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ol.89 No.64 USPS 045360 12 Pages
College Station, Texas
Friday, December 1,1989
! Women and bonfire: another Aggie tradition
iy Michael Kelley
The Battalion Staff
*?-•
Aggie bonfire is an 80-year-old
radition, but women have only been
illowed to work on it since 1981.
"A long time ago it was clear that
;he preferred role by most students
or women who worked on bonfire
vas not for them to work on the
stack and to do cutting, but to do
other things,” said Bill Kibler, advi-
or to the Bonfire Committee. “But
over the last few years they’ve
(women at bonfire) participated
more and more in cutting down
trees, bringing logs out to the stack-
# ing site, loading trucks and working
■ on the stack.
H “We’ve actually had women work
ing on the stack off and on since
1981,” Kibler continued. “That’s the
first year that I’m aware of that
women worked up on the stack.
Most people think this just hap
pened the last couple of years, and
that’s just not true.”
Kibler said the number of women
working on all major areas of bon
fire over the last three years, not just
in such indirect roles such as the Re
load Crew who serves food and
drink to workers, has gone up tre
mendously.
‘'Women are now clearly involved
in every aspect of bonfire, not just a
support role, but doing all of the
same work that the men are doing,”
Kibler said.
Laura Gilliland, a senior Russian
major from Southlake and the only
woman bonfire crew chief this year,
said the biggest problem with
women who want to work on bonfire ,
is that many think they can just go
out to the cut site or to stack (on
Duncan Field) and be accepted, be
fore they prove their willingness to
really work.
“You have to work twice as hard
for half the respect, but it is worth
it,” Gilliland said. “You have to earn
your respect oyt there.
“But once you earn it, they (male
bonfire workers) realize you’re out
there because you like to work, and
not because you are looking for a da
te.”
Jean Dusterhoff, a senior elemen
tary education major from Round
Rock, said when women work on
bonfire, they do not separate them
selves from the men. She started
going out to cut last year after she
found out that women were allowed
to actually cut and work at the cut
site.
“It was hard for the guys to get
used to the girls being out there at
first,” Dusterhoff said. “Once they
saw that we were there to work, we
were always given ample opportu
nity to work.
“We basically don’t do anything
different out there job wise. One
thing is for sure though, we go out
there to work, not to sit around the
perimeter fires.”
Rebecca Shivers, a junior elemen
tary education major from Hull said
there are more women actually
working on bonfire than most stu
dents think.
“This year there are girls galore
working on bonfire, many who have
worked on it for three or four
years,” Shivers said. “We actually get
out there and work.”
Shivers said it’s not easy for those
women who go cut and stack for
bonfire, but that it’s rewarding for
those who do.
“It seems a little bit harder for a
girl to get up on stack, but you’ve got
to pull your weight,” Shivers said.
“It’s sometimes harder for us be
cause we’re not as physically strong
as the men but we still provide a lot
of motivation. We just go out to
work and have a lot of fun.”
Shivers said the women get ha
rassed, but it’s all “good bull” and
nothing is said that the men would
not say to or yell at each other.
Elephant Walk ’89
Photos by Mike C. Mulvey
The 1989 bonfire redpots, left, kick off elephant walk Thursday
by leading a yell practice atop the Lawrence Sullivan Ross
statue. Hundreds of seniors gathered in front of the Academic
Building for the annual tradition of walking around campus pre
paring to “die.” Several juniors also got into Thursday’s action
by spraying shaving cream on their elders, but as seen above,
they were punished.
Student leaders, law agencies take action
to help make Bonfire 9 89 more safe, sober
UNIVERSITY NEWS SERVICE
The 1989 Aggie bonfire is ex
pected to burn as brightly as ever
Friday night, but the event should be
more pleasing to everyone as a result
of efforts by both student leaders
and campus and community law en
forcement agencies to make it a safe
and sober one.
The annual blaze, which will be ig
nited at approximately 8 p.m., sym
bolizes the Aggies’ ‘burning desire’
to beat the arch-rival Texas Long
horns on the gridiron. But this year,
there are other desires at work as
well — ones aimed at improving the
overall bonfire experience for every
one concerned.
An estimated 40,000-50,000 peo
ple are expected to attend the light
ing ceremony and accompanying
yell practice Friday night. In an at
tempt to lessen congestion, confu
sion and crowd control problems,
several changes have been imple
mented this year,
The first and perhaps most nota
ble change is a new student-led ef
fort aimed at decreasing the con
sumption of alcohol at bonfire.
Representatives of major student
organizations including Student
Government, the Corps of Cadets,
the Residence Hall Association, Off
Campus Aggies, the Graduate Stu
dent Council, the Intrafraternity
Council and Student Publications
are encouraging everyone to attend
bonfire, but to come without alcohol.
The message is simple, the stu
dent leaders say: “Don’t drown the
spirit of bonfire.” Those who choose
to drink are being asked to do so in
Map of blocked-off area:
moderation before coming to cam
pus or after leaving — but not while
driving — and to refrain from bring
ing alcoholic beverages to the bon
fire.
“Bonfire is a time for fellowship
and for sharing the Aggie Spirit,”
says Student Body President Kevin
Buchman. “Pride, teamwork and ap
preciation should be what we’re cele
brating Friday night, not intoxica
tion.”
As a part of the same program,
University Police Department (UPD)
officials remind all those planning to
attend bonfire that alcoholic bever
ages are prohibited in almost all
areas of the Texas A&M campus.
That prohibition, they say, means
it is illegal to have or consume alco
hol at the bonfire site. UPD officers
are prepared to enforce the law with
arrests if necessary.
Also planned this year are more
extensive street dosings to better ac
commodate emergency and support
vehicles should they be needed.
College Station Police and UPD
officials say segments of Jersey
Street will be closed to all but emer
gency vehicles from 6:45 p.m. to 11
p.m. Friday and several streets in the
Gilliland said that if a woman who
is working on bonfire is being ig
nored and not being yelled at by the
men, she is basically not being ac
cepted.
“There are certain times when the
word ‘bimbo’ means something dif
ferent,” Gilliland said. “If the guys
say it to you nicely, they really mean
it. If they say it mean and deroga
tory, they’re just motivating you to
work.”
Gilliland said the true mark of re
spect is when the redpots, the top
bonfire supervisors, talk to her like
she is one of their buddies, and not
like she deserves preferential treat
ment because she is a woman.
Kibler said any student can work
on bonfire, but to encourage women
to participate there is an invitation
that goes out to all the female resi
dence halls to get them involved in
the bonfire building process.
“One of the things that has been
said is that there aren’t any yellow-
pots (residence hall bonfire coordi
nators) in the female residence
halls,” Kibler said. “That’s true thus
far, but the only thing keeping the
female halls from having them is just
the numbers of people that were
participating.
“Any female hall that can have the
numbers turn out that would show
that they could turn out a certain
percentage of their hall, there would
obviously be a need there to have an
other leadership position created for
those people, and one would be
placed there,” Kibbler continued.
“Thus far we’ve been unable to have
a female hall that has been able to
consistently turn out those numbers,
so they are assigned to an existing
yellowpot from one of the other
halls, and the women work as inte
grated teams with the male hall resi
dents.”
When Gilliland was asked why she
goes out to work on bonfire, she said
it is for the same reason other A&M
students do — “Because I’m an Ag
gie.”
Vandals mar UT
with A&M logo
University of Texas officials
say damage done to buildings,
fountain, Memorial Stadium
By Melissa Naumann
Of The Battalion Staff
The Texas A&M logo was spray-
painted Wednesday night on build
ings, a fountain and the Memorial
Stadium playing field at the Univer
sity of Texas, UT officials said
Thursday.
Jerry Decamp, associate vice pres
ident for business affairs at UT, said
that the logo was painted in red and
that all of it except what was on the
playing field had been cleaned up.
Because it was done at night, they
don’t know who did it, Decamp said.
Dr. James Vick, vice president of
Student Affairs at UT, said the van
dalism was serious with the most
damage done to the- articial turf,
which was purchased this semester.
“No one is blaming this on A&M
or on the student body there,” Vick
said. “It was probably just some peo
ple who don’t understand what the
spirit of competition is.”
Bob Wiatt, director of security of
the A&M University Police Depart
ment, said the UT police had con
tacted him and that inquiries are be
ing made to determine if A&M
students were involved. UPD will
help the UT police with any investi
gation, Wiatt said.
Little Field Fountain, three loca
tions on the Main Building, Hogg
Memorial Auditorium, Student
Services Building, the alumni center
and Memorial Stadium were vandal
ized.
“It’s vandalism rather than fun,”
Vick said. “It’s going beyond the
level of fun.”
TEAM encourages
responsible drinking
at A&M-UT game
surrounding neighborhood will be
closed to all but residential traffic
from 6 p.m. to midnight.
Jersey Street will be closed from
Timber Street to Dexter Street (and
from the corresponding Bizzell
Street to Coke Street on campus)
from 6:45 p.m. to 11 p.m. Traffic
will, however, be permitted to exit
campus via Throckmorton Street
(the west lanes of the divided road
adjacent to the bonfire site) and turn
right onto the open portion of Jersey
Street.
Lewis Street north of the bonfire
will be closed to all but essential traf
fic and service vehicles for much of
Friday and Houston Street will be
closed to all traffic beginning in the
early evening hours.
University-owned buses will run
their regular routes from 6 p.m. to
11 p.m. Friday, including those op
erating from J.C. Penney at Post
Oak Mall and Wal-Mart in College
Station. Students and their guests
may ride these buses to campus free
of charge. There w'ill be no bus serv
ice from west campus parking lots to
the main campus, however.
Transportation to the campus also
will be provided by the Brazos Valley
Transit Authority, which will run
buses to the site from 16 area hotels,
the Brazos Center and the South
west Athletic Complex. Buses will
leave these sites at 6 p.m. and return
to their starting points following the
yell practice.
Parking will be available in most
University parking lots, but standard
Texas A&M parking restrictions will
apply.
By Melissa Naumann
Of The Battalion Staff
This time beer and barbecue
won’t go together.
At the University of Texas foot
ball game tomorrow and as part of
the move to decrease alcohol con
sumption at traditional Texas A&M
events, spectators will be encouraged
not to drink or, if they must, not to
drive.
Techniques for Effective Alcohol
Management, or TEAM, is a pro
gram funded by the Texas Depart
ment of Highways and Public Trans
portation and eLdorsed by the
Southwest Athletic Conference to
decrease the violence, disorderly
conduct and driving danger that re
sult from heavy drinking during
football games.
Eli Rodriguez, SWC TEAM Pro
ject manager, said this is the first
^ ram of its kind at the university
. Even though most universities
do not sell alcohol at sporting events,
spectators frequently drink excessi
vely before coming to the game or
they smuggle it in, he said.
The results of this can be intoxi
cated minors, fights in the stands
and accidents before and after the
game as well as increased liability
and insurance costs, lawsuits and
complaints from other fans, Rodri
guez said. TEAM is trying to avoid
all of these.
Lynann Moses, a graduate assis
tant at the Texas A&M Center for
Drug Prevention and Education and
a member of the Bonfire Alcohol
Awareness Committee, said it’s easy
for people to bring alcohol into Kyle
Field, especially when it’s cold and
they can wear bigjackets.
“People always smuggle it in and
buy Cokes to mix with the hard liqu
or,” Moses said.
Moses said TEAM is supporting
the efforts to cut back on the alcohol
consumption at bonfire by making
radio announcements and donating
keychains, buttons, cups and stickers
that are being distributed at a table
in the MSC.
Rodriguez said that, as part of the
TEAM effort, various announce
ments will be made at the football
game between A&M and the Univer
sity of Texas tomorrow encouraging
people to be careful when drinking.
“Basically the idea is that we ap-
E reciate you as fans, we want you to
e responsible,” he said.
He said that while TEAM will
train parking attendants, concession
stand workers and ticket takers to
H
le said that while TEAM
will train parking
attendants, concession
stand workers and ticket
takers to recognize when
people have been drinking,
the primary emphasis will
be educational.
recognize when people have been
drinking, the primary emphasis will
be educational. Brochures, pins and
posters will be distributed with one
message: Think before you drink.
A&M Coach R.C. Slocum and other
SWC coaches have made posters and
a videotape encouraging spectators
to be careful.
Rodriguez said this type of pro
gram started in 1985 in professional
sports stadiums when stadium own
ers noticed increased problems with
fans, partly due to alcoholic sales
and consumption. Once the TEAM
program was initiated, the owners
noticed a dramatic decrease in these
problems, he said. .
Moses said TEAM is used only at
football games so far.
“I’m sure alcohol is used at base
ball and basketball games but it’s
more obvious at football games,” she
said.