I guess it happens everywhere.. at the engineering college of the local Universidad de la República (Uruguay), there is a first-year course on advanced calculus which serves as a filter (1500 go in... maybe 50 graduate), because as it is a "free" (as in, you don't have to pay) university and resources are scarce, they need to weed out people somehow.
The result is that poor students from inland, whose parents make financial sacrifices to support them (living in the capital is very expensive for them, and the classes are structured so you can't have a side job) have committed suicide (2 in the years I was there) from being unable to pass that course (I never passed it either, so I switched what you would call "majors" in the US)
I went through cmu miserable. It's fine, suffering brings out the best in me. But I like that poem, and the thought that someone actually jumped does not ruin it for me. To jump is to escape, and that poem is a sweet reminder that you have that right.
I've always wondered what goes on in people's heads when they jump down something like that. Do they ever muse about the irony of what they just committed?
The monthly three-day weekends are nice though.