The State : Suicide Pill Plan Vetoed

Calling the idea a “Jonestown solution,” Robert L. Shinsheimer, chancellor of the University of California, Santa Cruz, said he will never sanction a student measure that calls for stockpiling cyanide suicide pills to be available in the event of a nuclear war. The referendum, which students will vote on during elections April 2 to 9, also asks for university transportation to “ground zero” sites, where nuclear missiles are likely to strike and thus provide a quick death. “We have been accused of being fatalists, but we’re trying to address the nuclear issue as survivalists,” said student body president Kevin Gillis, a founder of Student Alliance for Fallout Emergency, the referendum’s sponsor. “Once a nuclear war has begun, every individual must take action to protect his or her life and the sanctity of his or her death,” the measure says. Shinsheimer said the university is not bound to implement any of its provisions, even if it passes.