Commemoration Ceremony for Utah State University Student

A commemoration ceremony will be held Saturday in the Ellen Eccles Conference Center at 2:30 p.m. in honor of Natalie Linetska, a victim of suicide.

“She was loved by everyone who met her and was a very good and supportive friend,” said Arshak Papazyan, a friend of Linetska.

Linetska, originally from Odessa, Ukraine, was a student at Utah State University. She was studying business administration and was in the interview process for the Huntsman Scholar Program.

“She was a very studious and hardworking student,” said Renee Escobar, a friend of Linetska. “After she finished her undergraduate studies, she wanted to move to Los Angeles to pursue her career in business and make a new and happy life for herself.”

The Division of Student Services and the staff of Counseling and Psychological Services has since reached out to the Utah State student body to help during this time of mourning. A conference was held in the Taggart Student Center Auditorium at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday to discuss the needs of the students during challenging times and inform them of available resources on campus.

“We wanted to focus on creating hope,” said Dr. Justin Barker, the assessment coordinator for Counseling and Psychological Services. “College students are more at risk to suicide. It is the second largest cause of death among college students.”

This semester, there have been four students who have attempted suicide. One out of those four actually went through with it.

“A lot of things we’ve seen recently have been directly related to alcohol,” Barker said.

During the conference, Mark Nafziger, clinical coordinator for CAPS, spoke on the different ways people grieve and how to help others through this time.

“Realizing that everyone grieves differently is a big deal,” Nafziger said. “It’s often times very helpful to focus on helping others during this difficult time. Over time you can grow from your grief.”