Veishea is a lot of fun, and it’s an experience ISU students want to share with non-ISU friends. However, the non-Iowa Staters and nonresidents don’t have to see the mess that’s left behind when Veishea ends. Here are some tips to make the week go a little smoother for everyone.

1. Pick up your trash

There are garbage cans on campus everywhere during Veishea. Trash receptacles are also readily available in Campustown.

Other people will have to spend hours picking up your litter if you don’t take a few seconds to throw it away. And alcohol bottles and food remnants smell. Do you really want your campus, residence hall or apartment building to smell like a foot?

Pull Quote: “Last year our apartment building had trash everywhere, and someone punched a whole in the wall by the entrance door,” said Amy McAlpin, senior in architecture. “The mess didn’t get cleaned up for quite awhile after Veishea, and it was annoying to live in such a dump.”

2. Avoid drunken fights

Drunken fights are never a good idea – especially during Veishea. Although this week is a time many choose to party, stick with friends and keep each other in line. Find someone willing to stay sober that will help you get out of stupid situations that could land you in jail for a night.

3. Alcohol violations

The drinking age of 21 still applies during Veishea, so if you or your friends are minors, you could be charged with underage possession if you are drinking. Public intoxication tickets are another thing to keep in mind for everyone planning to drink during Veishea.

4. Keep track of guests

Know who is crashing at your place. Setting some basic ground rules isn’t a bad idea if you have a lot of people staying with you.

For example, do you care if they bring people they meet during Veishea back to your place to crash? Do you trust visitors alone with you and your roommates’ belongings? Are your roommates OK with the guests you are planning to have over?

Also let guests know which food they can have, which rooms are off-limits, etc.

“I’m planning to tell the other girls in my house well ahead of time that I have a guest coming,” said Andrea Baker, freshman in pre-architecture.

Baker plans to spend time with her out-of-town friends coming to Ames for Veishea, and she feels her housemates will do the same, for the most part.

“I trust the girls in my house and their judgment with their friends staying here,” Baker said. “I don’t think we will have any trouble with objects going missing besides misplacing things from our own stupidity.

5. Enjoy Veishea

It only happens once a year, and out-of-towners may not get the chance to come back every year.

See the bands, eat the food, watch the parade and show your friends everything there is to do during this celebration.