Opinions are like pants, everybody wears them — well, except nuns. Pretty much though, everybody has an opinion — on certain things anyway.

Veishea is one of those things. On the one hand, you have mobs of mindless dormies marching down Lincoln Way chanting “Fudge Dry Geisha’s,” or something like that.

On the other, you have guys who are like “Huh, the damn cops aren’t going to tell me what to do. I’m going to spend the weekend at my parents’ place in Slater.”

On still another, you have people who are glad that Welch and Chamberlain no longer turn into Sodom and Gomorrah every late April.

At one time, thinking about Veishea was much more aligned. Veishea was a big, destructive, drunken orgy. Period. You either loved it or hated it, but that was about it.

It was the same thing every year. There was a parade, cherry pies, a gaudy Stars Over Veishea musical,and maybe a riot. Whether you approved of the goings on or not, you had to admit: Veishea had a winning formula.

Then one year, there was a stabbing, and the administration decided to mess with the formula.

The funny thing is exactly when they decided it was time for a change. Hundreds of students hurling glass at cops and setting things of fire wasn’t enough to warrant a change, but a couple of hicks having a knife fight was.

Then, “Dry Veishea” was born.

Dry Veishea isn’t entirely different from Veishea. There is still a parade, they still sell cherry pies and SOV is as gaudy as ever.

What has changed is the drunken orgy that ran the length of Welch has been reduced to the Gyro guy, three high school skater kids and a dunk tank.

In place of the orgy, the Veishea committee substitutes the latest top-40 band, a stand-up comedian and maybe a washed-up rapper.

Last year, they tried the Flaming Lips Experiment but soon learned that ISU students would rather listen to good old 107.5 than something new and interesting. Some things never change.

However you look at Dry Veishea, you must admit the formula has changed.

Some people are glad the Veishea committee is working hard to provide entertainment. It is true that they are providing more things “to do” than ever before.

On the other hand, the orgy was something to do. In a lot of ways, the entertainment being thrown at us is merely soma, to make us forget the days of yore.

Whatever your take on Dry Veishea, it is pretty clear they’ve gutted the core of what Veishea was. Maybe all that’s missing is a festering cesspool of alcohol and sin, but dammit, it was our cesspool.

And now that there is no core, there is no simple opinion on Veishea. Remember how I used to say you either loved it or you hated it? Not any more.

Roughly half of students weren’t around in the “good old days,” yet they are the ones screaming loudest that their rights are being infringed on.

A bunch of 19- and 20-year-olds rioted because the rules concerning alcohol aren’t the same as they were at a festival they were never at. Ladies and gentlemen, these are the future leaders of America.

Among older students, the vibe seems to be “let the thing die.” Many of them remember the past, have experienced the present and believe that without the orgy, it’s not worth doing.

Then there’s the students who want to save the dying beast, come hell or high water. These people will smile and eat anything the administration feeds them. These are the students on the Veishea committee who, incidentally, will one day be politicians and yuppies.

So, basically there’s a lot of opinions going around about Veishea. I worked real hard to come up with an opinion of my own to no avail.

I really couldn’t care one way or another about anything to do with it. What I do have an opinion about is people who have an opinion about Veishea.

Whatever happens during the week of Veishea is made insignificant by the amount of bitching I have to listen to the entire year.

Most everybody has their idea of what Veishea should be, and whatever Dry Veishea is, it’s not any of those things.

So, for the better part of every school year, every idiot with a mouth has to shoot it off about how things should be more like the old days or less like the old days or whatever.

I demand to be compensated for the time I’ve spent listening to this garbage. Every minute I have to listen to some twerp spouting off about Veishea is a minute of my life I’m never getting back.

So, whatever you think about Veishea, please don’t tell me about it. If you don’t like the way things are, do something productive about it.

If you don’t feel like doing something productive, sit back, and try to enjoy the show.

Who knows, maybe next year they’ll be able to get Young M.C.

---

Ben Godar is a junior in sociology from Ames. He knows how to bust a move.