Texas Governor Sets Off Controversy on A

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has already been accused of meddling with the leadership at Texas A&M University, his alma mater. Now the governor has given an interview in which he suggests that the flagship Texas A&M campus will soon restore the bonfire tradition that ended 10 years ago, after the collapse of the pre-bonfire construction killed 12. The Texas Monthly reported that in an interview about the bonfire, Perry said: "It's really going to be interesting when bonfire is reintroduced on the campus again, and it will be. I will not be surprised if it happens by 2011, maybe even 2010. I think bonfire will be back on campus. The kids will have the experience again.” Perry apparently didn't check in with the university on this issue. The Houston Chronicle reported that R. Bowen Loftin, interim president at A&M, issued a statement saying that there were no plans to restore the event. “I don't hear the students rising up and demanding it," he said. "To have [the bonfire accident] happen to you one time is something that you can get past. If you did it again, and it happened again, you have no way to excuse yourself.”