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Prior days' news: By date | Search This week's print issue Back issues: By date | Search April 19, 2007Daniel P. O'NeilDaniel P. O’Neil, 22, was a self-taught musician who maintained a personal Web site with two dozen songs in which he accompanied himself on acoustic guitar. The first-year graduate student in civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech graduated from Lafayette College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, in 2006. At Lafayette, Mr. O’Neil was an Excel scholar, a program in which students do scientific research with a faculty member. He studied the effects of urban development on a local watershed under David Brandes, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.  Photo by Jessica Goldblat In a written statement on Lafayette’s Web site, Mr. Brandes remembered his student as “not a typical civil engineer.” He said Mr. O’Neil “had interests in music, the arts, the outdoors, and of course, the Red Sox.” Mr. O’Neil graduated from Lincoln High School, in his hometown of Lincoln, R.I., 20th among the 228 students in 2002. “He took very demanding classes, and did well,” recalls the assistant principal, Kevin J. McNamara. “He made friends easily. He was just a positive type of person.” In his senior year of high school he had a hole in his schedule and volunteered as an assistant to the music teacher, helping younger students. “He was a well-rounded student,” says the teacher, David M. Enos. “He was respected by different groups of students, not just those in his clique. That’s pretty rare.” —Burton Bollag Posted on Thursday April 19, 2007 | Permalink | |