#savethecannon

Video of the Cannon from yesterday

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The limited few: boston74, twk, etc that act like this isn't important because it wasn't there when they were in school are terribly misguided.

This is a very meaningful tradition, tied indirectly back to bonfire, and means a ton to most Aggies today. In some ways, it keeps a part of bonfire tradition tied to football and the university, since we can't have the real deal.

Traditions can be formed in modern times and they don't all have to have started in the 1800s or when you were in school. This one of the few modern traditions that has been established in recent decades that is well worth preserving.

I am just amazed and disappointed that our leadership (still TBD who since noone is taking the blame/credit) allowed this to happen. We have to get this fixed ASAP.

The last minute scrambling and excuse making is the most disappointing aspect, as the leaders are now making it sound like there was nothing that could have prevented this and that this was some unforseen circumstance when there is no proof they ever really incorporated the cannon into the planning in the first place.

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TBD includes Kevin Sumlin and his staff. This from a person very close to the cannon. Seems even the precious practice field is too good for the cannon.

What say you, Mr. Sumlin?

Hey I know lets start a new tradition. While the visiting teams band is playing their school song, lets continue to blare hip hop, trip hop, or what ever genre of music our players need while they are warming up pregame.

Thats a pretty CLASSY tradition, right?

The cannon dug ruts into the practice field. That's why it isn't there anymore

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Administrative response ~ silence is not an appropriate response. While not a BMA, I do believe that the committee chair responsible for pulling the plug on the cannon this year needs to step up and address the questions posed.

Dave South said during the game broadcast that the cannon will be back on the practice field for the next game. Another example of the administration not having its story straight among its minions.

By the day, this issue becomes increasingly embarrassing for the administration. Losing credibility with an ardent, loyal fan base will damage trust and relations for a long time. I believe there is no one willing to explain the facts because the bs will be exposed. I can't help but think of the analogy of political consequences of an obfuscation and/or cover-up of the truth becoming a more egregious offense than the underlying transgression.

Step-up Mr. Sharp.

BTW, trouble has been completely accurate and objective in her contributions to this thread. She gets a blue 'chute.

Some of you guys, ok most of you guys, have absolutely no idea the force behind a cannon blast and the space required to mitigate the death/general health risk of said cannon blast.

Three words for you guys: hazard, risk, liability.

Three more words: excuses, excuses, excuses

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Some of you guys, ok most of you guys, have absolutely no idea the force behind a cannon blast and the space required to mitigate the death/general health risk of said cannon blast.

Three words for you guys: hazard, risk, liability.

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And neither do you, obviously.

I never said you couldn't reduce the charge. The cannon, as is or was in previous seasons, would not work inside the bowl. But of course, what do I know?

Removing emotion, deal with logics and facts and work on a solution.

We've acknowledged that in this thread.

Trouble, have you presented an appropriate charge load and looked a space constraints in order to offer a solution?

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I never said you couldn't reduce the charge. The cannon, as is or was in previous seasons, would not work inside the bowl. But of course, what do I know?

Removing emotion, deal with logics and facts and work on a solution.

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On a tower elevated and facing out.

What obstacle shall I Engineer around next?

Ok tower...how high up is that? You want the University to take on all of the OSHA chokeholds a with that?

Do you not think after Bonfire, there is much higher threshold for acceptable risk?

And if EE stands for Electrical Engineer, surely you understand the NEC and other OSHA regs as being a nightmare at times.

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The cannon dug ruts into the practice field. That's why it isn't there anymore

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This is true, but not so much the cannon as the trucks towing and driving out there.

Dave South said on the radio the cannon will be back on the practice field. This is not true it will not be back on the practice field; even if it does this should not be except-able.

The current plan still stands. The cannon will stay on the quad in front of Duncan and probably not fire at all for the remaining of the season. They're talking about getting a camera feed over there, but state that it is costly to do. Even still this should make people angry.

There is a Facebook page dedicated to this campaign, "put it back". They are looking at doing yellow shirts and talking to companies that can mass produce them in time.

There were only 100 shirts available this weekend. That was all that could get made in such short notice.

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Trouble, have you presented an appropriate charge load and looked a space constraints in order to offer a solution?

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Well, perhaps we could do that if we could have access to the testing already completed.

I have 8 years military experience, most of it as a spook...and know about this topic from masking the artillery sound from an analysis (heat signature) viewpoint than actual db wave transmission out in the clear. I now teach physical science from physics to astronomy ~ so while I am not qualified to make the decisions needed as related to if the cannon can be inside Kyle Field or not, I am qualified to read the reports of the scientific testing that was done to exclude the cannon from our game day experience.

I am qualified to mask the sound of the cannon inside Kyle Field if asked The sound concussion from the fireworks last night are within the range of what can be done with our cannon equipment ` there is no excuse in that a 360 degree directional sound blast from fireworks is acceptable and a cannon within a noise damping structure on top of one of the towers is not.

There is more to the story ~ and if not? Then release the safety reports and other related documents as to the decision leading up to ~ and the final exclusion of the cannon from Kyle.

Three Seasons, you are much more in tune with what's going on. Blindly yelling "Put it Back" isn't going to cut it.

Beyond the blast signature, again on top of the tower as is presents a whole host of different issues. For it to work, it would need to be reconstructed.

As far as "the rest of the story" while I don't know those specifics, it was probably an early afterthought, then a kick it down the road, and now an uh oh, what now.

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Ok tower...how high up is that? You want the University to take on all of the OSHA chokeholds a with that?

Do you not think after Bonfire, there is much higher threshold for acceptable risk?

And if EE stands for Electrical Engineer, surely you understand the NEC and other OSHA regs as being a nightmare at times.

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Yes!

They already took all of this into account, and stated last spring this was doable and seemed like a great long term location for the cannon. What better place than with the Flags.

All of y'all talking about safety, insurance, and engineering your arguments are invalid. These things have and were already considered and taken into account.

It should just be placed were they said they would put it.
There is only one reason they changed there minds, Money. The Kyle Field Reno. Committee realized how much money they could make. Because its such a sweet location.

No one is just blindly yelling put it back and expecting it to return. It's a rallying cry. It's to get people's attention and bring whomever is making this decision out of the shadows.

We need more attention and information on this. There is no reason that WE need to be figuring out how to make this work. That isn't our job.

Tex-pirate, Forward your reply to a few select people at TAMU, better yet, send a meeting request and day specifically what you wrote. I'm sure it will be an enlightening discussion.

Trouble and Three Seasons at least have logical responses.

Trouble, it isn't ya'lls job to work a fix. My question to you about a charge load was more of a broader reaching question because yes, there people yelling blindly "put it back" without having a clue.

True ~ elevated on a tower will present other issues, but the safety people have already approved the detonation of explosives unrestricted at an elevation higher than what the cannon would be placed. One could now argue that the explosions (sound) within the stadium is not an issue with the fireworks going off at such a low altitude.

A "smoke loaded" cannon fire at a db level that is equal to the firework explosions last night IS acceptable. So why is there so much concern over the cannon db level and not the fireworks?

Where are the reports on the cannon testing?

.......and now I would like to see what testing has been done for the approval of exploding the fireworks and the db noise it creates.

Even those people are advancing the cause.

This is a grassroots campaign.

This is how they work.

It's all a smokescreen, they'll eventually give back the cannon to divert attention from the fact that they have been lying about bringing back the track.

Three Seasons, I don't have access to this reports or know the answers.

Trouble, while they may be advancing the cause somewhat, it helps to have a little education on a subject to be taken seriously. Otherwise, we are no different than those we call stupid on general political issues. See the Michael Brown case. Were all of the thugs yelling racism advancing a cause? Just a quick example.

In any case there is a solution. It will come.

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Tex-pirate, Forward your reply to a few select people at TAMU, better yet, send a meeting request and day specifically what you wrote. I'm sure it will be an enlightening discussion.

Trouble and Three Seasons at least have logical responses.

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FC12~
I appreciate your criticism. The questions/dilemmas you bring up are not new though. Someone didn't just wake up one morning and say "oh ****, that cannon is loud!". The location and testing of the cannon has been part of the planing since the very beginning. The decibel levels have been known and it was known they could/can be controlled. Their are very experienced professionals that make those loads for PMC, and they know how to adjust them. This has been something they have done for years, considering that cannon has fired in many other locations other than Kyle Field.

Trouble and Three Seasons are making great points you're correct.

And it is students that yelling and yes they're yelling because they are getting run over, and if they had not started yelling no one would have any clue about what is going on.

Three Seasons: The fireworks is something that is going to be brought up next week. One of the arguments against the cannon, stated that it would have been to close to the gigatron. The fireworks seems to have negated that argument.

oh no....now a "get the track laid" campaign.

I suggest that we re-task a satellite to transmit a signal to the Reveille grave sight now that our scoreboard is so large.

Back on topic ~ the cannon db data is out there...the process and decision matrix that was used is out there...the people in charge have the answers we are seeking ~ its time to open up the process so all paying members to the 12th Man Foundation know how the decision was made ~ and why.

Three Seasons, based off your experience of a smoke load, not dealing with Decibels, what is the concussion force that is exited and how far out does it extend? If it were on the field, is there space to 100% control from people entering?

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There is only one reason they changed there minds, Money. The Kyle Field Reno. Committee realized how much money they could make. Because its such a sweet location.

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You keep mentioning this as the motivation. But, the area at the top of the tower is just normal concourse space; they're not throwing lavish parties there during the game.

Exactly how does the cannon in that location impact the amount of money raised?

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There is only one reason they changed there minds, Money. The Kyle Field Reno. Committee realized how much money they could make. Because its such a sweet location.

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You keep mentioning this as the motivation. But, the area at the top of the tower is just normal concourse space; they're not throwing lavish parties there during the game.

Exactly how does the cannon in that location impact the amount of money raised?

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To be honest I don't know the whole answer to that. The statement just said "location for possible income from important donors".

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There is only one reason they changed there minds, Money. The Kyle Field Reno. Committee realized how much money they could make. Because its such a sweet location.

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You keep mentioning this as the motivation. But, the area at the top of the tower is just normal concourse space; they're not throwing lavish parties there during the game.

Exactly how does the cannon in that location impact the amount of money raised?

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To be honest I don't know the whole answer to that. The statement just said "location for possible income from important donors".

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The fact that you were continually cryptic and ambiguous led me to believe that you had no idea.

Assumption confirmed.

"location for possible income from important donors" = Sponsor the cannon Slovaceks Cannon blast!!

Just a WAG though.

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There is only one reason they changed there minds, Money. The Kyle Field Reno. Committee realized how much money they could make. Because its such a sweet location.

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You keep mentioning this as the motivation. But, the area at the top of the tower is just normal concourse space; they're not throwing lavish parties there during the game.

Exactly how does the cannon in that location impact the amount of money raised?

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To be honest I don't know the whole answer to that. The statement just said "location for possible income from important donors".

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The fact that you were continually cryptic and ambiguous led me to believe that you had no idea.

Assumption confirmed.

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I wish that was the case.....and there was a better explanation.

These issues have already been solved. There were plans in the stadium design to account for the points and problems us yokels have pointed out.

The stadium design changed and no one has presented a compelling reason why. Then the secondary plan for the cannon was removed as well. Currently we're on the 4th iteration of cannon plans and no one has be forthright about the changes.

There's a "pass the buck" situation at play and the Corps students are getting the short end of the deal.

As for explosions having no place in the stadium...