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The Battalion
Page 3A • Friday, May 2, 2003
A memory in progress
More than three years after Bonfire’s collapse, sculptors and architects continue to create a memorial
Miranda Adams
Three years
fter the 1999
,ggie Bonfire
dllapse shook
:he University,
ifforts are
reing made to
ray tribute to
he memory of
the 12 Aggies
ADAMS
free
n
i
111
it
st* * A«fcM
bridge
HEARD
WEST
Nathan Scott
West, "Scott,"
had wanted to
attend Texas
since he
was in junior
school.
West,
ath a n ' s
father, said
chose A&M because that's
where his friends wanted to go.
West's future at A&M was cut
short, however, when he was
in the 1999 Aggie Bonfire
Collapse.
Richard West has seen plans for
the Bonfire memorial because he
served on the jury that chose the
design. He said he is pleased with
the plans chosen and believes
that the memorial will be a fitting
ibute to the 12 Aggies who lost
See West on page 8A
Lucas Kimmel
Lucas
Kimmel loved
everyth i n g
about Texas
His high
school friend,
lames Winton,
now a senior
fology major,
said, "Lucas
boked forward
to being in the Corps, Bonfire and
his Aggie Ring."
Lucas was killed just a few
months into his freshman year in
the 1999 Aggie Bonfire Collapse
never get to experience
these things.
Lucas was a biomedical sci
ences major, a member of
Company D-2 in the Corps of
Cadets and a recipient of a ROTC
scholarship. Winton said even dur-
high school in their home
town of Corpus Christi, Lucas
always spoke about going to
KIMMEL
See Kimmel on page 4A
By Kendra Kingsley
THE BATTALION
be immortal-
zed through different monu
ments and tablets in their honor.
Miranda Adams was only a jun-
nority Leader Tos ™ * Te f, as A&M when the
Bonfire collapse ended her life.
She was survived by family mem
bers including her older brother
„ , . Mark Adams, who is a senior aeri-
5 mall businesses# cu | tura | deygiopment
■ room for the r
sal.
deeply disturbed
the Republican leak
willing to sacrii
the child tax
our working familie
m for president’s!'
redit proposal,”
fords, I-Vt.
major.
Adams recently got the chance to
see the plans and blueprints for
See Adams on page 4A
Christopher Heard
With aspirations of becoming a
lavy Seal commando like his
ither, Christopher Heard joined
Corps of Cadets Company K-2 at
Texas A&M in 1999 but was killed
in the Nov. 18 Bonfire collapse his
freshman year.
This year, Christopher would
have been a senior and eligible to
in as a Marine in the summer
2003, according to the Aggie
Daily,
"He was a
Marine in every
sense of the
«d," said
Col Jim
irteleben, a
pal science
professo r,
according to
the Aggie Daily.
Sachteleben
requested that Heard be named
an "Honorary Marine." The title
See Heard on page 4A
Nathan Scott West
BULVERDE, Texas — Nestled in the Texas
hill country, Erik Christianson’s studio has
become an integral part of an Aggie tradition. In
this tiny town, his garage-tumed-studio houses
photos, biographies and clay sculptures of the 12
1999 Aggie Bonfire victims. Commissioned to
sculpt bio-portraits — sculpted portraits of each
student — Christianson spends his days and
nights carefully breathing life into once un
formed clumps of clay.
“I want to capture those students’ true charac
ter in my work,” he said. “Having photos (of the
students) is always really important, but knowing
their personalities always helps with adding
expression to the bio-portrait. Each one of the stu
dents has his own little spark, and I’m trying to
put that in there.”
Christianson said he first became interested in
sculpture as a 14-year-old living in Hawaii. While
there, he met a University of Hawaii professor
who practiced the Hari Krishna religion.
“(The sculptor) was always welding, sculpting
and buffing models of his gods” Christianson
said. “I became very interested in what he was
doing, and he saw that I had a knack for recog
nizing proportions.”
More than 20 years later, Christianson became
a part of Texas A&M history when he was com
missioned by the University to sculpt bio-portraits
of the 12 Bonfire victims. The bio-portraits,
which will be cast in bronze and feature the like
ness of each student killed in the Nov. 18, 1999
Bonfire Collapse, are the only handmade ele
ments of the Bonfire Memorial.
Because of the intense detail involved with
each bio-portrait, Christianson said he must see at
least seven photographs of each student before he
begins to sculpt. The victims’ parents are also
consulted when Christianson makes final changes
to the bio-portraits.
“When families come to look (at the bio-por-
traits), they immediately look into theif son or
daughter’s eyes and try to determine what needs
to be changed,” he said. “Some people have a
good eye for detail, and some will say T don’t
know what it is. but something’s off.’”
When Richard West’s family first saw his son
Scott’s bio-portrait, his daughter immediately pin
pointed minor differences between her brother
and the clay image. Christianson. West said, was
more than willing to correct the sculpture.
“He’s an excellent artist and I think he’s doing
his best to recreate the portraits that the families
have given him,” West said. “He’s doing a very
accurate job, from what I can tell.”
Christianson said he expected strong reactions
when family members saw the bio-portraits for
the first time, but has been impressed with the
strength all, so far. have shown.
Richard West said he was satisfied with his
son’s bio-portrait from the moment he saw it.
“(The bio-portrait) was what we expected,” he
said. “We’d already seen one before we went and
looked at ours, and Erik knew what we wanted
before he ever started on it.”
For Christianson, such a reaction is its own
reward.
“My ultimate goal is to make families happy
with the bio-portraits,” he said. “If the family
doesn’t like the bio-portrait. I’ll start from scratch
and do it all over again.”
Christianson said that because he researches
each student before working on their bio-portrait
— a process which takes an average of 15 days —
the project has become a more intimate endeavor.
“Each individual you do makes the project
very personal,” he said. “I love doing the artwork
and 1 feel like I almost know each of the kids, but
I wish I had been able to meet them under differ
ent circumstances.”
While he has created well-known sculptures,
such as the life-size sculpture of.Juan Seguin in
Seguin, Texas’ Central Park. Christianson said his
current project has affected him in a way other
projects have not.
See Memorial on page 7A
JOHN C. LIVAS • THE BATTALION
Sculptor Erik Christianson said studying photographs and drawing preliminary sketches of Miranda Adams helped him capture ‘‘the essence
of her big smile and warm personality” when sculpting her bio-portrait.
Chad Powell
As a sopho
more in Dr.
Jeff Morgan's
honors calcu
lus class,
Chad Powell
did not go
unnoticed.
"He was a
super guy, very well-liked by
his classmates," Morgan said.
"1 was teaching a very sharp
group, and Chad was one of
the top kids."
The class met five times a
week and cultivated several
close friendships.When Bonfire
fell, Morgan said, the class-
Jeremy Frampton
POWELL
Jerry Don Self
Although it
has been three
years since the
Bonfire
that
Jerry
Aggie
Collapse,
made
Don Self, a jun
ior engineering
major, one of
its 12 victims,
SELF
See Powell on page 7A
friends and family believe his
memory is still alive.
Self's tribute Web site,
http://www.lamarvikings.com/tr
ibute, has been a means for
friends, family and peers to
share their thoughts and feel
ings about his loss. One tribute
See Self on page 4A
Jeremy
Frampton
was a senior
at Texas A&M
when he lost
his life in the
1999 Aggie
Bonfire
Collapse.
FRAMPTON
Jeremy's father, Richard
Frampton, said he looks for
ward to writing about his son
for the memorial because he
has so many things he wants
to say he doesn't know if it will
all fit.
Frampton went to San
Bryan McClain
An agricul
ture major
from San
Antonio,
Texas, Bryan
McClain had
seen the
1998 Bonfire
burn. The fol
lowing year,
MCCLAIN
See Frampton on page 7A
he became part of Texas A&M's
history when he was killed in
the 1999 Aggie Bonfire
Collapse.
McClain, who attended
James Madison high school
and had been on the swim
team, was a member of
See McClain on page 8A
FRANKS
Michael Ebanks
When Sara
Thornton met
Michael
Ebanks in the
M S C
Flagroom, she
did not know
how much her
life would be
changed.
'The day before Bonfire fell, I
was studying in the MSC, and I
noticed this guy who was playing
the piano," said Thornton, an
urban planning graduate stu
dent. "I started talking to him,
and I found out that he loved
Bonfire. It was pretty much his
life that semester."
When Bonfire collapsed the
following night, Thornton said
See Ebanks on page 4A
Christopher Breen
Christopher
Breen, the
youngest of
seven sib
lings, was the
first in his
family to
attend Texas
A&M. His
brothers and
sisters had all attended The
University of Texas, but Breen
broke out of the family mold by
attending A&M and joining the
Corps of Cadets.
A former Bonfire brown pot
and 1996 graduate, Breen
returned to A&M in 1999 to
help build Bonfire. Early on the
morning of November 18, 1999,
his family received the call that
BREEN
See Breen on page 8A
Tim Kerlee
When Tim
Kerlee Jr.
packed his
bags and left
Bartlett, Tenn.,
to join the
Aggie com
munity, he
soon became
part of In the
aftermath of
losing their son in the Bonfire
collapse, Tim Sr. and Janice
Kerlee left Tennessee to live in
College Station and become
closer to the community where
their son spent his finals days.
Janice Kerlee said she is
pleased with the Bonfire
Memorial's progress.
"I think (Overland
KERLEE
HAND
See Kerlee on page 4A
Jamie Hand
Jamie Hand
came to A&M
because it
was " a fami
ly thing," her
sister Kristen
said.
"Our oldest
sister also
went here,
and she
always talked about it," Hand
said. "I guess that is why Jamie
wanted to come here, too."
Hand has seen the plans for
the Bonfire Memorial and she
said that it would honor Jamie
and fulfill its purpose.
"I saw a sample, and it is
going to do what it was made
to do," Hand said. "But it can't
tell a life story."
Hand said that although it
was a hard situation, there is
always something good to be
found in the bad. Kristen met
one of the redpots through the
1999 Aggie Bonfire Collapse,
and now they are engaged.
"I might not have met him if
not for what happened," Hand
said. "He is my soulmate."
-Sarah Darr