For the second year in a row, Veishea has been declared a success by Iowa State administrators, city officials and members of the Veishea committee.

The celebration ran from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon and was marked by fall-like weather conditions and lowered arrest counts.

ISU President Martin Jischke said in a prepared statement that he was very happy with the way Veishea went this year.

“The celebration was well run and reflected the commitment of the student organizers and hundreds of volunteers that make Veishea a success,” he said. “This is the second consecutive year that students accepted the challenge of organizing and holding a safe and alcohol-free Veishea.”

According to Jischke’s statement, administration officials look forward to “the continuation of this very special Iowa State celebration.”

Scott DeSotel, Veishea Central Committee co-chairman, said the committee was extremely pleased with the way Veishea 1999 turned out.

“The weather was really the only major downfall,” said DeSotel, senior in agricultural business. “Even that wasn’t that big of a deal because most of our events were held inside.”

Aimee Lee, Veishea Central Committee co-chairwoman, said students were in support of the annual celebration.

“All of the students were very supportive,” said Lee, senior in public service and administration in agriculture. “They all helped make Veishea the great event it should be.”

Clare Bills, public relations officer for the City of Ames, said city officials were pleased with the small number of arrests during the weekend.

“Well, we’re always happy when we don’t have to arrest students,” she said.

According to a press release from the City of Ames, 44 people were arrested from Friday night to Sunday morning. That involved 54 separate charges, including 29 public intoxication offenses.

Bills said the number of people arrested is less than the number of charges because some individuals had multiples offenses.

The number of arrests is down from last year, when there were 112 arrests.

The number of charges also is drastically reduced from a documented 410 offenses in 1997.

“Having fewer charges lightens our load for months to come in our courts,” Bills said. “So this is really nice for the city.”

Deb Larkin, shift lieutenant for the Department of Public Safety, said that from a law enforcement standpoint, Veishea was a clear-cut success.

“Things went very well,” she said. “It was obviously a very good year.

“It seemed like it was well-planned and well-organized, and everyone was having a good time,” Larkin said.

DPS arrested 41 individuals during the weekend, which also is a significant drop from previous years’ arrests.

“That is quite a few less than last year, which was quite a few less than the year before,” she said.

Larkin also attributed the small number of students at Veishea activities to the weather.

“As far as patrol, there was fewer people out because it was cold, I’m sure,” she said.

Ames Police Chief Dennis Ballantine said during an interview on Welch Avenue Saturday night that his department was experiencing a very uneventful Veishea.

“We’d probably make this many arrests on a normal night,” he said. “I sent some of my officers home a few hours ago to save on overtime because things were so quiet.”

Ballantine said while the crowd at Taste of Veishea was small, people there seemed to be having a good time.

“Sure, it’s really quiet,” he said. “Between people not liking the new Veishea and the new terrible weather, students seem to be staying away in droves. But those that are here all look pretty happy and seem to be having a good time.”

Ballantine said he hoped students would not claim there were more cops on the streets this year.

“Last year, I got accused of bringing all of these extra officers in to town,” he said, “but really we didn’t change a thing. There are just less students, that’s all.”

The three main Veishea-planned concerts — Wild Thing Wednesday, Veishea Center Stage and Dew the Rec — seemed to go well in the eyes of Corey Moss, co-music coordinator for the Veishea entertainment committee.

“Generally, students at all of the events seemed to have a really good time,” said Moss, senior in journalism and mass communication. “The individual events weren’t as diverse as last year, but none of the students that were there had any complaints.”

Moss estimated that 5,000 people were at the Veishea Center Stage concert and about 1,700 attended Dew the Rec.