Am I the only one that sees the negative side of returning Bonfire to campus?

If years down the road the Administration figures out a way to have a safe and lawsuit free bonfire that is also 100% student led and student built with the stack being built on campus, that would be great. Would that be the best thing for Bonfire and for Texas A&M? I am not convinced that it would.

Let;s backup for a second and analyze what I just stated. First of all, I am assuming that the ideal situation would be a safe, lawsuit free, student led, and student built bonfire. Many people would accept much less than this if the bonfire was on campus. Former president Bowen's plans for bonfire included a professionally contracted company to cut down the trees and transport them to the stack site where a very small group of select students would help more professional construction teams in building the stack. This would be completely safe and lawsuit free but would not be student built or student led in any stratch of the imagination.


Would that be an Aggie Bonfire if no actual Aggies put their blood, sweat, and tears into it?

Are you willing to accept a Bonfire that has little or no student input?

Are you willing to accept a Bonfire out of convenience instead of tradition?

Are you willing to accept a Bonfire that is a media circus instead of a fire that breeds pride, loyalty, self respect, leadership, life long friendships, and a learning experience that can never be put into words?



Sure it would be great if the Texas A&M Administration recognized Bonfire, but it does not need to be on campus or a school sponsored event for them to do that.

Sure it would be great if Bonfire was in the city limits and was easily accessible for the tens of thousands that still attend and the hundreds of thousands that used to attend. However, the right thing to do is not always simply the most convienient thing to do.



Now let's use our vast immagination and picture the utopia where the administration figured out a plan that was proven to be acceptably safe, approved by lawyers to be lawsuit-proof, and at the same time student led and student built. Texas A&M would be under such scrutiny that if a single kid got so much as a blister, there would be negative attention and press. As a school, as a business, and as a public entity, Texas A&M would crumble under that massive magnifying glass.



Aggie Bonfire was not special because it was on campus.
Aggie Bonfire was not special because it was safe.
Aggie Bonfire was not special because it was convenient.
Aggie Bonfire was not special because the Administration acknowledged it and sponsored it.
Aggie Bonfire was not special because it was on campus.

Aggie Bonfire is not and never was about the fire, the pep rally, football, t.u., or any burning desire.



If you were ever a part of Aggie Bonfire then ask yourself this, What made Aggie Bonfire so special?

I guarantee that the word "campus" will NEVER appear in anyone's answer to that question.

Load, I agree.

I just wrote a long message about the issue and how it pertains to off-campus Bonfire, but I have erased it. I have instead opted to replace that essay with the simple fact that Bonfire exists right now off-campus and is satisfying the current students' needs.

In the event that bCS succeeds in bringing Bonfire back to campus in the SAME capacity, construction, components, leadership, etc. as Student Bonfire is doing right now, I am for it. Anything less is not perpetuating the Spirit of Bonfire that has been re-built, re-kindled, and re-lit.

Unfortuneately, I never see that happening. The University has it's hands in every facet of "official" activity. From the Corps to Fish Camp, the University has a say and liability. As long as that is the case, Bonfire won't return to campus in the shape that it should.

I salute bCS's efforts, support the University, and will be in the woods with an axe next fall to build the Hell outta Bonfire.

quote:

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Are you willing to accept a Bonfire that has little or no student input?

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Absolutely not.

quote:

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Are you willing to accept a Bonfire out of convenience instead of tradition?

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Absolutely not.

quote:

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Are you willing to accept a Bonfire that is a media circus instead of a fire that breeds pride, loyalty, self respect, leadership, life long friendships, and a learning experience that can never be put into words?

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Absolutely not.




My wonder is if the admin will actually value our opinions on this or not... haven't exACTly had a great track record... (sorry, went off on a tangent about the PSEL being moved out of the bush school and into my office... makes NO sense.)

Just because the school might take on-campus bonfires outta the hands of the students does not mean that off-campus bonfires have to stop.

We had talked about taking bonfire off campus long before '99. On campus with admin involved was expensive and a general pain in the rear.

"Ther's a white tractor pulling on to the field."

i don't really care if the administration ever sponsors it or brings it back on campus. i would just like them to quit hindering the growth of student bonfire. it is extremely hard to get more people involved when it is against the rules to "advertise" it, do wake ups in the morning, etc.

Grimm, they are just covering thier butts. They want to make sure there is no affiliation with the university. There were certainly hinder tactics in 02,03 but I think they have pretty much left us alone. I could be wrong about this though since I've been out or school for a while.


I should also specify that almost all of the hinder tactics came straight from Reslife not the University Admin.


[This message has been edited by Y02 (edited 3/29/2005 12:03a).]

Reslife (I think his initials were C. Rotter) was the strongest factor. The Corps Commandant made it clear that no "Outfits" may go out to Bonfire, but individuals could do whatever they wanted.

Quite convenient, ya know...

Because you're not friends with your dorm-mates and corps buddies...

trust me, i've experienced it first hand. your right, it mainly is from res life. mainly sue foster, ron sasse, rotter, etc. they have been doing more than "covering their butt." i'm okay with that because nobody wants to lose their job but they have been going way out of their way to "make an example" (quoting sue foster) out of people involved (yes i am one of them and yes i'm very bitter). they could just do their job and if anything goes wrong, deal with it instead of looking for trouble. i will agree that this past year it got better (03 was definately the worst) and hopefully with a few more successful bonfires it will be a non issue. but it certainly still is. just try to get away with 1/10 of the things that students used to on campus. if anyone wants details i'll be happy to sit down and talk. see ya at first cut!

[This message has been edited by bgrimm05 (edited 3/29/2005 9:16p).]

Ron Sasse has done so much "butt-covering" that he makes Dr. Gates look like he's wearing a thong. (Sorry for the mental image.)

At least there was no "the decision is in your hands" letter this year.

[This message has been edited by leknerd2004 (edited 3/29/2005 11:28p).]

bgrimm I am curious what they did to you, could you e-mail me? If you are not comfortable with that it can wait until first cut, I am with the HOGS my name is LEW.

to make a long story short i was spreading the word about student bonfire and the hall director tracked me down and wrote me up. sue foster and ron sasse decided that i needed to be kicked out of fhk and be given a restraining order for solicitation of bonfire. i was also given a bogus hazing charge that was later dropped. i'll be with fhk plex next year at cut if u wanna talk.