The Inter-Residence Hall Association will decide tonight whether the residence halls will be alcohol free during Veishea 1999.

Iowa State President Martin Jischke announced last week that if students and student organizations once again pledge to make Veishea alcohol free, the show will go on.

Unless anyone wants to discuss the issue further, the association of 25 students will vote on the Veishea pledge bill during tonight’s meeting, said Ben Chamberlain, president of IRHA and senior in agricultural studies and agricultural business.

Under the bill, anyone caught drinking in the residence halls, including 21 year olds, will be written up and dealt with however IRHA decides, said Eric Anderson, Towers Residence Association president and senior in computer engineering.

Some IRHA members said ISU students have reacted positively toward the bill.

Anderson said the rule did not seem to bother students at Towers once it was explained to them.

“If we don’t explain it, it will come off as a negative thing, and there’ll be a lot of rumors about it,” he said.

Last year, students were told the rule was not a “crackdown,” and students would not be “severely punished,” Anderson said.

Anderson said no one checks refrigerators for alcohol during the weekend.

Amy Sywassink, director of conferences for IRHA and sophomore in chemical engineering, said the rule is intended to help keep Veishea safe.

“[The purpose] is to have a successful spring activity that promotes our school rather than drinking,” Sywassink said. “If people can’t go one weekend without alcohol, that’s a problem.”

The rule’s purpose is to tame Veishea, Anderson said. He said student behavior at Towers was significantly improved during last year’s Veishea.

“The students were better during Veishea last year than they were during any other weekend,” he said.

Anderson, who also is a Towers Student Security supervisor, noted that there were no incidents reported, no noise violations and no alcohol violations at Towers during Veishea ’98.

In past years, Chamberlain said, alcohol consumption during Veishea was very obvious.

“Any time you get people living in such a close proximity to each other and you add alcohol into the mix [of] nice weather and a festive weekend, [that’s] always a recipe for a problem,” he said.

The Veishea rule is important, Anderson said.

“I think Veishea is too important of a celebration to lose because we can’t give up alcohol,” he said.

Chamberlain also said he hopes the bill will pass.

“It shows the residence halls are committed to making Veishea successful,” Chamberlain said. “We’re supportive of the mission of dry Veishea.”