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ATTALION
■Volume 109 • Issue 57 • 12 pages
www.thebatt.com
Monday, November 18, 2002
Ceremony
helps families
say good-bye
The spirit of
ALISSA HOLLIMON • THE BATTALION
Above: The Ross Volunteers stand in a circle on the Polo Fields on Sunday around
representatives holding wreaths in honor of the 12 victims of the Bonfire collapse.
Right: Corps of Cadets Squadron 16 members stand with Janice and Tim Kerlee
Sr. at the memorial tree for their son, Tim Kerlee Jr. Below right: Senior poultry sci
ence major Bowen Shepard stands at attention as Kevin James, a freshman busi
ness major, plays "Amazing Grace" on the bagpipes while families stand by.
Students cannot decide what
should be next for tradition
By Roland
THE BATI
When Richard West attended a
father-son Bonfire cut event with his
son Scott, West said he was impressed
by the camaraderie and bonding of the
Aggie family. Weeks later, Scott was
one of the 12 Aggies killed in the Nov.
18, 1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse.
Three years after the accident.
West says it is that Aggie cama
raderie that helps his family through
the grieving process.
“There’s always a bit of sadness
this time of year, but this (remem
brance) service helps you get through
it, and reminds you you’re part of this
big Aggie family,” West said.
West joined the families of nine
other Bonfire victims at a low-key
memorial ceremony Sunday evening at
the Polo Fields to mark the third
anniversary of the Bonfire collapse.
“When you lose a child like that,
you want to know their life had mean
ing,” West said. “In talking to his
Corps buddies, we’ve realized what an
impact (Scott) had on people’s lives.”
The Corps of Cadets and hundreds
of students and on-lookers watched in
silence as friends and family of the
Bonfire victims walked in a procession
from the Williams Administration
Building to the Polo Fields. The Bonfire
families laid a wreath for each of the 12
Aggies who died, and then “Amazing
Grace’’’ was played on the bagpipes.
A&M President Dr. Robert M.
Gates said the short, solemn ceremony
was an appropriate way to mark the
anniversary of the collapse. Some
Bonfire families criticized the
University last year for not scheduling
any remembrance ceremony. Gates,
who took office in August, said there
was consensus among campus leaders
and Bonfire families that the anniver
sary should never again go unmarked.
“We want an observance every year,
and to make it a permanent part of the
University’s life,” Gates said.
Student Body President Zac
Coventry said the remembrance cere
mony was intended to bring all Aggies
together, including students who had
never seen or worked on Bonfire.
“Even younger students who were
not here when it happened have a sense
of what Bonfire meant,” said Coventry,
a senior agricultural development
major.
The wreaths were arranged in a
large circle, and the Ross Volunteers,
an honor guard outfit within the Corps,
were posted on the perimeter.
Before walking to the Polo Fields,
See Ceremony on page 2
By Sarah Walch
THE BATTALION
Three years after the 1999 Aggie
Bonfire collapse, students are still divided
on how central Bonfire was to maintain
ing unity at Texas A&M.
Students from off campus, on campus
and the Corps of Cadets expressed differ
ent views about what Bonfire meant to
the A&M community and what A&M
means now without Bonfire. But students
agreed that Bonfire’s suspension has had
an enormous impact on the community of
A&M.
After a year-long process seeking to
reinstate the annual Thanksgiving fire for
this fall, in February, then-University
President Dr. Ray M. Bowen announced
that Bonfire would not burn again, saying
the stakes were too high. Twelve Aggies
were killed and 27 injured when the 60-
foot-high stack swayed and fell at 2:42
a.m. on Nov. 18, 1999.
Bowen said students should face the
inevitable and focus their energies on cre
ating a new tradition that replicates the
camaraderie of Bonfire but does not entail
the danger and expense.
The fate of Bonfire is now in the hands
of University President Dr. Robert M.
Gates, who has made no indication of his
thoughts about what will happen with
Bonfire since his term began Aug. 1.
John Parrish, a senior civil engineering
major and member of the Corps’
Squadron 17, said his group was one of
the the most active units during the build
ing of Bonfire in 1999. The group was
awarded Center Pole, the most presti
gious of the logs, for their efforts at the
site around the clock.
“Bonfire is something that all the other
traditions were built around,” Parrish said.
“Not everyone understood Bonfire, but
they respected it.”
When the unique bonding experience
of working together for a common cause
is taken from students, it can’t be
replaced, Parrish said.
Student Body President and senior
agricultural development major Zac
Coventry said Bonfire was a unifying
experience for some, but didn’t include
all Aggies.
“I never saw an international student
in all the time I worked on Bonfire,” he
said.
That’s something the International
Student Association is seeking to
change if Bonfire is brought back to
campus, said Molina Warty, the organi
zation's president and a senior econom
ics major. Ninety percent of interna
tional students are graduate students
who are here for two years, don’t live
on campus and don’t have much of a
chance to get involved, Warty said.
“They don’t really feel involved in
campus activities,” she said. “It takes a
lot to reach out to everyone, but that is
one of our goals, to get more interna
tional students involved.”
See Bonfire on page 6
twelve
A&M vies for homeland
security research facility
By Rob Phillips
THE BATTALION
A U.S. Senate vote next week could
decide whether Texas A&M will become
the first national center for homeland
security, said A&M Vice President for
Research Dr. Richard E. Ewing during his
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TRAVIS SWENSON • THE BATTALION
status report on research initiatives Friday.
“We really do have the inside track of
being the first and initial national center
for homeland security,” Ewing said to an
audience at Langford Architecture Center
during his keynote address for the
College of Architecture’s fourth annual
faculty symposium.
U.S. Representatives Joe Barton, Tom
DeLay and Kevin Brady recently added
wording to the Homeland Security Act of
2002 that would establish university-based
homeland security centers, Ewing said.
“The new wording says there should
be at least one university-based center
that would guide research and develop
ment in this area,” he said.
Ewing hopes A&M’s newly estab
lished Integrated Center for Homeland
Security will get the University appoint
ed as a national center if the new wording
is accepted by the Senate early next
week. The House of Representatives
passed the new version last Wednesday,
he said.
In May, the A&M System Board of
Regents created the Integrated System
for Homeland Security in response to
See Research on page 2
Chao: U.S. must revamp worker training
By Rolando Garcia
THE BATTALION
With too many
skilled jobs and not
enough trained
workers to fill
them, it is impera
tive that America
revitalize its work
force training pro
grams, U.S. CHAO
Secretary of Labor
Elaine Chao said Friday in a speech
at Texas A&M.
Chao, speaking at the George
Bush Presidential Conference Center,
said the business community, schools
and the non-profit sector must collab
orate to match workers’ skills with
jobs that are available.
“The government can’t do it
alone,” Chao said. “Employers know
where the jobs are and what skills
are needed, and we need to enlist
their help.”
She stressed the importance of
volunteerism, saying non-profit
organizations play a critical role in
tutoring and mentoring those who
need to learn new job skills. Chao,
who served as director of Peace
Coips under former President George
Bush, said she sent the first Peace
Corps volunteers into the former
Soviet republics to assist in education
and training efforts.
“We saw first hand the transform
ing power of free enterprise and vol
unteerism,” she said.
Since the September 2001 terrorist
attacks, applications for Peace Corps
and AmeriCorps have increased dra
matically, Chao said.
The department of labor spends $ 12
billion annually on workforce training
for the unemployed she said, including
1,800 local career centers that assist
with resume writing, job interviewing
and other skills. Chao said she plans to
link these centers closer to the local
business community. She said schools
will also play a key role in closing the
skills gap.
Over the past decade, public
schools have emphasized preparing all
students to go to college and have neg
lected vocational programs, Chao said.
High schools should partner with
community colleges and local busi
nesses to offer certification programs
that will equip students with mar
ketable skills once they graduate, she
said.
During a question and answer
period, Chao addressed the looming
strike among longshoremen in ports
on the West Coast. With more than 40
percent of America’s international
trade passing through the western
ports, a strike by the 10,500 long
shoremen would deal a temporary
blow to the U.S. economy, she said.
The ports were shut down for 12
days during the summer, causing
more than $1 billion in economic
losses each day, Chao said.
Agricultural produce was rotting on
the docks and auto manufacturers
started laying off workers as parts
were not delivered. On Chao’s recom
mendation, President Bush invoked a
rarely used authority to end the strike
and order the ports re-opened. Chao
said Bush’s order expires Dec. 27, and
said she was not optimistic that the
workers and port management would
reach an agreement.
Chao criticized labor union lead
ers in general for not representing
rank-and-file members.
“(Labor unions) are an apparatus of
the Democrat party, and its important
for union leaders to understand at least
one-third of their members are
Republican,” she said. “I exhort union
leaders to fairly represent their
See Chao on page 2