We all knew it was going to come sooner or later. And here it is, my thoughts on Veishea, in no particular order.

First of all, Iowa State does indeed have the right to do this, so let’s get rid of that argument. Just like I can’t have a beer at an Ames High School football game or how I can’t have a pet in my apartment, Iowa State can ban alcohol on campus if administrator want to.

Criminally, there is no penalty, but Iowa State can execute its own punishment if it wants. Administrators can’t punish you for drinking off campus if you’re 21, but if you get caught doing something illegal (such as throwing a party with underage people there), then you’re fair game. If you’re underage, then they are just enforcing that same constitutional right that so many people claim is being violated. Those jerks.

Second, everyone seems to point to the 1997 murder as the reason why Veishea changed. That was the crown jewel, but the reason why it was changed was because Iowa State was an unsafe environment that weekend.

Cars were broken into, girls were raped, my friend got jumped and had his nose broken. CDs were stolen, people urinated in elevators and windows were shattered all in the name of Veishea. If you weren’t punched, robbed or assaulted then, yeah, you had a good time.

The problem was the number of people in the category seemed to be dwindling each year. A murder was the final straw, but it was everything that went on before the murder that caused Veishea to change.

Next, we all need to lower our expectations for what qualifies as a good Veishea. You can’t expect the Veishea Central Committee to provide you with the weekend of your life.

If I see one more person in the Daily photo survey brag about how he or she is going to flock to Iowa City because Ames sucks that weekend, I’m going to beat them within an inch of their Hawkeye. Veishea will provide us with an above-average amount of entertainment for a weekend in Ames, but it is not going to be the greatest thing you will have ever done.

There are intramural games, battle of the bands contest, carnival games, food contests, a parade and open houses on central campus. If you can’t find something fun to do that weekend, then you are the problem, not Veishea.

Don’t judge the whole weekend on a musical act because it won’t satisfy everybody. Tim McGraw would certainly qualify as a large, well-known, popular act. So would, Metallica and Busta Rhymes. These are just some of the acts I wouldn’t go see because I don’t like their music. That doesn’t mean they suck; I just don’t like them. Yeah, the Black Eyed Peas do indeed suck, but we’ll give the committee a mulligan for next year.

But I can guarantee that band wasn’t the committee’s first choice. A better band backed out late, and that’s who was left, it happens — so deal with it.

They feel just as bad about it as we do. And finally, if you need alcohol to have a good time, then you are a sad, sad person. Sure it might help sometimes, but it is by no means necessary nor is it the reason for the fun.

A lot has been made of the way the decision came about. Everyone keeps talking about students having more input in the decision. Well, they did. Students from Government of the Student Body, Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Council, Inter-Residence Hall Association and Veishea all sat down with President Jischke at the time.

Jischke told them to think of ways to make it safe, with or without alcohol. He listened to all the options and decided to go with the current model. If you can come up with a way to make Iowa State safe on Veishea weekend and keep alcohol, I’d be more than willing to listen, and so would the next president.

The president of the university is responsible for what goes on at the university, including the safety of its students. If that means “not listening” to the students, then so be it. But to say student input was not taken into consideration is simply false. Just because you didn’t get your way doesn’t mean that you weren’t listened to.

Veishea will never be the same drunken orgy that it once was, but it is still, without a doubt, worth keeping.

Matt Craft is a senior in secondary education from La Porte City. He’ll buy you a beer if you want to sit and talk about this with him.