Friday, October 9, 1987/The Battalion/Page 3
State and Local
Aggies donate $1,162 into fund
for former student’s transplant
By Janet Goode
Staff Writer
Former Texas A&M student John
Stone, Class of’84, seeking funds for
a liver transplant, called on fellow
Aggies last week to help him raise
over $350,000.
And a lot of Aggies came through
for him — donating a total of $ 1,162
at a table set up in the MSC.
Scott Donahue, Stone’s friend and
fund-drive coordinator, said the re
sponse by students and faculty has
beeen impressive.
“Everybody seems to be super as
far as donations from students and
faculty goes,” Donahue said. “Every
afternoon I go out there (to the
MSC) at 5 p.m. and count the
money. Every afternoon people stop
bv at the last minute when we are
counting the money and ask if they
can still donate.”
Most of the donations, he said,
have come from individuals.
“We’re having people leave $100
checks in the fishbowl,” he said. “Ev
ery time I pull one out, it kind of
makes my hair stand on end and I
get chill bumps.”
Only one Texas A&M organiza
tion, the Deer Park Hometown Club,
has made a collective donation, he
including the putt-putt course and
Wolf Creek Car Wash.
Donations collected since Sept. 23
and sent to the American Trans
plant Association in Stone’s name,
total close to $10,000, Stone said.
“We're having people leave $100 checks in the fish
bowl. Every time I pull one out, it kind of makes my
hair stand on end and I get chill bumps. ”
— Scott Donahue, fund coordinator for John Stone
said, which was $50. The only city-
organized A&M club that has do
nated is one in Kansas, which do
nated $200, he said.
Tom Turbiville, owner of College
Station’s Putt-Putt Miniature Golf
Course, gave $450 in proceeds to
Stone last week from benefit golf
games held everyday between 1 p.m.
and 6 p.m.
Several businesses around town
have fishbowls set out for donations,
Donahue said the response has
been good because people realize
how serious the situation is.
What they may not realize, he
said, is that Stone is the perfect can
didate for a transplant. Stone’s liver
will not have to grow with his body
like one would if the recipient were a
baby. Also, Stone is in relatively
good physical condition and his
chances are extremely good for a
successful operation and life there
after, Donahue said.
Donahue said what he does not
understand is the reasoning of the
doctors and administrators who are
requiring Stone to raise this money
before he gets the operation.
“If you were in a car accident and
were sent to an emergency room,
they would do anything they could
to save your life no matter what the
cost,” he said. “I can’t understand
why they don’t do that in a situation
like this — where they know it’s a life
or death situtaion. They won’t do
anything without the money.”
Stone still needs $110,000 to be
put on the waiting list to receive a
donor and then another $250,000 to
pay for the operation.
Other events planned to raise
money for Stone include:
• A Brazos Landing benefit for
John Stone set for Friday, Oct. 30.
The band will be Fusion.
• A table will be set up Saturday
afternoon by Rudder fountain and
John Stone will be there to accept
donations and answer questions.
State representative
asks for Mattox's ruling
on liabilily insurance
McALLEN (AP) State Rep.
Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, has
asked the attorney general for a
ruling on the constitutionality of
a new Texas law that requires all
drivers to carry liability insur
ance.
Merchants along the border
have complained that business
has dropped since the law went
into effect Sept. 1.
Hinojosa, who said he believes
the law is constitutional, said he
asked for the opinion from Attor
ney General Jim Mattox as head
of the House Committee on
Criminal J urisprudence.
“I think it’s constitutional,” Hi
nojosa said. “It doesn’t discrimi
nate against anyone. It simply
states that anyone who drives on
Texas highways must carry liabil
ity insurance.”
Hinojosa says the law has af
fected international trade by re
ducing the number of Mexican
nationals who drive into Texas to
shop, visit and do business.
Examining the issues would
give legislators additional infor
mation to determine whether to
keep the law in its current form,
amend it, or implement another
program, the letter says.
McAllen attorney Allen Smith
said he is preparing a lawsuit on
behalf of some merchants in his
city 10 miles from the border.
No one opposed the law last
spring when it went before the
legislature, Rep. Renato Cuellar,
D-Weslaco, told a group of Hi
dalgo County elected officials last
week.
“I know the intention of the
law was not bad, but if it’s now
going to hurt, we need to look at
it,” said Cuellar, who was one of
the people asking Hinojosa to re
quest the attorney general’s opin-
Students prepare for bonfire as A&M tradition burns on
r ROCKS'
By Elisa Hutchins
Staff Writer
. B . B Bonfire season has opened again
^*1 IVIAI at Texas A&M. Students have
11 |y|Bstarted chopping down timber for
Bone of A&M’s most cherished and
■ feverishly-backed traditions, which
rat the womenl'a| is in its 78th year.
ield and thatilwiB The r,rst mandatory Corps cut for
ay, organized ami ■Jj 16 7 f 8th I 0 exas A&M bonfire is Sun-
J th the nspnf i day from 8 a m - to 4 P- m - ab( mt 15
^nh the used J miles from campu J off Grjmes
d( Qt wflicttareRxvad VM\, said Dennis Mix-
afire takes placetw ten, a bonfire coordinator — other-
supported propel* Wise known as a “redpot.”
V known symbol I Cutting started last weekend for
M-sirv None of li: I : civilians at the same location and
V u u u Mltten saicl about 500 people partici-
by the behaviot l p ate d over the two-day penocT
ke their pronusej “People who showed up were very
to participate in j enthusiastic,” he said. “We cut about
Ire.
easiest and safest*
lent is for all of-
the fern ale cadet
r crew where the;
eir noses out of ft
h the passaged/
g out to pasture
rntly in influents!|
k/entually willbe
i s of the Corpse
ous. The bigtp
r certain male
11 c |ing tofe
Cut dates
Scheduled cutting dates are
from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the fol
lowing dates:
• Oct. 10, 11.
• Oct. 18.
• Oct. 24, 25.
• Nov. 7, 8.
1,000 trees. New students have been
hearing about bonfire for months
now and I think the next cuts will be
just as successful.”
The land is owned by the Texas
Municipal Power Agency, Mitten
said, and the agency is letting stu
dents use the land free of charge be
cause it wants the land cleared.
The tradition holds that students
work on bonfire and look forward to
seeing it burn because it is a symbol
of Aggie spirit and a desire to beat
the University of Texas in its football
contest on Thanksgiving Day.
Mitten said students and faculty
who want to volunteer to work on
the bonfire need a safety card that
shows they completed the one-hour
safety course, which was taught Sept.
28-30. Anyone who does not have a
card, he said, can get one at the en
trance of the site by attending a 15-
minute safety course.
The bonfire has grown to an aver
age height of 90 feet since its humble
beginnings in 1909, according to
University Archives files. The first
bonfire was 12 feet tall and it only
took a few minutes for the card
board boxes and trash to burn.
In 1942, wood replaced scrap
wood and cardboard boxes and a
center pole was added in 1945.
Throughout bonfire history, stu
dents have endured countless inju
ries such as snake bites and cuts to
assure a roaring blaze, and two have
died in the process.
In 1955, James E. Sarran, a soph
omore from Brownsville at the time,
died when he pushed two of his
friends out of the way as a car struck
the student’s guard post.
Wiley Keith Jopling, a student
from Nacogdoches, was crushed by a
tractor-traitor in 1981 and died later
from injuries.
While the task of building the
bonfire is a major undertaking, it
isn’t the only chore. Aggies also must
keep an ever-watchful eye out for
saboteurs.
Two UT students were arrested
and expelled from school in the late
’50s after they tried to drop a small
bomb on the bonfire from a single
engine plane. They completely
missed the stack and as they flew
away, some A&M students copied
down the plane’s serial number and
turned them in.
Two decades later, in 1977, a Col
lege Station patrolman was arrested
and later fired for trespassing to try
to ignite the bonfire prematurely.
He said he attempted the stunt on a
dare and was wearing a Texas Tech
University T-shirt when police ap
prehended him.
Although many attempts have
been made to damage the bonfire, it
has been canceled only once. It was
canceled in honor of former U.S.
president John F. Kennedy when he
was assasinated Nov. 22, 1963.
The stack has withstood the
weather, UT students and cam
paigns to abolish the tradition be
cause some professors were con
cerned about destroying large forest
areas. It also has been scrutinized by
some local citizens who consider it a
nuisance.
But the bonfire returns every
year, and this year, Mitten said,
E romises to produce the best Aggie
laze in A&M history.
To get to the cutting site, turn left
from Texas Avenue onto Harvey
Road and cross Hwy. 6 under the
East Bypass. Turn right off Hwy. 30
and turn right again onto Grimes
County Road 190.
ai.v. disgraced
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swsietter forth 1
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ELSEVIER
TEXAS A&M BOOKSTORE’S
BOOKFAIR
20% Discount - for One Week Only!
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OCTOBER 1987
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