Editor’s note: “10 Questions” is part of a weekly series in which a prominent person in the Iowa State and Ames communities is interviewed. To suggest someone for an interview, submit an e-mail request to [email protected]. This week’s interview is with Scott DeSotel and Aimee Lee, Veishea Central Committee co-chairs. DeSotel is a senior in agricultural business, and Lee is a senior in public service and administration in agriculture.

What do you do as co-chairs of Veishea?

AL: Scott and I were selected last spring and started off in the summer with some of the university officials to get the ball rolling. We talked about how the student groups needed to take the pledge for an alcohol-free Veishea. We then selected a 23-member executive board and oversaw all their interviewing for their committees.

SD: We work as liaisons between the City of Ames, the university and student groups. We act as spokespeople for Veishea.

What have you learned from last year’s co-chairs, and what will you be doing differently?

SD: We try and keep good records of everything because Veishea is continually evolving, and it helps to have something to go by. AL: What we’ve learned from them is just being here as much as possible. We meet with our advisers once a week to hash out any problems before our Thursday night meeting.

What are your goals this year for Veishea?

SD: One was to increase community service, to make sure the City of Ames knew that we are very thankful for the support they give us.

Two, to increase student participation. It’s been down the past year, and I think this year we just want people to come out, have a good time and participate in the tournaments.

What do you look for when selecting executive committee members?

AL: It’s not necessary, but if they have past experience, that it is good because they know how the system works. But if someone has outstanding leadership qualities and is a great communicator … then it doesn’t matter because it’s always great to bring new blood into the organization.

SD: The ability to work with other students is the key.

How do think this year’s Veishea will turn out?

AL: From everything we’ve seen so far this year, ticket sales at this time last year weren’t really even selling because we didn’t know who the bands were. Our ticket sales this year are doing great so far, and we still have two weeks before our events take place.

There are more student groups taking part in open houses, cultural festivals and international food fairs. We’ve had a ton of entries for the parade.

I also think students’ attitudes are a lot better this year. Last year, everybody was scared of change. Even people on Veishea were scared, thinking, “Is this going to work?” And this year, being the second year, they’re thinking “Hey, that wasn’t so bad; we had a good time.”

So do you think there has been more of an acceptance of alcohol-free Veishea among students?

SD: I think it’s still going to take a few years, but eventually people are going to understand that it’s something that happened because it needed to.

AL: There are universities around the nation that have tried to have alcohol-free events and flopped, so they end up canceling them. Last year, Iowa State did an amazing thing. The students should be proud of what they did.

Have you had any difficulties in the preparations for Veishea?

SD: One of our biggest challenges has been that Veishea is continually getting bigger and just managing everything and making sure that communication lines stay open.

How have you been handling the different reactions from students about Veishea?

AL: I guess one thing you could talk about was what happened out at Towers. Our opinion of that was that we really didn’t consider it a riot … it really wasn’t even that huge. I think most of the students were there for fun, and not for reasons surrounding Veishea.

SD: We’re a student-run organization, and one thing we encourage is input from students. One thing we realized is that we can’t make people have fun and that’s the biggest challenge: getting people with these attitudes to open up a little, just to try it out.

How did you come up with this year’s theme “Building the Future,” and what is it supposed to encompass?

AL: Our executive board chooses the theme, and we spent one night going through suggestions.

One good point that was brought up was that in years past, [Veishea] has focused on the past, [such as past themes] “A Time For Change,” “Celebrating 75 Years of Leadership” and “Continuing Iowa’s Heritage.” But Veishea is kind of over the past. It’s a great tradition, but we’re looking towards the future and setting a precedent.

What is the thing you’re most looking forward to at Veishea?

AL: There is no specific event that I’m looking forward to because we have fun at every event we go to. When I was on the executive board, it was always fun to go see the event that you planned and see it come together.

I think it’ll be nice to watch the students who have worked on the events and to let them be in the spotlight and enjoy their time.