information, it can be released. Did anyone ever ask Cho if they could talk to his parents?

Perhaps if his parents stopped paying for his education and removed him from the university, he would have gone on a rampage in his town, or returned to the university as a non-student to go on the same rampage. But maybe he wouldn't have. Maybe he would just have killed himself and not taken anyone with him.

Don't forget that Cho willingly went to a mental health facility in 2005 and willingly took some sort of pscyhiatric drug.

It's possible that if his parents--the people who presumably paid the bills for his education--had more information about his on-campus behavior, they would have removed him from the school.

Joe,

Here's the link to write a private letter to the editors:

http://www.salon.com/about/letters/index.html

It sounds like there was a misunderstanding about how your quotes would be attributed. You'll likely be able to discuss this with the writer and the salon editors. I found the link on the left-hand side of this page. Best of luck.

The posting from chilfries says it all. The Letter Writer is a sociopath. There is something deeply disturbing about this guy, and I am afraid for his girlfriend! He is a classic narcissist; he illustrates the signs of an abuser and a controller. Of course the step-father doesn't ask about the LW and his family; he's deeply uncomfortable in this man's presence. I was deeply uncomfortable reading the LW's words.

They say that your primal instinct is always right; ie, that when you cross the street to avoid someone coming toward you who makes you uncomfortable--you're tapping into an instinct to save your life. Maybe the person coming toward you wasn't going to harm you or kill you at that moment, but you may sense that this person could harm or kill someone in the future, or has harmed or killed in the past. Our reptile brains are smart. As I read this guy's letter, I sensed a dangerous person coming toward me.

Sociopaths are frightening, because they can't be reasoned with; they are to be avoided at all costs, especially by young women who are blinded to a man's character by physical/sexual attraction.

I think the stepfather is doing all he can, given the circumstances. He allows the man into his house, which must be extraordinarily difficult for him. What I get from this letter is that there is a dying man somewhere in the U.S. who loves his step-daughter and, who, in his final days, is probably fearful of dying and is also worried about his step-daughter's future well-being.