Questions Linger as NIU Classes Resume

School struggles with how to pick up pieces in wake of tragedy
By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 25, 2008 9:15 AM CST
Questions Linger as NIU Classes Resume
Five flower arraignments, foreground, represent the five Northern Illinois University students who were killed on Valentine's Day, during a memorial service at the De Kalb, Ill., campus Sunday, Feb. 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, POOL)   (Associated Press)

As Northern Illinois University resumes classes today, the prevailing feeling is uncertainty. One professor will leave it up to her class whether to stick to the syllabus or talk about the Valentine's Day shooting that left five students dead. Others question whether the semester's grading standards should change and wonder what will become of the scene of the tragedy, reports the Chicago Tribune.

"It would be weird for people to be dancing like crazy and drinking like crazy and have a typical party," one freshman said. Athletes will don uniforms with a memorial logo, and some professors have pushed assignment due dates back. But simply returning to a normal routine might be preferable for many. "Schoolwork sounds good, honestly," said one of the students who witnessed the attack. (More Northern Illinois University stories.)

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