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Aggies - Question about bonfire
Posted on 12/19/12 at 8:43 am
Posted on 12/19/12 at 8:43 am
Is the unofficial bonfire still being held now that the game with UT is no more? I remember Perry saying it would come back on campus but haven't really heard anything about it since. Just curious if the tradition still exists in some capacity
4
Posted on 12/19/12 at 8:46 am to jlbasm
They ought to have the bonfire but let the College Station firemen build and operate it with a fence and ATm cops keeping drunk knuckleheads back a safe distance.
Posted on 12/19/12 at 8:46 am to jlbasm
Still around. It was burned before Mizzou this year but didn't get much publicity. I imagine once the LSU game gets moved to the last weekend it will be a bigger deal again.
Posted on 12/19/12 at 8:50 am to jlbasm
Yeah it exists, but it is filled with a fringe element, imo. They need a different culture surrounding it.
Posted on 12/19/12 at 8:51 am to TeLeFaWx
It is build waaaay off campus. Its still all student built and controlled with engineering help and fire control help.
Posted on 12/19/12 at 9:13 am to troywew
Why don't you just not chime in when you don't know what you're talking about
Posted on 12/19/12 at 9:15 am to troywew
quote:
They ought to have the bonfire but let the College Station firemen build and operate it with a fence and ATm cops keeping drunk knuckleheads back a safe distance.
They have this rebel bonfire now some 45 minutes away (in years when there ins't a burn ban because of drought - which is pretty common now). The people involved with it are weirds, IMO. Bonfire used to unify the whole campus, this rebel bonfire group is the equivalent of the high school technology club - nobody knows much about it or really wants to be involved.
The University wants NOTHING to do with it. It isn't coming back to campus. For years, any attempts by the rebel bonfire folks to recruit on campus were met with outright hostility by the University - I'm talking about "we'll throw you out of school" type stuff. For many years the lawsuits were ongoing. I think they may have finally just settled the last one this past year.
When discussing bringing it back, consider that it would have to be insured. Now, as someone in commercial insurance myself, I can tell you that yes, you can insure anything - for a price. The issue is - who can afford it? Especially since the engineering firms involved would imperil their insurors.
Posted on 12/19/12 at 9:15 am to troywew
Yeah troy you might be misinformed about how the bonfire actually worked.
Posted on 12/19/12 at 9:19 am to Shiner Bock Aggie
This is what I'm hoping as well. Of all the Aggie traditions this one seems very cool to this outsider. Just the whole scale and the students working on it over a couple months and everything. The tragedy was a terrible time but done right this could be one of the coolest traditions in college football. Beats rolling trees by a landslide.
Posted on 12/19/12 at 9:22 am to Cooter Davenport
quote:
The University wants NOTHING to do with it. It isn't coming back to campus.
Yep. It will never be back on campus. In a few years, we're going to have kids coming to campus who were born after the tragedy. Without the tradition of passing down bonfire, getting the fish involved in cut and build etc. it just isn't the same. Also, now that the percentage of kids living on campus continues to drop you lose that dorm camaraderie that bonfire helped build.
I love bonfire. I have my jar with ashes and each year hang a Christmas ornament with ashes on my tree, but it will never be allowed back on campus (not to mention, wtf are we going to build it? on the polo fields right next to the memorial? that would go over like a lead balloon).
This post was edited on 12/19/12 at 9:24 am
Posted on 12/19/12 at 9:23 am to Cooter Davenport
Unfortunately I don't see the bonfire staying around over a medium-longer term horizon (5-10 years). As has been said, the University won't touch it, the kids that do it now are fricking weird, and there probably isn't a private organization that will sponsor it to the point that it will be big enough that the majority of students will get behind it.
This tradition will probably, unfortunately, be chalked up with the Aggie spirit that can ne'er be told and shite. Was a really cool tradition though.
This tradition will probably, unfortunately, be chalked up with the Aggie spirit that can ne'er be told and shite. Was a really cool tradition though.
Posted on 12/19/12 at 9:26 am to relapse98
quote:
I have my jar
I thought that was a myth?
This post was edited on 12/19/12 at 9:27 am
Posted on 12/19/12 at 9:34 am to Cooter Davenport
quote:
They have this rebel bonfire now some 45 minutes away
Actually it is about 15-20 minutes north of campus in a neighboring county.
It doesn't make a difference. It is not coming back to campus.....too much liability.
As far as having someone else build it, that is not an option. The whole experience was building it from nothing. Burning was part of it but just a small part.
It's gone. Too bad.
Posted on 12/19/12 at 10:12 am to agswin
It wasn't just the Bonfire. It was everything leading up to it.
Prior to the accident, each semester was defined by, and in many cases, lead up to one single culminating event.
Fall Semester - Bonfire
Spring Semester - Muster
Prior to the accident, each semester was defined by, and in many cases, lead up to one single culminating event.
Fall Semester - Bonfire
Spring Semester - Muster
Posted on 12/19/12 at 10:17 am to BennyAndTheInkJets
I agree. It's gone forever after a few more years.
It feels like the end of bonfire is RIGHT and proper. There's no need for it anymore. We no longer have the burning desire to beat the hell out of the fricking cocksuckers for which it was built. We are the one they want to beat. We're Daddy. They will spend the next 100 years trying to outshine A&M. It's come full circle.
It feels like the end of bonfire is RIGHT and proper. There's no need for it anymore. We no longer have the burning desire to beat the hell out of the fricking cocksuckers for which it was built. We are the one they want to beat. We're Daddy. They will spend the next 100 years trying to outshine A&M. It's come full circle.
This post was edited on 12/19/12 at 10:19 am
Posted on 12/19/12 at 10:23 am to KaiserSoze99
Texas A&M - Kingsville students burn a bonfire every year. And it's a big pile of trash like the first A&M/College Station bonfires were years ago. Oh well.
Posted on 12/19/12 at 10:43 am to KaiserSoze99
Bowen Loftin (A&M University President) is on record as saying he hasn't heard a strong advocacy from the students to bring it back to campus. He said he will listen.
There are a lot of problems with it the way it is and the way it was, but it could be done safely and better than ever.
It is true it won't ever be like it once was, good and bad.
My hope is the students get their act together and bring it back. But as some of those above said - they don't know what they're missing.
The current student bonfire is not a bad as those on here are making it out to be, but in its current form the university wouldn't bring it back on campus. They've done a lot to make it safer and take safety and alcohol awareness seriously. But it's still not good enough for A&m to take the risk of putting it back on campus the way it is.
My freshman class ('02) was the last to build and see one burn on campus. The next freshman class ('03, in 1999) is when it fell. The was a great spirit and accomplishment felt in building Bonfire - it meant so much more than watching it burn, although that was impressive and what most outsiders think of when they think of Bonfire.
I think you can recreate that building experience but make it right and totally safe. In my opinion, the way to get it back going on campus is to take some professional firm to get it kick started:
-Have it designed and engineered as part of a joint Construction Science, Architecture, and Civil Engineering department senior design class.
-Train all those who will work on using tools and heavy equipment. Good training qualification.
-Adopt a behavior based safety program and have kids studying to be safety engineers be leaders (along with anyone else participating). Treat it like an OSHA workplace, safety procedures, etc.
It would take a few years but you could do it right and safely. A lot of aggies don't want this sanitized, hyper safe or professional type of Bonfire to come to campus and would rather it exist off campus as close to being as it once was. I think you can never have it like it was back in the day, but that is a good thing because there was a lot of unsafe shite that went on. They dont see that and probably dont work in industrial environments - but that's the kind of atmosphere we need. Believe me, you can work just as hard and feel the same accomplishment of constructing something and doing it safely that you could unsafely.
There are a lot of problems with it the way it is and the way it was, but it could be done safely and better than ever.
It is true it won't ever be like it once was, good and bad.
My hope is the students get their act together and bring it back. But as some of those above said - they don't know what they're missing.
The current student bonfire is not a bad as those on here are making it out to be, but in its current form the university wouldn't bring it back on campus. They've done a lot to make it safer and take safety and alcohol awareness seriously. But it's still not good enough for A&m to take the risk of putting it back on campus the way it is.
My freshman class ('02) was the last to build and see one burn on campus. The next freshman class ('03, in 1999) is when it fell. The was a great spirit and accomplishment felt in building Bonfire - it meant so much more than watching it burn, although that was impressive and what most outsiders think of when they think of Bonfire.
I think you can recreate that building experience but make it right and totally safe. In my opinion, the way to get it back going on campus is to take some professional firm to get it kick started:
-Have it designed and engineered as part of a joint Construction Science, Architecture, and Civil Engineering department senior design class.
-Train all those who will work on using tools and heavy equipment. Good training qualification.
-Adopt a behavior based safety program and have kids studying to be safety engineers be leaders (along with anyone else participating). Treat it like an OSHA workplace, safety procedures, etc.
It would take a few years but you could do it right and safely. A lot of aggies don't want this sanitized, hyper safe or professional type of Bonfire to come to campus and would rather it exist off campus as close to being as it once was. I think you can never have it like it was back in the day, but that is a good thing because there was a lot of unsafe shite that went on. They dont see that and probably dont work in industrial environments - but that's the kind of atmosphere we need. Believe me, you can work just as hard and feel the same accomplishment of constructing something and doing it safely that you could unsafely.
Posted on 12/19/12 at 10:58 am to Cajun Ag
I agree with everything you said but I promise you that bonfire will never be allowed back on campus. Its just not going to happen.
He'll listen and probably won't say no, but will say the time isn't right or some political such.
Bonfire will never be allowed back on campus.
quote:
Bowen Loftin (A&M University President) is on record as saying he hasn't heard a strong advocacy from the students to bring it back to campus. He said he will listen.
He'll listen and probably won't say no, but will say the time isn't right or some political such.
Bonfire will never be allowed back on campus.
Posted on 12/19/12 at 10:58 am to Cajun Ag
I think if off campus build 20 in a row with no accidents you might look at bringing it back.
I'm kind of the opinion that the reaction to the accident was overblown in a way. 90 years and several million man hours on a heavy duty construction project produced 12 deaths. That rate is lower than the commercial fishing industry. Working on bonfire is statistically safer than driving.
I'm kind of the opinion that the reaction to the accident was overblown in a way. 90 years and several million man hours on a heavy duty construction project produced 12 deaths. That rate is lower than the commercial fishing industry. Working on bonfire is statistically safer than driving.
Posted on 12/19/12 at 11:04 am to Cajun Ag
quote:
Cajun Ag
You made some good advocacy points for bringing it back on campus, especially the regulatory compliance learning/training. Where else would kids get equivalent, hands-on regulatory/safety training AS STUDENTS?
On the flip side, Bonfire represented the burning desire to beat the hell out of t.u. I know most of us NOW have a burning desire to FORGET those arrogant cocksmokes. So, Bonfire will need to take on a new meaning and spirit, WITHOUT reference to the feghots in Austin. We are the rulers now. Let them make it all about us.
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