Planning has begun for Veishea 2006 – a new, community-service-based event is being planned and organizers are recruiting students to fill seats on various committees.

Eric Peterson, general co-chairman and junior in agricultural business, said the executive board is ready to jump-start the year and will be planning a timeline and developing goals as soon as this Sunday.

The Veishea Executive Board met for the second time Tuesday night to plan events that will be held between April 17 and 23.

Veishea was reinstated for the 2005-06 school year after ISU President Gregory Geoffroy suspended it for one year because of the riot at 2004’s Veishea.

Recruiting students for the 16 planning committees is at the forefront of the board’s agenda.

The board is planning to hang up fliers, notify clubs, attend residence hall meetings and use www.facebook.com to alert students of the opportunities to get involved with Veishea, said Jessica Lecy, Veishea general co-chairwoman and senior in food science.

The committees are structured similarly to past years, which reflects the intention for there to be no major changes in activities.

“Instead of reinventing the wheel, we want to use past experiences and improve and build upon them,” said Lauren Ellingson, public relations co-chairwoman and junior in agricultural business.

They are still in the brainstorming process and new events could be added, Ellingson said.

Lecy said the goals for next year’s Veishea are to “focus on the academic aspect, bring back the true traditions of Veishea and increase student involvement and participation.”

The Ames Rotary Club is also planning to hold a two-part community service project in conjunction with the university during Veishea. The project would include a mentoring program through Youth and Shelter Services Inc. and the construction of a full-sized basketball court in O’Neil Park.

Dan Devine, head of the Rotary project committee, said they have already received letters of support from Youth and Shelter Services and Ames Park and Recreation. He said he has reached a verbal agreement with Government of the Student Body President Angela Groh, senior in political science, about student involvement if the project moves forward, although organizers are waiting to approach the university about the project.

“We’d like to have it wrap up around Veishea week and be part of Veishea celebrations,” Devine said, although specifics of the project have not yet been decided.

It will be a good opportunity for the community and Iowa State to work together on a large-scale community service project associated with Veishea, he said.

Another sign of early enthusiasm was the receipt of a Veishea scholarship application, although the official application for this year has not even been released yet.