[media-credit name=’JAKE NAUGHTON/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]

The bells of the Carillon Tower at the University of
Wisconsin solemnly tolled for an entire minute Thursday, stopping all
pedestrian and vehicle traffic in the area as the ROTC honored the victims of
last week?s shootings at Northern Illinois University.

The scene on Observatory Drive at noon was silent, save for
the tower bells. Through the full minute, a handful of ROTC officers stood
unmoving, displaying the national, state and army flags, saluting the victims
of the tragedy.

After tolling for a minute, the tower bells played a few
melodies while the ROTC put away the flags and traffic began moving again.

ROTC cadet and UW junior Kathleen Carey said the ceremony
mirrored exactly the remembrance ceremony ROTC held last semester for the
victims of the Virginia Tech campus shootings. Carey also participated in that
ceremony.

According to Carey, the ROTC ?leapt? at the opportunity to
perform the ceremony because it is so important ?to remember those who were
lost.?

?It makes you stop and think and that?s basically what we
did,? Carey said. ?We set up here, we saluted those people and made everyone on
the sidewalk stop and think about what happened at Northern Illinois.?

UW junior Jennifer Haynes said it was important UW showed
support for those suffering from the tragedy, adding the ceremony was
?beautiful.?

?Those kids just wanted an education, and look what
happened,? Haynes said.

She added the tragedy at NIU was very personal for her
because her brother and a family friend were at the university during the shootings.

Haymes said her friend was supposed to be in the building
when the shootings occurred, but he had left early to purchase a Valentine?s
Day present.

The ceremony occurred exactly one week after former student
Steve Kazmierczak, 27, opened fire on a lecture hall filled with more than 100
students during a geology lecture on the NIU campus.

Kazmierczak killed five people and injured more than a dozen
others using a shotgun and a handgun during his rampage. He then turned the gun
on himself.