With Veishea only a week away and student sentiment heated on the status of the celebration, two Iowa State juniors are taking the opportunity to voice their opinions.

Brandon Riley, junior in psychology, and Robert Deisz, junior in biochemistry, will be holding a Veishea protest today from noon until 3 p.m., although the pair is concentrating on the way the celebration is run instead of the celebration itself.

“What we want to do is raise awareness with the administration and the student government that there are people that feel what’s going on isn’t right,” Deisz said.

The students aren’t protesting Veishea’s alcohol-free status. Instead, they’re protesting the way the supposedly student-run celebration is conducted, with administrators having a large hand in what goes on.

“The main point [of the protest] is the loss of student control — not alcohol,” Deisz said.

The two don’t endorse the riots two weeks ago, during which students chanted “Fuck dry Veishea,”and they don’t want the festival to disappear, but they do want to let people know that all students aren’t happy about who’s really in charge.

Riley and Deisz have a good point about Veishea. But more importantly, they’re doing something about it.

It’s been far too long since students on this campus have cared about anything enough to do something constructive.

(And no, yelling epithets about the Hawkeyes does not count as something constructive.)

There is obviously a good percentage of students disgruntled about the way Veishea is run. If that group includes you, stop complaining and do something about it.

Show up at the free speech zone west of The Hub and show your support for Riley and Deisz. Maybe even make a little speech of your own.

The university administration may not value student opinion about “the largest student-run celebration in the country,” but some influential people will be on hand at the protest.

Veishea co-chairwoman Aimee Lee e-mailed the members of the various Veishea committees asking them to come to the protest — wearing Veishea clothing — to listen to the protesters.

So if you go, you’ll have the opportunity to tell the Veishea student-leaders exactly what you think of where our celebration is headed.

And maybe, just maybe, students’ opinions will once again make an impact at ISU.