It’s been five weeks since the Veishea task force and commission released their final reports.

Preliminary steps are being taken to address the report’s recommendations. ISU President Gregory Geoffroy, Ames Mayor Ted Tedesco and Government of the Student Body President Sophia Magill said various city and university officials, including students and Ames residents, are gathering information on implementing some of the changes suggested in the reports.

Among those suggestions being considered is the concept of creating “one community” in Ames. In a letter to the Iowa State Daily, Geoffroy said he, Tedesco and Magill are studying how best to achieve that vision.

“It is important that we work continuously to understand the needs and differences of all members of our community and respond constructively to issues that arise,” Geoffroy wrote. For this reason, he wrote, he and Tedesco will be appointing an implementation committee to look at formulating the steps needed in order to implement the details of that recommendation.

Geoffroy said it is too early to tell what the committee’s composition will be; however, he said the group would contain six to eight members.

“We don’t want it to be too large; we don’t want it to be another task force, but it will contain members from both the university and Ames community,” he said.

Other than stating work is being done to look at the report’s suggestions, Geoffroy said he could not comment on specific initiatives or efforts.

“Right now, we’re very much in the planning stages and we don’t have all of the details firmed up,” he said. “As soon as we do have those details we’re working on, we will communicate those, hopefully, in a few weeks. The goal is to keep folks well informed.”

One of the recommendations in the commission report, how to mold city board and commission terms and appointments to better allow for student participation and inclusiveness, is being looked at by the city attorney. Tedesco said the attorney is also looking into how state law would apply to suggestions for changing or enhancing penalties for liquor violations in Ames.

“You have to have research and background before we can move in a certain direction,” Tedesco said.

Magill said she is working on looking into the recommendations dealing with creating a freshman seminar to educate and inform students about the ISU and Ames community. She said she intends to sit down with organizations that already provide entertainment on campus in the next few weeks to see how to create alternative entertainment options.

Jeff Johnson, director of the ISU Alumni Association, said he has been working on creating a list of groups to seek feedback from.

“We want to know what people are thinking. This is the crossroads we’re at and we need to be willing to sit down and provide input to the leadership,” he said.

While the prevailing questions on many minds is what the future of Veishea will be and how the community can fix some of the issues raised by the riot, Tedesco, Geoffroy and Magill said they see it a different way.

“If you want us to have a spring celebration, are you really willing to buy into it and participate in it to do everything possible to ensure its success?” Tedesco said. “Students and those in the community will have to step up and participate if we’re not going to have one.”