Bonfire Memorial Special Section
The Battalion
Explaining a tragedy
By Stuart Hutson
The Battalion
When axes should be swinging,
they lie still. When Saturday morn
ings should be filled with wake-up
calls for cut, they are silent. When
work gloves should be molding
steel and wood into the grandest
monument to tradition, spirit and
pride, they remain unworn.
This is the time of year when
thousands of freshmen typically
would be led by upperclassmen in the con
struction of what many would call their great
est achievement during their college careers,
second only to graduation.
But now, the time when these students
would have been involved with cut, load and
stack, they are left without the tradition.
“I would like to build to do load and to go
to cut ... but 1 can’t,” said Jon McKinnis, a
freshman general studies major. “All my life, 1
have heard stories from my family who went
here before me, and I have watched Bonfire
burn in the past. From what I can understand
it was almost the most important tradition at
the University, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get
to really be a part of it.”
McKinnis, a resident in Walton Hall, said
while his dorm continues with many of the
activities that accompanied Bonfire, such as
watching games together on Saturdays and
eating out in groups of 40 or more, there still
seems to be an element of unity and excite
FILE PHOTO/Thf. Battalion
Freshmen search for their role in the aftermath of
the 1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse and seek class unity
ment missing.
Lou Ramos, a freshman biomedical science
major, said she recalls visiting a friend in the
FHK Complex and being enthralled by the
level of spirit and camaraderie of those who
worked together on Bonfire.
“I feel gypped” she said. “Coming here, I
knew that there wouldn’t be a Bonfire, but I
still hoped that the togetherness would be even
more intensified. That isn’t how it is; there
isn’t anything to unite us.
“I am jealous. I see the togetherness of
the Bonfire group from last year and how
much they share. Now, I am close to about
five people, and the rest of the people in the
dorm are strangers. It wouldn’t have been
that way a year ago.”
Steve Stobel, a junior electrical engineer
ing major in Walton Hall, said a lack of a
sense of camaraderie is noticeable within the
freshman class.
“It just seems like everyone is just not as
tight as they use to be,” he said. “Walton is
holding together pretty well, but things seem
to be going downhill since All-U night (the
first official yell practice). ... Maybe people
have started to think that since there is no
Bonfire, there is no real point to a lot of the
stuff we do.” - v ~ — „ .
To supplement the normal activity of a^g^t §A« tradition, and tt feels like
Bonfire, many campus residence halls have was a sighted.
are labor-intensive so that the group
can really get the feeling of accom
plishment and that a goal was
achieved. Working hard together
toward a goal is a big part of that
unity that people are missing.”
Lechner, FHK and other resi
dence halls have been participating
in projects such as Habitat for
Humanity.
“Going out (to Habitat for
Humanity) was such an awesome
experience because it is a group of
people with a set purpose,” said Jonathan
Brewer, a freshman mechanical engineering
major in Lechner Hall. “Bonfire was on such
a wider scale, but I can only imagine that. It’s
a shame I’ll never get to see what that was
like. I_am. disagpoint^dlhatl will never know
attempted to boost participation at other
functions.
“We have had to work harder to find other
activities so that the freshmen can be involved *
and can still form together as a group,” said
Brett Owens, a Lechner Hall sophomore
adviser and a biomedical science and political
science major. “I think as far as Aggie spirit,
we are keeping a hold on it. But that is only
because we are working for it, and not just
rolling over and accepting a loss.
“But it can be hard to find things that really
supplement. It is important to find things that
Ramos said she fears that the gap in unity
will continue to grow.
“I! is no one’s fault,” she said. “No one has
had to come up with things to make up for
Bonfire before, but we still have to move on.
Bonfire was a part of this University, but it
wasn’t all of it.
“I am nervous about the future. What will
we teach our fish when we are upperclassmen 1 ?
What will they teach theirs? We need to find
something that not just a class, not just a dorm,
but the entire University can work for and take
pride in —just like we did with Bonfire.”
Family
Continued from Page 3
r
l •Self father
ru
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Michael'SeZ father of Jerry Self,
said some people cannot understand
why his family is not suing A&M
over the death of his son.
“It’s as they say — from the
inside, looking out, you can't
explain it. From the outside look
ing in, you can’t understand it,”
he said.
Self said he likes to talk about
his son, and it helps him to talk
about the accident. He said that
when he feels down, he goes to the
cemetery or looks at Jerry’s Web
site. And other times, he' will start
whistling the “Aggie War Hymn.”
Self said that, in today’s
world, he is glad there is a place
like A&M. To him, Aggie tradi
tion is special, and his son lost his
life doing something he loved.
Self said he wanted Jerry to
be remembered as a good Aggie
and a strong Christian. Self said
Jerry loved his school, his
church and his fajfijly.
athan
Scott W est
and his farrjl
JW
Richard West, father of Nathan
Scott West, said his son wanted to
come to A&M for many years.
Scott, as he was called, got
involved in Bonfire as a freshman
in the Corps.
West said he has been back to
A&M after the accident to go to
orientation and football games
and to visit his and Scott’s
friends.
“We get by mostly through our
faith,” West said. “We have a
really strong faith; our church has
helped us a lot. However, the per
spective is not far enough out — a
year is not that long.”
West said he has seen a lot of
people pull together through
Bonfire when they otherwise
would not. He said he has seen a
lot of young people mature and
grow, and he has seen people
renew their faith.
“Scott should be remembered as
an exuberant Christian young man
-who put himself into everything he
did — whether it was the Corps of
Cadets or Bonfire,” West said.
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