Mortar and Memory: Virginia Tech Ponders a Building's Future

College campuses, more than most places, embody the memories, feelings, and even identities of the people who spend formative years on their grounds. Even the most banal items — a bike rack or stone steps outside a building — can bring on a rush of reminiscence.

"Each brick in a campus has a history," says Ishwar K. Puri, the chairman of the engineering science and mechanics department at Virginia Tech. "You change the railing on a staircase and people

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