This letter is not in response to one particular letter but to several regarding the happenings that occurred during Veishea weekend.

First, I am so sick and tired of hearing students and alumni alike comparing this to the occurrences during the Vietnam War. This is not the Vietnam War; this is beer being taken away for one weekend. Those people who protested Vietnam had something to protest about. There were innocent lives being lost in a war that no one could win. Shaky policies and half-hearted agreements were the only causes for that war. In this instance, Iowa State simply asked that students not get drunk for one whole weekend. My Lord! That’s two whole days, three if you count Thursday.

This is just my first year at Iowa State, so I can only speak for what I’ve seen. There are so many things going wrong today such as the massacre in Iraq, ever-increasing tuition, the Palestinian conflict, mass killings in North Korea, a presidential regime that constantly lies to us, a Democratic candidate who is not much better, world hunger, poverty or even school programs being cut.

Yet, the only two times I’ve seen students of Iowa State get upset enough to cause a stir are when they couldn’t drink in their own tailgating lot and when they couldn’t drink at Veishea.

Last, quit blaming the police for Macing innocent people. Put yourself in their shoes, and it’s not so cut and clear. It’s not like the rioters were all wearing yellow shirts while bystanders were all wearing green. Someone could be smashing a sign through a window one minute and just looking on the next. Now I realize this is college and students like to drink, but grow up a little bit and make this school look like more than a bunch of drunks.

Ben Bramsen

Junior

Journalism and Mass Communication