11.   If the three strengthening measures he recommended were not used, the result would be too much stress on the center pole, Grosse said.

12.   In addition to measuring marks on the center pole, Weese interviewed the students who worked on the Bonfire, according to the memo he prepared for the commission.

13.   Matthew Robbins, a sophomore, said he attended the raising of the center pole and helped with the beginning of the first stack.

14.   Officials at the time questioned what extreme stress could have caused the center pole to fail.

15.   Sen. John McCain has made a ban on soft money the center pole of his campaign and has been the candidate most prominently identified with the reform issue.

16.   Rusty Thompson, the faculty bonfire adviser, said the center pole was snapped in two or three places.

17.   Still another possibility is that the center pole had a weakness or defect in it.

18.   That is the technical term for sideways pressure causing the center pole to snap, much like the hypothetical yardstick.

19.   The center pole is a nautical mast salvaged from a ship on City Island.

20.   The center pole is expected to be the focus of any investigation.