BY ERIKA WURST AND STEVE LORD
On Feb. 14, 2008, a gunman entered Cole Hall on the campus of Northern Illinois University and opened fire, killing five students and injuring more than a dozen others before taking his own life.
Join us for live coverage as the campus remembers the lost on this one-year anniversary. Events are planned throughout the day.
BY DAVE PARRO
One of the main considerations when talking about demolishing NIU's Cole Hall is how the campus should best remember the shooting victims while also trying to move past the tragedy.
It seems like razing the building so soon after five students were killed there is a rash decision being made while the NIU community is still mourning. Throw in the governor making a pitch for $40 million in state funds and all of a sudden the debate becomes political.
That's the last thing NIU needs right now.
BY DAVE PARRO
East Aurora school officials found themselves doing damage control this week after they chose not to immediately notify parents about a threatening post on a former high school student’s MySpace Web page. There’s a lesson there, especially in the wake of the shooting at Northern Illinois University that killed five students.
Instead of parents and students receiving official word about what happened — police deemed the threat not credible — rumors spread over the Internet. The district spent Tuesday combating unsubstantiated fears.
The result was frantic parents and low attendance, as many students simply stayed home.
BY MIKE CETERA
John Puterbaugh, an intern last summer at The Beacon News, is the editor in chief of the Northern Star, the student newspaper at Northern Illinois University.
In a column to be published Friday in the Beacon, Puterbaugh recounts how his newspaper responded to the campus shooting last week and how he is anxious about the future. It's a feeling of uncertainty -- perhaps fear -- that I'm sure thousands of students and their families all have.
Puterbaugh writes that returning to class will be more difficult than confronting the shooting's aftermath.
BY DAVE PARRO
As the NIU shooting victims are being laid to rest, the expected questions are being asked in the aftermath of the tragedy.
Are our college campuses safe enough? Are our gun laws strong enough? How can we identify disturbed students before they turn violent?
Perhaps most importantly, where do we go from here?
BY MIKE CETERA
What signs should parents of NIU students look for to know they should seek professional help for their children?
This is one of the questions we asked in the wake of the Northern Illinois University shootings during an e-mail Q&A with Lorna London, a clinical psychologist with the Family Practice Residency Program at Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora.
London said parents should watch for changes over time in their child’s behavior for warning signs of psychological problems.
BY MIKE CETERA
Do you attend NIU? Do you know someone who does? Share your thoughts on the Northern Illinois University shooting after the jump.
