Past Veishea celebrations have been marked by heavy drinking, property damage and occasionally violent riots. Realizing that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, Veishea’s Risk Management Committee helps cut down on the element of surprise.

The Risk Management Committee oversees Peer Education, Peer Security and the Party Response Team.

Angie Bingham, senior in agricultural business and chairwoman of the Risk Management Committee, said she does not foresee too many problems at this year’s celebration.

“We’re not expecting any trouble; we try to be a little more proactive about it,” said Bingham. “Peer Security is trained to look for possible problems and report them to the [Ames] Police or [ISU Department of Public Safety]. Peer Security is something we like to have so students will see students looking out for students. We’re taking steps to make sure students can have fun in an atmosphere without getting intimidated.”

Brent Perry, sophomore in agricultural studies, is one of this year’s Peer Security coordinators. It is his responsibility to supervise the students who will be working as Peer Security at Veishea events and the street party on Welch Avenue.

Perry said Veishea 2000 is shaping up like the past two year’s celebrations, and Peer Security will be on hand to be act as the link between students and law enforcement.

“We’re not looking at this year being any different than the last couple of years in terms of trouble,” Perry said. “As far as us predicting any kinds of problems, we’re not in a position to enforce laws. If something happens, there is nothing that Peer Security could have done to change that. We are not, by any means, a form of law enforcement. We act as liaisons between students and law enforcement.”

Veishea 2000 will be Perry’s third year as a member of the Peer Security team, and one thing he said has helped him is his experience.

“Experience was a huge key,” he said. “Seeing Peer Security and Risk Management run the last couple of years, you get to know all of what it entails. You get to see what you would like to change; a lot of experience and knowing the ins and outs of the operations helps with that.

“One of the key things I’ve learned is there are a lot of different types of people out there, and this has helped me learn how to communicate with them,” he said.

Bingham said the number of students involved in the Peer Security program is down this year, but this is not from a lack of recruitment.

“Our numbers are a little bit down from last year,” she said. “We like to have enough people to make sure everything is covered, and we have around 60.”

Finding students to work as Peer Security guards has always taken effort and planning, Perry said, but the biggest challenge has been letting students know about positions.

“It never has been a real easy job getting people,” he said. “As far as getting interest from people to do the job, the hard part is getting the word out that these positions are available. Once they know, students really like to get involved. A lot of it is done by word of mouth.”

Perry said e-mailing campus groups and making announcements in his classes were two ways he recruited guards.

“We haven’t had any problems getting people,” he said. “We’re sitting at 65 members right now, and we’re working to have members of Peer Security and Party Response Teams be able to work shifts in the other area. Party Response only works from about 4 or 5 p.m. until about 10 p.m. They can work with Peer Security if they want to go to some of the other events.”

Amanda Taylor, Veishea Peer Education coordinator, said much of her job has been informing students about the risks of drinking alcohol.

“I give Risk Management presentations to the greek system, the dorms and off-campus meetings,” said Taylor, sophomore in agricultural business. “We coordinate bulletin boards and do story lines about alcohol awareness. These are personal stories to open people’s eyes about alcohol abuse.

“Risk Management presentations give students an idea of what they need to be aware off, the rules they need to be following, what people need to do if someone has too much to drink, how to plan a safe party and that kind of thing,” she said.

Government of the Student Body Vice President Lisa Dlouhy said she conducted tenant/landlord meetings to let students know about regulations concerning off-campus parties and city ordinances in general.

“We didn’t have anybody turn out for that, though,” said Dlouhy, junior in genetics. “For Peer Security, they had us take self-defense classes, and they gave us badges and T-shirts.”

Dlouhy, an off-campus representative on GSB, said she has answered many questions from constituents about Veishea, but she said student concerns about the celebration peaked during the Veishea Pledge debates this fall.

“The biggest concern I heard was actually when we were deciding to take the pledge or not,” she said. “I heard from about 900 to 1,000 students who were concerned about not being allowed to drink during Veishea weekend if they were old enough, and that’s not true.

“There are no extra rules. If you live off campus and you’re 21, it’s OK to have a beer,” she said. “Of course, everybody is going to be keeping a tighter lookout that weekend, but, as far as the law goes, there is nothing new.”