The sound of exploding fireworks hurled at police and crashing light poles pierce the thunder of footsteps as crowds trample their way toward the south side of Friley Hall, away from a line of police officers in gas masks, helmets and riot shields with Mace.

A bystander can be heard in the background: “All my years of college don’t add up to how cool this night was. I can die a happy man.”

After watching the 51 minutes of video and still images documenting what occurred on the night of the Campustown riot four months ago, the Task Force on Assuring Successful Veishea and Other Student/Community Celebrations was forced to ask why crowds of students and visitors became destructive that night.

The task force met for four hours Tuesday to examine and discuss the causes of the April 18 Veishea riot following a presentation by a task force working group that gave an executive summary of themes contributing to the riot.

The report notes good weather, large off-campus parties, increased attendance at Veishea celebrations, capacity crowds at bars and some property managers summoning security to break up parties as plausible triggers for the night’s violent behavior.

However, the group indicated that it could not find a single incident that sparked people to move to Welch Avenue and participate in destroying property.

“We were able to obtain some information about the Hunt Street party, but we were unable to ascertain what occurred between the break up of the Hunt Street party until the group turned onto Welch Avenue,” said Dean of Students Pete Englin, the working group chairman.

Despite identifying some key triggers that could have been used to rationalize rioters’ behavior, the underlying causes of the riot are still being examined.

“There’s one piece of the puzzle that I have yet to find: What happened at that party and how do these parties proliferate like they do? How do they go from 100 to 300 in a short amount of time?” said Michael Bugeja, director of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication and a member of the task force executive committee.

Fellow task force member Craig Anderson, chairman of the psychology department, said the task force should be cautious to classify triggers as underlying causes.

“It’s very hard to predict what happens [in a riot]. With an ambiguously large situation like this, it only takes a few individuals to define the situation for everyone else,” Anderson said. “It may have little to do with how police responded. If you get too much detailed on a specific case, you lose sight of the larger variables.”

Instead, both Bugeja and Anderson said the question trying to be answered isn’t what happened that night that caused the disturbance, but what is it about Veishea, Iowa State and Ames that creates certain expectations among students during that weekend.

Discussion presented issues such as: a perception of lack of alternatives for socializing among a large crowd of underage drinkers; the perception of less control during Veishea; a lack of defined guidance as to how and when people should react to off-campus parties; perception of increased strain between students and the university and students and the city; and lack of consequences to rioters.

Suggestions for addressing these issues included better-defined enforcement of the city’s nuisance and keg ordinances; stricter punishments for students involved in riots; targeted enforcement by police during Veishea; and educating students about riot laws. Although the four-hour meeting produced numerous topics for discussion about why the riot occurred, Catherine Woteki, dean of the College of Agriculture and task force chairwoman, said the group is still at the early stages of its work.

The task force deadline for submitting a final report of recommendations to ISU President Gregory Geoffroy is Nov. 30.