In an all-day meeting Thursday, the Task Force on Assuring Successful Veishea and Other Student/Community Celebrations began the end-game of its five-month mission to develop recommendations for preventing another riot.

The task force began generating an outline of what will eventually be the most important chapter in its final report — the one containing recommendations for the various possible fates of the long-running festival.

The meeting determined more than a dozen recommendations culled from findings of work groups within the task force. The final cut of these recommendations will be presented to ISU President Gregory Geoffroy, Government of the Student Body President Sophia Magill and Ames Mayor Ted Tedesco, who will decide how or if Veishea will continue.

The task force divided its recommendations into three broad categories: general recommendations; recommendations if Veishea is changed; and recommendations if Veishea is discontinued. In developing these categories, the task force abandoned another category — recommendations for if Veishea is to continue unchanged — firmly establishing that Veishea cannot continue unchanged.

“We’re not really talking about continuing Veishea at all,” said Zora Zimmerman, associate dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “We’re talking about changing it.”

The recommendations discussed, among other things, renaming the Veishea celebration; scheduling alternate, alcohol-free late-night events; moving events away from Campustown; and, most contentiously, alcohol and alcohol restriction.

Opinions varied widely on how alcohol restrictions like beer keg registration, age restrictions in bars, residence hall alcohol policies and special alcohol rules pertaining only to Veishea weekend affected the likelihood of riots or other disturbances. One camp within the task force, led by Drew Miller, senior in computer science and Daily editorial board member, said such restrictions increased the possibility of violence and called for modifications to bar and residence hall rules they said forced underage drinkers to parties like the one on Hunt Street where the riot began.

Jeff Johnson, president of the Alumni Association, questioned whether “Dry Veishea” regulations were an effective deterrent of violence and if they burdened students during Veishea weekend.

“Our policies should be consistent for all 52 weekends of the year,” Johnson said. “People shouldn’t feel like, ‘This is the weekend they’re going to get me.'”

Others, including university counsel Paul Tanaka and Jerry Stewart, director of public safety, disagreed.

“Veishea is not any other weekend,” Tanaka said, calling for the continuation of “Dry Veishea” regulations during the event weekend. “Veishea is associated with violence. It’s associated with house parties. It deserves to be treated differently than any other weekend.”

The divide is not an impediment to the task force’s progress, said Catherine Woteki, dean of the College of Agriculture and chairwoman of the task force.

“Alcohol restriction may be part of the problem, but it may also be part of the solution,” Woteki said. “Varying viewpoints on how to deal with Veishea is one of the points that we anticipated, and we’re going to develop a report to reflect those diverse viewpoints.”

The discussions were incomplete when the meeting adjourned at 5 p.m., as the category of recommendations for if Veishea is to be discontinued was not discussed. Task force members will review the outline developed so far and discuss changes at its meeting Nov. 18. The final report is due to Geoffroy, Magill and Tedesco by Nov. 30.