The accident was the third disaster related to the 43,000-student Texas A&M this fall.
On Sept. 18, five people were killed in the crash of a plane used by the Ags Over Texas skydiving club, often used by Texas A&M students and alumni.
On Oct. 10, six college students walking to a fraternity party west of campus were killed by a pickup truck driver who had fallen asleep, police said. Four were students from Baylor, one was from Texas A&M and one from Southwest Texas State.
Being from Oklahoma, I hate any Texas team as much as the next guy. But this was really a tragedy. The students involved were supposedly trained, and had contacted engineers on how to construct this tower so that it would fall into itself when burning. I think they were pretty bright, just unfortunate.
I saw the bon fire advisor ( a title i wouldn’t want right now). and he had contacted engineers (isn’t a&m full of engineers?) , but they didn’t supervise it. The media was asking him questions and he had no ideas to the answers. Also, this isn’t the first time the tower almost collapsed.
We live in an age that reads to much to be wise, and thinks too much to be beautiful–Oscar Wilde
If the Aggies are the dumbest students, the University of Texas must have the dumbest employees. A resident of New Mexico applied for admission and was turned down with the explanation, “We have already filled our quota of foregin students.” "Foreign students?" New Mexico is a state, same as Texas–and has been a State since 1912! Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh!!!
“If you drive an automobile, please drive carefully–because I walk in my sleep.”–Victor Borge
I have sympathy for the injured and killed students but why were so many of them climbing on a structure that’s designed to collapse on itself? CNN said the stack was forty feet high when the accident happened, that’s a lot of wood. The stacking and subsequent rescue effort was done with a crane. No reason for semi-trained students to be doing what an experienced lumberjack or ironworker probably wouldn’t do on a bet. Doesn’t sound like there was much real supervision.
>>If the Aggies are the dumbest students, the University of Texas must have the
dumbest employees. A resident of New Mexico applied for admission and was turned
down with the explanation, “We have already filled our quota of foregin students.”
“Foreign students?” New Mexico is a state, same as Texas–and has been a State
since 1912! Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh!!!<<
That happened to New Mexicans while trying to buy tickets to the Atlanta Olympics, too. It must be a Southern thing. <g>
Sorry about not sticking to the topic. On the OP, this is a terrible tragedy, and reminds me of why I wanted to go to a school with no football teams/cheerleaders/marching bands/fraternities/idiocy.
They grow the wood specifically for the bonfire. You have to be an upperclassman to be on the cutting team. Remember too, that A&M hands out a fair number of forestry services diplomas and A&M provides the state’s agricultural information.
FWIW, the 1994 collapse was because the earth became soft after a rain. I’m not sure if they could have planned for this unless they built the fire on a concrete pad.
I don’t think A&M will let this get in the way of tradition. Did anyone else hear the sound bite from an Aggie on NPR this morning (a women, do they still call the women students Maggies?) She was sure that the students who were killed would want the bonfire to continue. As strange as it may sound, I have no doubt that they would.
Personally and despite the tragedy, I agree with her. Even though I attended UT, I respect A&M and consider its traditions to be an important part of what is Texas. It’s comforting to know that there will always be young adults stupid enough to move out to the sticks, shave off all their hair, dress in funny clothes and call it part of the college experience (oops, maybe that part should have gone to the pit.)
I lived in College Station for 23 years. My father is a professor of biology, my mom, entomology. I can say that those were good people, unworthy of insult. Please understand that A&M is giant school with many sides to it. The student body is not a bunch of dimwits. They are simply following a 90 year old tradition. Tradition is very important at A&M. Because of it military past, we didn’t have a student union, we had a memorial student center: A memorial for the graduuates who died in service of their country. Likewise, every year there’s a Muster to honor the past year’s dead. Many student go there not because they’re not bright enough to go elsewhere, but because their mom or dad went there. It a tradition thing. I know making fun of people from another part of the country is the american way, but give these kids a break.
Seraphim, I agree with your eco-concerns. In our current era of environmental concers, does it make sense to cut down a bunch of big trees and waste them on a bonfire? Also, there is the polluting smoke produced by the fire. What if the fire gets out of control?
This tradition should be ended for safety and eco-reasons. It’s almost as bad as burning barrells of oil.
Mr Thin Skin, I hope it was obvious that my flame was done tongue in cheek. You know better than I do where the school’s strong points lie but the few short visits I have made to College Station made it obvious to me that the school and its students are about their work.
Quick Aggie joke:
Q: What do you call an Aggie five years after graduation?
A: Boss.
Whether its in business, engineering, agriculture or whatever, people go to A&M to learn how to succeed at work. You can’t fault that.
BTW, at this point, it looks like they won’t rebuild the fire, but if they do, my wife and I will see if they want help. And yes, we will tell them we attended tu.
Cornflakes, my brother, I was not offended by your remarks. I may have graduated from A&M, but I have close ties to UT (my wife). I took Organic Chemistry at UTD for fun a few years back.
I’m gonna catch hell for this, but I think that sometimes “traditions” get taken to far.
As a Navy vertern, I remeber the tradition of “tacking on” my crows…which means that everyone that sees you the day you recieve your new rank that is of the same rank or higher, gets to punch you in the arm to “tack on” your new insignia…when I made 3rd class, and again at 2nd I went through this. This is an old naval tradtion that is undergoing some heat from higher ups…why?..Because this little tradition has gotten so out of hand that sailors literally couldn’t work the next day because of bruising. I was sorry when I made 2nd that I didn’t get some of that ceremony, but not sorry enough to lose the use of my arm for a day. I think the bonfire is another of those “traditions” that is getting out of hand. I’m sure 90 years ago, it wasn’t a 40 foot tall bonfire…if you want to observe and honour a tradition, do it the way it was, not the way you want it to be.
Forgive the spelling, I’m on a break, and don’t have a lot of time.
My heart goes out to the families of those students killed – what a terrible thing!
And I could almost see having the bonfire this year, sort of as a memorial for them. But other than that, I have to agree with those who see it as an appalling waste of natural resources and source of pollution. Seven THOUSAND logs? Sheesh! There’s a lumber shortage, dammit, at least in some parts of the country. There’re big fights over logging and deforestation. And this university is burning 7,000 logs in one night as part of a football game celebration? Pouring how much smoke and ash into the air?
Atrael I could have done without the trauma of remembering the day I made AQ2. I can already see the bruise forming on my arm. Cripes I’m going to need therapy to get over the remembering it again. I can already see the bruise forming on my arm. Tradition my ass, just an excuse to beat the shit out of some poor sap’s arm.
We were on a air wing detachment to Fallon NAS in Nevada at the time so the guys took me out after shift to celebrate at Salt Wells guest ranch. Hmmm, I suppose the memories weren’t all bad.