Staff Editorial

Editorial Cartoon

Adam D. Elrod

While I do not often delve into such issues, I have decided to contribute my two cents on the Texas A&M Bonfire tragedy.

Nov. 18, 1999, college students and alumni alike were horrified to hear of the collapse of the Texas A&M Aggie Bonfire and the consequential deaths of 12 students who were constructing the five-story stack of logs for a pep rally to precede the rival game between Texas A&M and the University of Texas. In the two months since this tragedy, I have read countless articles describing the events and, using extremely faulty logic, rationalizing the continuation of the "bonfire tradition" in its present state.

The first assertion of those who advocate the continuation of the present bonfire is that these students "gave their lives" for the bonfire tradition and, therefore, out of a respect for those who died, it should continue unmodified. However, these 12 students did not "give their lives" for the bonfire tradition -- they lost their lives because of the bonfire tradition. There is a distinct and important difference.

Claiming these students gave their lives for this tradition likens their situation to that of a military officer dying in defense of his country. The difference in the death of the military officer and the death of the dedicated student is that, upon undertaking the task of defending his nation, the military officer knows his life is at risk. These students did not give their lives for the tradition; they lost their lives to the tradition. This distinction is essential in understanding the course of action that should be taken regarding this tradition's future.

The second common argument is that those students who died would not have wanted the bonfire tradition to end because of their deaths, but to continue in memorial of their lives. This is entirely possible, but, in all reality, it is impossible to positively know what the victims would have wanted. I do not think we should allow an assumption of the wishes of the deceased to dictate our actions.

I will maintain that it would be disrespectful to those who died if we did not learn anything from their deaths and we allowed additional lives to be risked. When considering the collapse of the bonfire this year, along with a similar (albeit far less tragic) collapse in 1994, it is obvious that this practice is not entirely safe and must be modified to ensure safety.

I am not suggesting the Aggie Bonfire tradition be discarded altogether. It is obvious the bonfire is a tradition that many Aggies hold dear, and for this reason alone I can see the need to continue it. But continuing it in its present state seems to be a blatant disregard for the lessons that could be learned from the tragic deaths of these students.

The bonfire should be continued, but must be scaled down to reasonable proportions. The very thought of a group of college students (and, quite possibly, inebriated college students), with no engineering expertise whatsoever, constructing a five-story stack of logs is horrifying.

The bottom line is, while I can see the importance of tradition -- particularly at Texas A&M -- it would be irresponsible to allow tradition to cloud our judgment, and inexcusable to allow tradition to overlook the risk of additional casualties.