Norris Hall will reopen in two weeks, the university announced today. The building will be dedicated to offices and laboratories for the engineering science and mechanics department and the civil and environmental engineering department. Those two departments were the primary occupants of the 70,000-square-foot building before April 16.

Norris Hall accounted for about 5 percent of classroom space on the campus before the shootings but will not be used for classes in the future.

[Read](http://www.roanoke.com/news/nrv/breaking/wb/119552 “Read the Story”) (Roanoke Times)

The folks at the Pulitzer Prize office say they don’t recall a college newspaper ever winning the coveted awards. Well come next spring, that may need to change. Given everything the student-run [Collegiate Times](http://www.collegiatetimes.com “Collegiate Times Website”) of Virginia Tech has accomplished in the past week, from online scoops to poignant, thoughtful print presentations, the daily paper may deserve some consideration, even if a special category is required.

Read (Editor & Publisher Journal)

According to a Roanoke Times article, Cho’s main spending spree started when he rented a van on March 12th.  According to CNN, he also bought the Glock 19 in Roanoke on March 12th.  What’s significant about March 12th?  It was the first day of classes after Tech’s Spring Break.

Did something happen over spring break that sent him over the edge?  Where did he go, and what did he do the week of spring break?  He didn’t stay in his dorm, because his dorm, Harper Hall, was closed during spring break.

Norris Hall will remain closed for the rest of the semester, and authorities are unsure about whether or not the building will remain in use or standing.

Read (Collegiate Times)

…Tech should do like the Amish [did](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/12/national/main2083951.shtml “CBS story about the school demolition”) when they had their schoolhouse demolished and hauled to the landfill…

The package received by NBC did not contain any explanation, any rationale why Cho Seung-Hui decided to send his multimedia manifesto to them. It was simply addressed, “NBC, 30 Rockefeller Ave. (not Plaza), New York, NY,” with the wrong zip code.

It was mailed from Blacksburg at **9:01 a.m. the day of the shootings, after he killed two people and minutes before he went on his second shooting rampage**.

But what was as revealing about the manifesto was the time and date the .pdf file was last modified: 7:24 a.m., April 16, minutes after he had shot and killed his first two victims, and nearly two hours before he went on his second rampage.

Read (MSNBC)

…He took a break from killing people to modify a pdf file and make a trip to the post office to mail a package…Cold and calculating…

An outburst of gunfire at a Virginia Tech dormitory, followed two hours later by a ruthless string of attacks at a classroom building, killed 32 students, faculty and staff and left about 30 others injured yesterday in the deadliest shooting rampage in the nation’s history.

Source: Gunman Kills 32 at Virginia Tech In Deadliest Shooting in U.S. History – washingtonpost.com

We’re only 25 miles from Virginia Tech, and this isn’t supposed to happen in our quiet little corner of the world.  It’s painfully obvious that no matter how deep into the woods we go, we can’t ever be guaranteed that something like this will not happen to us.  Why would someone do this?  Maybe, the killer’s note will reveal some clues.  If he planned to kill himself why not just go ahead and do it?  Why was it necessary to take 32 people with him?