Iowa State students arrested for alcohol-related offenses during Veishea were reminded of their crimes with disciplinary action enforced by the university.

Promoting a dry Veishea dramatically reduced the number of arrests from 500 in 1997 to 150 during last April’s celebration. Only 38 of the 1998 Veishea arrests involved ISU students, but each of these cases was reviewed by the university, which promised to execute several levels of action.

Punishments for the offenders ranged from a disciplinary reprimand, which is an official warning and written notice to the student, to deferred suspension, under which the student cannot serve as an officer of a student organization and immediate suspension follows further violation of the student code, said John McCarroll, director of university relations.

McCarroll was interviewed about possible university action earlier this summer. At the time, he said consequences were to be based on the seriousness of the violation to the student conduct code.

The university surveyed Ames Police and Department of Public Safety incident reports to identify students who were in violation of the code or involved in arrests, McCarroll said.

“It is not unusual to face [both civil and university] consequences for these violations,” McCarroll said. He said students in question have already faced civil action.

McCarroll said last year’s Veishea pledge was an overall success in reducing the number of arrests.

“I’d like to think students took the [dry Veishea] pledge very seriously,” he said. “Certainly the fact that the students were disciplined shows the university followed through with what they said they would do.”

Substance abuse assessments and screenings were required and recommended for most students who violated dry Veishea policies by receiving a minor in possession or intoxication charges.