Texas A&M University Bonfire Memorial

[WestGrayGuy]

As an aggie, I have yet to visit the memorial in Aggieland. I don't know if I can. It was such a sad moment in our history. I visited the night after it happened and it was the quietest I have ever heard A&M. Has anyone else been?

Aggie Bonfire Memorial

[H-Town Man]

I've seen it from my car a few times. The official dedication is Nov. 18 I believe, and they still have some work to do on it before then. It's twelve rectangular boxes arranged in a circle, each facing in the direction of one of the students' home towns. Very powerful and tasteful.

[MidtownCoog]

Speaking of being tasteful, I sure hope the Aggies just let this tradition die a graceful death.

That "Aggies for Bonfire" group gives me the creeps. Talk about no respect for the dead.

[Dallasite]

I went a couple days after it happend and have seen the site a few times from my car since. When completed, I will visit it.

[SpaceCity]

Speaking of being tasteful, I sure hope the Aggies just let this tradition die a graceful death.

That "Aggies for Bonfire" group gives me the creeps.

[GovernorAggie]

Well, if I have my information correctly, the tradition for building the Bonfire USED to be that it was designed and built by Corps of Cadets students who were ENGINEERING majors. I don't know what happened to that "tradition/rule" but it seems to me that it was the best way.

Allowing regular kids to build the thing was the main mistake. I think that leaving it to Corp Engineering students, or even just engineering students, would have been best.

However, it would have only been a matter of time before someone in our letigious (sp?) society sued the school for discrimination or something of the sort for not allowing just anyone to build the bonfire. Nevermind the fact that it was for safety and expertise along with tradition.

[SpaceCity]

So your blaming the lawyers?

You can only sue for discrimination based on race or gender.

[Dallasite]

It is good to see people are still attacking the Aggie Bonfire Tradition.

[MidtownCoog]

It is good to see people are still attacking the Aggie Bonfire Tradition.

Someone needs to. If it were up to the Aggies, they'd still be burning it up each and every year.

[Dallasite]

There is no reason for that kind of attitude.

[SpaceCity]

There is no reason for that kind of attitude.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually, Aggies ARE continuing to burn it each and every year. Eighteen year old children died so some alumni could feel pride about their school. Now some Aggies continue to have Bonfire.

When I see maroon jerseys of Aggies, I see the blood of children wasted for the vanity of alumni.

[WestGrayGuy]

As the token Aggie for this board, I will comment from the Aggie's perspective. Yes, the Bonfire tradition was wreckless. I have seen my share of drunken aggies working on that thing at many hours of the night. But to A&M, it was one of the biggest and longest lasting traditions. I was at A&M in 1998 when the bonfire partially collapsed three days before the game.

A massive amount of aggies came out to rebuild the stack. It was very impressive to see so many people working for a common goal. That year also foreshadowed the tragedy that would follow.

You may be surprised to hear that those who died on the stack would probably want to see it go on. It was really that big of a deal.

Without disrespecting the families of the deceased, I would personally like to see it return with a much higher control on the work that goes on there. Also, there was no blueprint for the stack. The design was passed on through the years.

As a matter of fact, in the 70's and 80's, the bonfire stack was twice as tall as it was when it fell.

[SpaceCity]

I'm sure the bonding experience was great. And who wouldn't like to light something afire? But the way it was built was just asking for trouble.

Maybe if you could think of a new tradition to replace it with? I'm sure A&M would be grateful.

[Scotch]

I just love how those who are on the outside looking in speak with such pretention and disdain for Aggies and Texas A&M.

I will be attending the off-campus Bonfire again this year. Bonfire will live on, safely, for all Aggies to enjoy.

[H-Town Man]

Anyone who presumes to attack the A&M bonfire and what it stood for needs to ask himself two questions:

1. Do I know anything about what I am talking about? Have I ever participated in the building of a bonfire? Have I ever even been to a bonfire? Do I know what student life is like at A&M, or am I just going on stereotype and ignorance? Do I know about the history and what it means? If not, then I should shut my mouth because I don't know what I'm talking about.

2. Have I ever participated in something meaningful or sacred? Are there traditions that I am a part of, that bond me to other people, living or dead? Is there anything in my life that I can point to and say, "this has a deeper meaning than it does on the surface"? Or am I just a whining postmodern brat raised on video games and MTV, who's never hiked in the woods, swung an ax, or built a fire, living in a godless, sterile, commercialized culture with no meaningful connection with those who have left or even those around me?

[MidtownCoog]

Q: Have I ever participated in the building of a bonfire?

Yes

A: Have I ever participated in something meaningful or sacred?

Most Certainly, but burning wood at bonfire is still a joke.

The yada, yada, yada on the traditions from the inside make sense, but to many, it's nothing more than a Chevy vs. Ford thing.

Aggies like their maroon Chevys.

[N8TIV]

The yada, yada, yada on the traditions from the inside make sense, but to many, it's nothing more than a Chevy vs. Ford thing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

People think Aggie Bonfire was all about burning logs. When I listen to people complain about how stupid it was - it was obviously very dangerous and should have been overseen by a professional construction crew but most importantly I realize that most have never experienced what it was really about. Fortunately I was able to be apart of it for two years.

I think the memorial is outstanding and is very appropriate for people all over to know - that these people will be remembered for who they were as students at Texas A&M.

[MidtownCoog]

I attended in 1989.

[SpaceCity]

I just love how those who are on the outside looking in speak with such pretention and disdain for Aggies and Texas A&M.

I will be attending the off-campus Bonfire again this year. Bonfire will live on, safely, for all Aggies to enjoy.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The way the Bonfire was built was a dark Aggie joke in itself.

[west texas accent]

I get me an idear. I'm gonna get abunch of 18 year-olds up a 3am. They should be studying, but who needs book learnin'?

Then I'm gonna get 'em drunk. Or if I don't get 'em drunk, I'll just look the other way when they show up shnockered.

I'm gonna make them haul some big logs, using complicated cranes and other heavy machinery that they're unfamiliar with.

Then I'm gonna make 'em build a nine story structure. I'll make 'em stack logs that were never meant to be stacked on top of each other.

Sleepy, drunk Aggies can build it dern it!

[/west texas accent]

[H-Town Man]

The way the Bonfire was built was a dark Aggie joke in itself.

[west texas accent]

I get me an idear. I'm gonna get abunch of 18 year-olds up a 3am. They should be studying, but who needs book learnin'?

Then I'm gonna get 'em drunk. Or if I don't get 'em drunk, I'll just look the other way when they show up shnockered.

I'm gonna make them haul some big logs, using complicated cranes and other heavy machinery that they're unfamiliar with.

Then I'm gonna make 'em build a nine story structure. I'll make 'em stack logs that were never meant to be stacked on top of each other.

Sleepy, drunk Aggies can build it dern it!

[/west texas accent]

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Noone was drunk. Are you saying this from the experience of having been there, or are you just sitting in Houston making guesses from your own prejudices?

It is very easy to beat up on and make fun of something when an accident has happened. There is always a group of scavenging cowards who never said anything about it before, but after the accident, when it is an easy target, they swoop down and take advantage of it.

Accidents happen all the time, and people get killed, but when it is something that is unique, and that people do not understand, they blame the whole thing rather than just conceding that it was an accident. A few years ago in Chicago a scaffolding fell from the John Hancock Center where people were washing windows, landing on a car and killing the people in the car as well as the people on the scaffolding. Did people call for an end to window washing, or say that the people on the scaffolding were drunk and stupid? No, they called it a freak accident, which it was.

Bonfire was built at least fifty times to the same height or much higher than the one that fell. Every time it was an incredible feat. Now it is being built again, off-campus, with an improved design, and it is still an incredible feat. At bottom, I think people are jealous that we are a part of this great, mystical thing that they don't have in their lives.

[MidtownCoog]

This Aggie "I can't explian it" we are "mysterious mystical beings" yada yada is also a joke.

Brainwashed

[yall_are_nutty]

LOLOLOLOL - "a great mystical thing!!!"

aggies are so delusional it's downright funny. yeah, nobody else has ever experienced being part of a group......or gone to college..........or lived in a boring town.............

[The Great Hizzy!]

Uh-oh...

[pineda]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spirit of Aggieland to light up High Meadow Ranch

Annual bonfire to attract thousands of alumni, golfers and families

By KIM HUGHES

Chronicle Correspondent

[MidtownCoog]

What creeps me out is that keep on buring wood off site.

Not THAT is scarry.

[N8TIV]

Students from all over the country hold potentially dangerous and unsponsored bonfires for their homecomings, etc.

Burning wood is very common. Why is that "scarry"? You know what is really scary??...Every night thousands of people drive home from bars or parties completely intoxicated. Now THAT should creep you out.

[SpaceCity]

Noone was drunk.

This is MORE evidence that Aggies looked the other way and simply IGNORED THE OBVIOUS. Again, its a dark Aggie joke.

People were drunk at Bonfire and here are my sources:

"A lot of people in Bonfire were out there getting drunk," Kirkpatrick said.

The Battalion -- Bonfire Collapse

At least two of the people killed were legally drunk. At the time of the accident, senior Jeremy Richard Frampton, a psychology major, had a blood-alcohol content of 0.316, or nearly four times the state's legal driving limit of 0.08

CNN.com -- 2 killed at collapse were drunk

[N8TIV]

And this surprises you? The fact that some were drunk wasn't the cause for the wooden centerpole to snap.

[SpaceCity]

And this surprises you?  The fact that some were drunk wasn't the cause for the wooden centerpole to snap.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's proof that Bonfire leaders didn't care about safety. If you're drunk and drowsy you should not be working on a nine story building. Especially when that nine story building was made of unstable material never meant to be stacked.

[N8TIV]

It's proof that Bonfire leaders didn't care about safety. If you're drunk and drowsy you should not be working on a nine story building. Especially when that nine story building was made of unstable material never meant to be stacked.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

First of all...you can't prove "that Bonfire leaders didn't care about safety."

Problem 1: Lack of professional oversight: The site was unrestricted, which means anyone with a "pot" (helmet) could access the stack. Hundreds of people were in the area and unfortunately nobody was giving breathalizer tests.

Problem 2: The wedding cake stack design worked for the past 30 years and was used because it made it easier to work at the different levels. In 1999, one side of the bonfire stack carried a much heavier load and created stress on the centerpole. When students were working on it, they would be harnessed to the centerpole and shift their weight upon the stack. In my opinion, the collapse would have never happened if the centerpole was made of steel. It should have been constructed by a professional construction crew.

Second...the stack was only 45 feet high when it collapsed. roughly 5 stories.

Lastly, it could have been a lot worse and is best that the school distanced itself from future bonfires. The school did the right thing by constructing a memorial for those who died. I'm glad to see that current and future bonfires are constructed professionally and much safer.