Pack your bags, everyone! Dust off that old time machine and hold on tight – we’re going back to the ’90s for Veishea this year! Bring your rollerblades (think ice skates with wheels on the bottom). Lace up those Airwalks and polish up the Doc Martens. Home Improvement is on at 7 – don’t be late!

What kind of a budget does a committee need to transport 25,000 ISU students back to the days when Pauly Shore was considered a movie star, you ask? Apparently one that’s three times the amount as last year’s. The Government of the Student Body announced the approval for the 2009 Veishea budget last Thursday, capping the funding off at a whopping $47,354.68.

How exactly do you pay for an event the magnitude of Veishea? Well, for starters, try cutting the funding for all the little guys that make Iowa State what it truly is today: the student-run clubs and organizations. I work for a student-produced publication called ETHOS magazine that is going into its 60th year of operation. Last Thursday, the GSB informed us our staff salaries were being taken away for various vaguely stated reasons.

Now I know what some of you are thinking: “Mason, you don’t realize the kind of serious cash it takes to haul in previously defunct, culturally irrelevant bands to perform one-hit wonders for your entertainment.” Not so, says me.

Come Veishea, students will be confusedly nodding their heads to Blessid Union of Souls (yes, I’m spelling the name correctly) as they perform hits from their debut album “Home,” which went gold in 1995. Remember those songs? Probably not, since most of you were in elementary school at the time.

If you want to cut my salary at ETHOS and have me be happy about it, you’re going to have to get some better entertainment at these festivals. I’ll throw in my suggestion with three simple words: Ace of Base.

Mason Viera

Junior

Journalism and Mass Communication