April 27, 2007

Sounding the Alarm

By ELYSE ASHBURN, THOMAS BARTLETT, SCOTT CARLSON, JOSH FISCHMAN, JOHN GRAVOIS, ERIC HOOVER, SARA LIP

Few knew him. Those who did were afraid. The other students in his poetry class were so spooked that many refused to show up for meetings. They didn't want to be in the same room with him. The professor who taught the class was ready to resign rather than teach him. She calls him "mean" and says he was proof that "evil exists."

The English-department chairwoman who worked closely with him feared for his safety and for her own. She contacted university officials, counselors, even the