Aggie Student Organization founded to Continue Bonfire

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/648595

Aug. 28, 2000, 11:46PM
Student group at A&M plans for safer bonfire
By JOHN WILLIAMS -- Copyright 2000 Houston Chronicle

Texas A&M students committed to preserving the Bonfire tradition have plans for an event they believe will be safer than the one that collapsed last fall. According to the campus newspaper the Battalion, the student organization Keep the Fire Burning has professionally designed plans for a 40-foot bonfire. The bonfire would consist of three tiers of logs stacked against a center pole.

Students would not climb on the structure while building it as in years past, the Battalion reported. Instead, logs would be hoisted into place through a system of pulleys, and students would wire the logs into place from a bucket truck, the paper reported. The new design would not collapse, even after burning, student organizer Joe Dyson told the Battalion. "We're going to have to put it out," Dyson said. Contacted Monday, Dyson declined to comment on the Battalion report.

The Bonfire tradition dates back 90 years. The Bonfire is the centerpiece of the pep rally for the annual football game with the rival University of Texas. Last year's Bonfire was 59 feet tall when it toppled Nov. 18, killing 12 and injuring 27 others. A $1.8 million study showed problems with the stack's wedding-cake design were to blame for the collapse. The study was exceptionally critical of the university culture that placed traditions over safety. The Bonfire was designed and built by students.

In May, University President Ray Bowen declared a two-year moratorium on the Bonfire so that safer construction methods could be developed. Bowen said the Bonfire would return only with a professionally engineered design and greater university supervision. The university remains committed to the two-year Bonfire ban, spokesman Lane Stephenson said Monday. "The university's position has not changed," Stephenson said. "Any plans to build an off-campus bonfire would certainly be unauthorized. "We would continue to hope that those individuals thinking of undertaking such an endeavor will make the prudent decision not to move forward," he said.

But students involved with Keep the Fire Burning have pressed ahead with their plans. The students have solicited advice from engineers, lawyers and alumni on how to plan a safe, student-run bonfire this year. The group has created a nonprofit company to raise money to "maintain the traditions of A&M" and a limited liability company to shield the nonprofit from claims, the Battalion reported. Keep the Fire Burning has not announced a date for an off-campus bonfire or a construction schedule.

One local businessman who had said he would allow students to conduct a bonfire on his property has reconsidered. Alumnus Don Ganter, who owns the Dixie Chicken bar just off campus, said the liability caused his change of heart. "I think it should occur this year, and I think most Aggies feel the same way, but the liability is too great for me," Ganter said.

Association of Former Students spokeswoman Amy Glass said she does not believe most Aggies want the Bonfire this year. She questioned the safety of the new design students are touting. "If Dr. Bowen and his group, with all of the resources that the school has, thinks that it will take two years, how can it be done in three months?" she asked.


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Should this unauthorized group pursue the bonfire? Would the university or city take steps to prevent the bonfire, (i.e. through engineering / construction standards, or the fire department.)?

Would anyone be willing to accept the liability of having this on their land?

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[This message has been edited by dc sports (edited August 28, 2000).]

 

Here's one article from the TAMU website.
http://www.tamu.edu/univrel/news/stories/00/061600-8.htm

Ray Bowen (president of TAMU) has given the timing of the bonfire as the primary reason. He said that that each bonfire takes about a year to prepare for -- time to do fundraising, collecting wood, making preparations, safety training, etc. Since the report was released late this past spring, there isn't enough time to have one this year.

Bowen has also stated that he wants significant student involvement in planning the next bonfire, as well as input from professional engineers to make it safe. He wants a solid plan, both for design and procedure, before work starts, and a plan good enough to be used into the future. This work is supposed to take most of this coming school year, with the finalized plans due April 2001. This would be too late for work to begin on the next one.

I'll bet they could put one together for 2001, but it would be a challenge to have signifcant student involvement in the design process. They may also want to take this very slowly, to not rush the process, and allow time for the dust to clear -- there may still be lawsuits pending and government investigations (OSHA ?) in the works.

Behind the scenes though, I think the university has another factor in mind. Over and over, the report on the 1999 bonfire collapse cited the underlying problems to be based on the group culture of the university. The bonfire had become almost a living thing, which blinded the faculty and students to the design and process problems. It hurt their decision making process.

With the failed bonfire and two years off, 3/4 of the students will never have worked on a successful bonfire. Those that did work on the 1998 bonfire (and 1999) wouldn't have been involved in the design work, and wouldn't have had leadership roles. The extra year gives the university a chance to shake up the culture that caused the 1999 disaster. They can start with a clean slate, and rebuild the tradition without having to break bad habits.

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