The final ballot to determine the fate of Veishea will be cast tonight by the Inter-Residence Hall Association.

IRHA will be voting on two Veishea resolutions at its meeting, one accepting the pledge and one rejecting it. A third Veishea resolution also will be introduced for its first read.

IRHA is the last student government body to reaffirm the Veishea pledge. The Government of the Student Body, the Panhellenic Council, the Interfraternity Council and the Veishea Executive Council already have given their support to the annual student-run celebration.

A simple majority vote of parliament members will be needed to pass a bill.

Iowa State President Martin Jischke said if IRHA votes against taking the Veishea pledge, there would be a specific consequence — no Veishea.

“That would mean we would not have Veishea,” he said. “Veishea as we know it would not continue.”

Jischke said the pledge must be signed. Passing a bill that says students already have taken the pledge by signing the Department of Residence Terms and Conditions is not sufficient.

“There’s a difference between a contract and an expression of sincere support for a safe and alcohol-free Veishea,” he said.

Jischke said it is important for IRHA to make its decision tonight.

“There’s a point at which it becomes very difficult for the Veishea committee to do the planning, so I would urge the students to make their decision and not take too much longer,” he said.

IRHA Vice President Joe Foster said the votes from each residence association will be crucial in which bill will be passed in IRHA’s 25-person parliament.

“I think the majority of TRA [Towers Residence Association] will go for the Terms and Conditions bill and the majority of UDA [Union Drive Association] will go with the bill that accepts the pledge,” he said.

During the last month, UDA senate passed a resolution supporting the pledge, TRA senate passed a resolution supporting a dry Veishea but not the pledge and RCA Assembly passed no bill concerning Veishea.

The UDA senate passed a bill 35-8 last week supporting Veishea and the Veishea pledge but disapproving of the administration’s requirement for student government bodies to take the Veishea pledge.

Jeremy Peterson, vice president of Bennett House in UDA, wrote UDA’s bill after hearing about the Towers bill witholding support of the Veishea pledge.

“Dry Veishea is probably the only possibility to continue the tradition,” he said.

Foster said because of the bills passed by the UDA and TRA senates, RCA representatives on IRHA will be the swing votes.

“RCA [Richardson Court Association] will make or break each resolution,” he said. “How RCA goes is how IRHA is going to go.”

There are 10 representatives from RCA on parliament, seven hall representatives and the RCA president, finance director and IRHA at-large representative.

There are seven representatives each from UDA and TRA, as well as one representative for residence hall minority groups.

However, Foster said support for the two bills up for vote will not fall straight down UDA and TRA lines.

“The base support for the Terms and Conditions bill comes from Towers, but there are other supporters of it,” he said. “The bill supporting the pledge has sponsors from RCA.”

Foster said he likes to see supporters for one bill come from several associations. “I’m glad to see people from different associations have different views,” he said.

UDA at-large Chris Robert is a sponsor of the resolution supporting the pledge. Robert said it is difficult to tell which way the votes will go.

“The support for both bills is pretty equal,” he said.

Robert also agreed RCA will be a deciding factor in which bill will receive the parliament’s support.

“Both the Towers student government and the UDA student government stated what they think about Veishea,” he said. “RCA is still up in the air.”

Chris Benson, Birch-Welch-Roberts Hall, supports the newest resolution being introduced tonight, which calls for more student input.

“The feelings that my constituents have is that they want Veishea, but they are not happy with the way the administration is handling it,” he said.

IRHA President Dave Sims said he anticipates that IRHA parliament will take what Jischke said at Tuesday night’s special meeting and apply that knowledge to the bills up for debate.

Sims said there should be much deliberation about the bills.

“There’s going to be a lot of debate, not only on the two bills under old business, but as well as the new bill up under new business,” he said. “Each of the three bills should get good discussion.”

Because this is ISU students’ last chance to voice their opinion on alcohol-free Veishea before the decision of whether to hold the celebration becomes final, Sims said he encourages residence hall students to attend the meeting or contact their representatives.

The meeting will be tonight at 7 in the Maple-Willow-Larch Conference Room.

Bills facing the IRHA parliament

IRHA Parliament Bill #99-013R

“Veishea Weekend”

This bill does not support taking the Veishea pledge. The bill says a clause in the residence hall Terms and Conditions that calls for an alcohol-free Veishea is the same as taking the Veishea pledge. Supporters say residence hall students already have signed the pledge since they have signed their room and board contracts. It supports a safe, multicultural and enjoyable Veishea.

IRHA Parliament Bill #99-015R

“Keeping Veishea Alive”

This bill supports taking the Veishea pledge as it is written in The Interim Rules for Veishea Revision 1. The bill says more residence hall students would rather have a dry Veishea with the use of ISU grounds than no Veishea or a Veishea without the use of ISU grounds. The bill requires IRHA’s approval of the Interim Rules for Veishea if they are revised.

Parliament Bill #99-017R

“Veishea III”

This bill combines the first two bills. It accepts the Veishea pledge and calls for a safe, multicultural and alcohol-free Veishea.. The bill asks the Department of Residence to remove a clause from the Terms and Conditions that some IRHA members say is the same as taking the pledge. This bill wants to make it possible for the students to work with the administration on what the Veishea rules are.