Veishea ’98 seems to be saturated with slogans, mottos, pledges, what have you.

“Veishea ’98: A Time For Change.”

“Dry Veishea.”

“The Cyclone Family.”

With this array of politically correct BS, I wanted to add my own slogan to the celebration. It is inspired by the title song from the Toasters’ new release, “Don’t Let The Bastards Grind You Down.”

I believe this is the perfect slogan for all the “adult” ISU students that had no real voice in the “AlcoholFree Veishea” decision.

I personally don’t care whether I drink or not during Veishea weekend, although I would have appreciated having the choice of whether or not I would drink. I am 21, after all, and I can legally make that decision any other weekend for myself.

It seems that off-campus students were overlooked last fall when this came up for a vote. The only time a booth was set up for off-campus students was when ISU wanted people to sign “The Veishea Pledge.”

The students that voted for an alcohol-free Veishea were primarily underage students who live in the residence halls and SHOULD NOT be drinking anyway. It should not matter if it is Veishea weekend or not, if you are underage and drinking in the residence halls, action should be taken by the university. Why? Because you are breaking the law!

From my conversations with some residents of Buchanan Hall, they never had a vote concerning dry Veishea either. Of course Buchanan was avoided — it is graduate housing, and they would have probably opposed it. An accurate vote would probably not have had the desired result.

I assume it is far easier for a student decision to be acceptable when only half of the student body is allowed a documented opinion. For everyone whose voice has not been heard, I give you a rallying cry. “Don’t let the bastards grind you down!”

The students over the age of 21 have been targeted. We have become guilty until proven innocent. The administration seems to believe that we cannot make an adult decision. The press seems to have decided that we are the cause of any problems as well.

If you are 21 and live in the residence halls, go to Iowa City for the weekend. Chain and lock an empty fridge in your room and see if the police state decided you were a “potential problem.”

I find the whole “Cyclone Family” concept ridiculous. Our drunken cousins from around the state still have nothing to do except drink while in Ames. ISU students face drastic ramifications for their actions during the weekend, but out-of-towners only face a possible arrest. While the “Cyclone Family” enjoys the concert, our cousins will be causing trouble. The great planning to avoid previous problems has hardly come close to actually solving problems of the past celebrations.

I don’t support drunken rioting, or sober rioting for that matter. If you want to drink, do it in your own home. Just do not become a “nuisance,” since the Ames police distributed convenient pamphlets for ratting out the neighbors.

I believe that the Daily or some other organization should be allowed to search the Knoll for any alcohol on the premises. President Jischke does live on campus and should be treated like everyone else. Perhaps Milton McGriff and Allan Nosworthy could kill two birds with one stone.

I want people to realize I am not supporting a drunk-fest. I just want the university to realize that the students do not need to be subjected to a police state. Why should we be guilty for the mistakes of others?

Grind us down as far as you want; I will get back up and start again. No one knows for sure what will happen this weekend. Most outlooks are pretty grim. Keep in mind it is our fault, because the easiest problem to detect HAS to be the one to blame.

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Andrew Seitz is a junior in art and design from Dyersville.