Candlelight Rites to Replace Bonfire

The usually raucous Texas A&M; University bonfire was to be replaced by a solemn candlelight ceremony today as the school marked the first anniversary of last year’s bonfire collapse that killed 12 people. The 90-year-old tradition turned tragic when the 60-foot-high student-built log structure fell while still under construction in College Station. Along with the dead, 27 others were injured in the crush of logs. After an investigative commission blamed the accident on poor design and supervision, university officials suspended the bonfire until at least 2002. The bonfire was lit each year on the eve of the annual football game with its archrival, the University of Texas.