Burning Question: More Fires?

At tradition-rich Texas A&M University, there is no such thing as a "former" Aggie. School spirit and a sense of history run so deep that even the dog mascots have their own cemetery.

Among the oldest and most popular traditions is the bonfire that has lit up the campus almost every fall since 1909.

After the tower of logs being readied for this year's fire collapsed Thursday, killing 11 students, university President Dr. Ray Bowen canceled this year's event.

It was only the second cancellation in history. The first was after President Kennedy's assassination in 1963.

The question soon spread across campus: Would the tradition continue?

"You know they died to build it," said Kay Barrington, a 21-year-old senior. "They wouldn't want it to just get put away. They'd want it to burn."

The yearly bonfire is the work of the so-called "pots," named for the hardhats each student-builder emblazons with nicknames, symbols and favorite slogans. The complicated hierarchy of the pots is arranged in the fashion of a family.

Each year, the pots thrash through the forest, fell lumber and pour sleepless nights into building the structure. Their work culminates in the lighting of the bonfire before Texas A&M's football game with archrival Texas.

"We tease about it being a sort of a cult," said Donna Broach, whose 20-year-old son Josh, a pot, was standing atop a crane when the logs toppled. "But traditions here - well they're just huge."

Among its proud traditions is Muster, a ceremony celebrated in more than 400 places around the world each April 21 since 1883. Begun as a way for students to get together and relive their college days, the candle-lighting ceremony has evolved into an event to honor all students, including those who have died. It also commemorates Texas' freedom.

Another tradition, Yell Practice, which dates to 1913, helps students perfect their school spirit for football games or other events. Students gather at midnight at Kyle Field to practice their yells.

And then there is the university's mascot, Reveille, a female collie attended to personally by a member of the Corps of Cadets.

Each mascot receives a military-style funeral attended by thousands. Previous Reveilles once were buried at the north end of Kyle Field facing the scoreboard, as if to watch the Aggie team score. Their remains were moved in 1997 to a new resting place because of construction at the stadium.

In 1997, the bonfire was ranked as one of the 10 greatest college football traditions by Athlon Sports magazine, a Nashville-based publication.

"These traditions are part of the campus experience. I think it's going to mar the tradition. Any tragedy like this puts a clear perspective on college football in general," said Charlie Miller, the magazine's managing editor. "Every Saturday we see college students distraught because their teams lose. An event like this renders the gam meaningless."

Thursday's calamity had some students calling for the bonfire to be permanently extinguished.

"It seems like this is the last straw," said 23-year-old Karyn Bayha, a 1999 graduate who left work Thursday to watch the rescue. "Personally it would be hard for me to see the bonfire carried on after this."

But pots who saw the stacks of logs tumble were some of the most vehement defenders of the bonfire.

Beau Brunson stayed up all night and into the afternoon to help look for his trapped fellow students. Dusty and red-eyed, Brunson paused from his afternoon labor of hauling logs from the wreckage.

Asked whether the university should put an end to the yearly bonfire, Brunson was adamant.

"Absolutely not because people gave their lives for it," he said. "If we don't burn it, they died for nothing."