I spent the day working on papers. Final papers, I suppose, for BA512, STRAT669, and GradSchool12782807. Neither paper is really a specimen to hold above all others, but after two years learning about incentives I find it ironic that my incentives at this point all favor turning in pure fluff. With no awards on the line, no GPA difference to be made, and (importantly) no need for the credits in the first place, I literally do not have to complete these final exams. At Webb I wondered to a Professor in Senior Spring if I would fail his class. He countered by explaining that it isn't in the school's best interest to fail me, but that I should still work hard. I knew that he could fail me, preventing my graduation, unless I earned a grade. To endanger my impending graduation I would have to literally write something so offensive or steal something so viciously as to be kicked out of the University. Those are not good incentives to encourage high performance in the waning days of b-school.

I've been mum on the Virginia Tech thing because who needs two more sorrowful cents? Today, though, an email stirred my thoughts. It came from U-M administration and advised that the U would be reaching out to parents of current and incoming students to make them aware of security on our campus. I think that's great, but I am guessing that some paranoid parents called and asked "can this happen at Michigan?" The answer, clearly, is yes. Yes. Forty-one-thousand times over, yes. But who wants to live life like that, to attend a University constricted by fear? Virginia's governor today said that the commission investigating would include a representative of higher education because 'the changes that may come from this tragedy are not as important as maintaining the University learning community.' Thank you sir. FDR would be proud.