[cctop]

That article from the Alumni Association implied that there was a bonfire in the late 1980's.  Is that true?

Yeah, there was a bonfire my first three years at Stanford (fall of 86/87/88).  I didn't know that it had been cancelled before.  There was no bonfire my senior year (fall of 89), then it returned for a couple of years before sputtering out for good.

On the topic of explosives:  I really enjoyed high school Chemistry class simply because the teacher was so entertaining.  One day he decided to show us a thermite reaction.

If you're not familiar with thermite, you should know that it burns extremely hot and is almost impossible to put out once started...you just have to let it burn.

So my teacher puts the thermite in a bowl on his desk, lights it, and grins as it flares up bright and hot.  His smile slowly fades when the reaction shatters the container holding it, spilling the burning thermite onto his desk.  His face turns serious as he shouts, "I forgot to put a marble slab under it!".  The thermite burns a hole through his desk and falls onto the floor, where it continues burning its way down.  Our classroom is on the second floor of the school.  I start wondering whose classroom is beneath ours and whether I should run downstairs to warn them.  Just as I'm getting up out of my chair the reaction peters out leaving just a desk with a smoking hole, about a 1" deep crater in the floor below the desk, and a very shaken Chemistry teacher.

[cctop]

That article from the Alumni Association implied that there was a bonfire in the late 1980's.  Is that true?

Yeah, there was a bonfire my first three years at Stanford (fall of 86/87/88).  I didn't know that it had been cancelled before.  There was no bonfire my senior year (fall of 89), then it returned for a couple of years before sputtering out for good.

On the topic of explosives:  I really enjoyed high school Chemistry class simply because the teacher was so entertaining.  One day he decided to show us a thermite reaction.

If you're not familiar with thermite, you should know that it burns extremely hot and is almost impossible to put out once started...you just have to let it burn.

So my teacher puts the thermite in a bowl on his desk, lights it, and grins as it flares up bright and hot.  His smile slowly fades when the reaction shatters the container holding it, spilling the burning thermite onto his desk.  His face turns serious as he shouts, "I forgot to put a marble slab under it!".  The thermite burns a hole through his desk and falls onto the floor, where it continues burning its way down.  Our classroom is on the second floor of the school.  I start wondering whose classroom is beneath ours and whether I should run downstairs to warn them.  Just as I'm getting up out of my chair the reaction peters out leaving just a desk with a smoking hole, about a 1" deep crater in the floor below the desk, and a very shaken Chemistry teacher.