Veishea planning is under way as committees work on implementing changes to ensure a disturbance-free celebration in 2006.

In his March 2005 statement to the university, President Gregory Geoffroy said several important changes would be made to minimize the likelihood of Veishea-related disturbances that damage the reputation of the university.

Eric Peterson, Veishea general co-chairman, said he hopes Veishea will return to its original purpose — showcasing academics and providing great entertainment for students.

“We need to work on staging events to minimize the chances of future disturbances,” said Thomas Hill, vice president of student affairs.

Veishea workers have spent the summer considering recommendations and reordering its advisory committee, Hill said.

One recommendation was to hold a special summit including several ISU organizations to address the best practices to employ in response to disturbances, said John Anderson, assistant to the president. Anderson said the summit is tentatively planned for the second week of November.

Peterson thinks one reason adopting these changes and planning this year’s celebration will go smoothly is because of an increased interest from Ames community members and ISU students and staff.

Geoffroy said the changes are largely a product of recommendations made by the Veishea Task Force and Commission and input from ISU students and faculty members.

“I have no problem working with the recommendations; the challenge is going to be coming back from a year cancellation. It’s going to be a challenge and a huge opportunity to make Veishea incredibly better,” Peterson said.

The successful implementation of the changes is something that will require “all hands on deck,” and is something that needs to occur during the fall semester, when most students and faculty are at the university, Hill said.

“All of these changes have been very positive; we just need to figure out how to implement them,” he said.

Though Hill said there have been no hurdles so far, Geoffroy noted in his announcement that “we cannot eliminate that risk [of a disturbance] entirely, no matter what we do.”

Applications for Veishea committees will be available by the end of the week at www.veishea.iastate.edu.