mber25 A & M University 1 '■ :d ! - ■ r $$63 cut TODAY TOMORROW See extended forecast. Page 2. iys of a;»« )4TH YEAR • ISSUE 63 • 10 PACES \nibia wast COLLEGE STATION • TX WEDNESDAY • NOVEMBER 26 • 1997 a little pacewalk Poi had p on op| 997 Fightin' Texas Aggie 1 spanning pet secure v:.' |ir bodieslt llllBiil Wm being sir. §f m tfh M satelliti few Colwr Hh spacec mhatl?, led the shii pe satellite talkers, later, Scon fon is perfi ! between! f-hourlai p\'ere wait; and builds Bonfire outhouse roll intoi Bonfire set to burn Thursday By Rachel Dawley outside so it will sit on centerpole.” be capttw By Karie Fehler “Spectators shouldn’t stand right in front Any sophomore can help in the out­ 5-foot cu Staff writer Staff writer of the platform on the north end because that tmetertei house construction, but only the six sopho­ is where the band will be,” he said. “I would |ngfroni The words “Austin: Population 2000”, “t.u. more band leaders and the Bonfire redpots The Fightin’ Texas Aggie Bonfire, a glowing also tell eveiyone to get there around 7 p.m. to be til (house” and “Fightin Texas Aggie Bonfire” are allowed inside. symbol of Texas A&M students’ “burning de­ There’s going to be a lot of people, and it’s best lited soa­ catch fire on the outhouse as Bonfire is Jim Lockard, executive officer of A Bat­ sire to beat the hell outta t.u.,” will burn on the to beat the crowd.” rs. lited Thanksgiving night. tery in the band and a senior management Texas A&M polo fields Thursday at 8:20 p.m. Gallemore said this year’s Bonfire ran I happem Each year, an 8-foot tall outhouse, sym- major, said the group of sophomores mea­ The outhouse, or “t.u. tea room”, will be smoothly despite the profanities on pots and to iVanfJHc °fa “t.u. frat house or tea sippin’ room” sure centerpole and fit the outhouse placed on stack at noon Thursday, and Dunn Hall’s suspension for hiring a stripper to | satop the stack of logs. around it. Many hours are spent construct­ spectators are expected to begin arriv­ perform at cut site. Gallemore also said the |0f t|ietf. Sophomores in the Aggie Band are given ing the outhouse, he said. ing around 7 p.m. number of injuries at cut site decreased this year. responsibility of the outhouse construc- “The outhouse is basically the same The Aggie Band and the yell leaders “The students in leadership positions have brfecttjjifn. Bonfire leadership plans to raise the every year,” Lockard said. “It is passed will step off from the Quadrangle at 7:30 really stepped up and taken action,” he said. down to the class from the year be­ ngth; PMS 'l*101156 Thursday. its p.m. to march to Bonfire site. Yell prac­ “Student leadership awareness has increased Clay Kennedy, commander of the Aggie fore. Workers spend every weekend tice will begin after the stack is lit. ten-fold in comparison with last year.” indand a senior political science and in- and two or three nights a week Coach R.C. Slocum and selected foot­ Douglas Williams, associate director of rnational studies major, said the outhouse constructing it.” ball players will speak during the yell Parking, Traffic and Transportation Services, the Aggie Band’s contribution to Bonfire. practice at the north end of the fields. said several streets will be closed to accom­ their busy fall schedules, band mem- Please see Outhouse It is also tradition for the se­ modate traffic. irsdo not get an opportunity to participate ll slowly on Page 6. nior yell leader to recite the “More people show up than we can han­ the tradition, Kennedy said. poem “The Last Corps Trip” at dle, so we close Bizzell Street at 6 p.m., Polo | will then "The outhouse is something that the |g|p|\ the yell practice. Street all day, and we cut New Main down to , rotating and has always done,” Kennedy said. “We Ime rale John Gallemore, Head one lane on campus,” he said. “Buses will also 1 satellite eso busy during the fall with games that Stack and a senior agricul­ run from West Campus to Fish Pond to help edon’t have a lot of time for cut and stack, tural business major, out parking problems.” lie outhouse is a way the band can con- said the east, west Williams said that since Bonfire is on the ibute to Bonfire.” r ' ' and south ends Thanksgiving holiday, all parking lots will be The outhouse is painted orange and fea- of the polo fields available for parking. ires the sophomore class number as the will be the best “People have to be careful because the opulation on the Austin city limits sign. places to view game is the next morning at 10 a.m.,” he said. Four sophomore band members are Bonfire. “Many of the lots are reserved for bsen as outhouse corporals and two parking on football game days, and it would­ lembers as assistants corporals. The six n’t be a very nice early Christmas present to dets supervise the construction of the find your car towed because you left it in the ilhouse during the year. The sophomores | wrong lot overnight.” epn constructions around the time Bon- Bob Wiatt, director of the University Police tis started and work on weekends and department, said a zero tolerance policy will ights until its completion, be enforced for alcoholic beverages at Bonfire, lody Schaap, an outhouse corporal and and patrolmen will be watching the parking sophomore biology major, said the out- lots for suspicious activity or misconduct. ouse is important to the band because it “We will tolerate absolutely no booze at bay the major contribution to the tradition all, and we are taking a very proactive stance iBonfire. on conserving the family-type atmosphere,” “It is neat to be part of the tradition he said. “We will be very security conscious tbonfire,” Schaap said. “There is to make sure good family enjoyment of Bon­ nly one Bonfire and only a few fire can continue.” eople are given the chance to Wiatt said the UPD has cracked down on al­ wild the outhouse.” cohol at Bonfire in the past seven years, The tradition of the outhouse and the problem has decreased. Police ins parallel to that of Bonfire. In officers will walk through the crowd on ledays when the effigy was made foot, horseback and on bicycles. Offi­ scrap wood, Aggies stole area cers also will watch campus parking uthouses to burn. Until the early f: lots from rooftops to discourage drink­ 360s, a stolen outhouse would al­ ing before walking to Bonfire. lays top the stack. “We’ll be securing the perimeter The band built the first out- of the site and watching for booze— ouse in 1962. anyone caught that is over age will Schaap said the outhouse is have to pour it out, and all minors mique because of the frame- will be cited for Minor in Posses­ fork. sion,” Wiatt said. “We’ll be very “We build it sturdy,” Schaap busy and hope to preserve the aid. “All the framework is on the positive atmosphere of Bonfire.”

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Tradition stacks up with Bonfire Rivalry heats up as game nears y achel awley Shane Dronett, former defensive “Varsity,” beat the Aggies, 38-0. By Colleen Kavanagh Henry C. Dethloft, a Texas A&M scraps and other “acquired materi­ B R D end for UT once said, “This is what col­ The next game was in 1898, with Staff writer history professor, Bonfire, built to als.” A favorite thing to add was "un­ Staff writer rouse enthusiasm for the game tended, unwatched and hopefully lege football is all about — two teams UT winning again 48-0. The game Although the Fightin’ Texas Aggie against the University of Texas, unoccupied outhouses.” vs. Bevo. Maroon vs. Or­ that hate each other.” became a tradition and fans from Bonfire has changed from a pile of gradually became a custom, then The fire was lit, accompanied by ange. Bonfire vs. the Hex Rally. Some Aggies and Longhorns both schools marked the calendar tosh to a 55-foot stack of logs, the it became a “tradition.” speeches and yells, much like Bon­ Slocum vs. Mackovic. believe hate is too strong of a word for the annual meeting. drive to build Bonfire every year has The first Bonfire was built in 1909 fire today. In the early days, however, One of the most colorful and for the competition, but all agree By Thanksgiving Day in 1924, remained the same — the “burning out of trash thrown together for the Bonfire had usually burned out by bitterly contested rivalries in col­ that the rivalry between the two thirty-five thousand people desire to beat the hell outta t.u.” varsity games in the fall semester. the time the speech-making ended. lege football will continue in the schools is one of the strongest in jammed into the football at According to A Centennial His- Early Bonfires were made of com­ 104th meeting of Texas A&M and the nation. Austin to witness the game. [tory of Texas A&M University, by munity trash, limbs, boxes, lumber Please see Tradition on Page 6. the University of Texas Friday at The series began in 1894 when Kyle Field. the Longhorns, then known as Please see Rivalry on Page 6.