Virginia Tech Shootings:

Business as usual?

Classes resumed at Virginia Tech University just over two weeks after the shooting massacre - but business certainly was not as usual.

American news station WTKR reported a subdued, and quiet mood on campus with many students clearly in deep thought remembering the victims of the tragic incident.

On the morning of April 23 at 7:10am more than 100 students and university staff gathered near the dormitory where the first two victims were killed. After a moment of silence was observed and bells were rang, those gathered witnessed the release of white balloons, one for each of the 32 students killed by Cho Seung-hui in the massacre.

The massacre has seen many final year students skip their final exams, accepting the grades they were on before the shooting. Professors are being flexible, in some cases allowing open-book exams or letting students take the tests from home.

Instructors also have the option of dismissing any exam scores that will lower students’ final grades.

Editorial - May 2007