The Chronicle of Higher Education's Daily Report

In a chilling videotaped message that was shown by NBC News on Wednesday, the gunman responsible for Monday's tragic shootings at Virginia Tech said he was seeking revenge for a multitude of grievances. The videotape was part of a package sent to the network in between the two shooting incidents.

In hindsight, the signs seem crystal clear: A loner on depression medication writes violent stories and frightens his peers. In the Virginia Tech shootings, as the machinery of blame turns, people are asking whether this could have been recognized and stopped.

With revelations about Cho Seung-Hui's history of mental illness emerging almost hourly, many people are asking whether warning signs should have been evident -- and should have prompted action. But those are hard questions, says Cornell University's director of counseling and psychological services.

It is not a crime to be depressed or even scary, as the gunman at Virginia Tech was, notes Katherine S. Newman, a Princeton University scholar who has studied the causes of rampage school shootings. So preventing such incidents poses tough questions for a society committed to civil liberties.

It is too early to tell how effectively the Virginia Tech Police Department reacted to Monday's events, but the worst mass shooting in United States history is shining a new light on the role of university police departments.

Some colleges have installed "smart cameras" -- security cameras attached to special software that can detect suspicious movements -- both on and off their campuses in efforts to reduce crime.

We update our portraits of the shooting victims with seven new articles. The profiles will continue each day until every person's story has been told.

A chronology of what was known as the tragedy unfolded.

View images from the campus.

A Chronicle reporter in Blacksburg, Va., will take your questions about how the Virginia Tech community has been coping, or anything else about the massacre and its aftermath. Join us today at noon, U.S. Eastern time.

Colleges should be temporarily banned from recommending lists of student-loan companies to students, a leading Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives said on Wednesday, and leaders from both parties said they would soon introduce legislation to limit the deals colleges can make with lenders.

Negotiations over the rules that govern the Academic Competitiveness Grant and Smart Grant programs ended in stalemate on Wednesday after members of a panel created by the education secretary failed to reach agreement on a package of proposed regulatory revisions.

A nonprofit organization that monitors states' ability to prepare students for college and the workplace says the nation's high schools are making progress in that regard but still have a long way to go.

Heald College, a struggling nonprofit institution founded in 1863 in San Francisco, has agreed to be acquired by investors who plan to convert the college into a for-profit institution, a bond-rating agency has revealed.

Spring commencement speakers have been announced by Alliant International University at Fresno & Sacramento, Alliant International University at Los Angeles, Alliant International University at San Francisco, Alliant International University at San Diego, Bates College, Bradley University, Catholic University of America, Clarke College, George Washington University, Humboldt State University, Nebraska Wesleyan University, New England College, Saint Joseph's University, Southeastern University (D.C.), Southern Polytechnic State University, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Rochester, and Weber State University.

More news

• Former editors of Canadian journal create a new online competitor. (See item)
• Case Western hate letters were hoaxes, prosecutors say. (See item)
• Jesuit university may take public funds for arena, court rules. (See item)
• Texas governor's plan for troubled university could imperil its accreditation. (See item)

Details and other news

ALSO ON OUR WEB SITE

Fellowships in journalism.

If you'll be attending the Society for Human Resource Management Staffing Management Conference & Exposition (formerly Employment Management Association Conference & Exposition) later this month in New Orleans, make sure to stop by The Chronicle's booth in the exhibit hall -- No. 600 -- to enter our drawing and meet Chronicle staff members.

Here's how to get it.

For coverage of information technology, visit our Information Technology section.

Complete technology coverage

• Hacking and laptop thefts expose personal data at Ohio State. (See item)
• Educational Testing Service changes name of information-literacy exam. (See item)
• The Second Life virtual world will soon have a place for educators to create joint projects. (See item)

Details and other news

At a conference for presidents, a relative newcomer sees himself in hundreds of barely distorted mirrors.

Complete careers coverage

In an effort to get diplomas into the hands of more students, some two-year colleges, particularly in Hispanic neighborhoods, are enlisting the aid of parents, spouses, and other family members.

New Jersey's public colleges will receive more money from the state in the next fiscal year, but the governor has warned of hard times after that.

Mike O'Connell, an associate lecturer in English at two University of Wisconsin campuses, writes in praise of "the sage on the stage."

David Blankenhorn and The Future of Marriage.

Complete contents of this week's issue

DISCUSSIONS

A Chronicle reporter in Blacksburg, Va., will take your questions about how the Virginia Tech community has been coping with Monday's shootings, or anything else about the massacre and its aftermath. Join us today at noon, U.S. Eastern time. The previously announced Brown Bag with Cornell University's David Wippman, on globalizing your campus, has been rescheduled for April 26.

MAGAZINES & JOURNALS

From Political Psychology: Voters' views of a candidate's performance are strongly influenced by the reactions of fellow witnesses to presidential debates, a study finds.

The beneficiary of incredible luck in life, Ralph Ellison acted as if he were uniquely qualified for all his honors, while he scorned ordinary black people.

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