Whether Veishea ’98, “A Time for Change,” was enjoyable for the Cyclone Family is uncertain, but statistics show that this year’s celebration evoked considerably less trouble.

The total of arrests this year decreased dramatically from last year’s numbers. While 410 arrests and citations were issued during both nights of Veishea ’97, this year produced only 112 arrests and citations, according to a City of Ames press release.

As of press time, 59 arrests were recorded Friday evening, 26 of which involved non-residents. On Saturday evening, a total of 53 people were arrested, 35 of whom were non-residents.

Kathryn Whitaker, general co-chairwoman of the Veishea committee, said this year’s celebration was a success.

“We’re extremely, extremely happy with the way the weekend went,” Whitaker told a crowd at Veishea’s closing ceremonies Sunday.

Whitaker and Veishea co-chairman Ben Dohrmann also thanked the greek system, the Government of the Student Body, the Veishea committee, the residence halls and the Cyclone Family — Iowa State students, faculty and staff, their families, alumni and members of the Ames community, for the celebration’s success.

Dohrmann said this year’s celebration was a “great opportunity” for ISU students to show they care about Veishea.

Whitaker said although this year’s celebration “laid the foundation” for a positive celebration in the future, “we still have a lot of challenges ahead.”

Thomas Hill, vice president for student affairs, said efforts from the ISU community for a safer Veishea were beneficial.

“My reaction is the strategy worked, and the strategy was to focus on the Cyclone Family, and apparently, that’s exactly what happened,” he said.

Hill said many students had positive reactions to their Veishea experiences.

“I thought they had a real good time,” he said.

Dan Woodfill, junior in marketing, said he thought this year’s celebration was enjoyable.

“I thought it went better than I expected it to go,” he said.

Loras Jaeger, director of the Department of Public Safety, said the difference between this year’s Veishea and those of the past is substantial.

“Students took the challenge seriously and did a phenomenal job,” he said. “My hat goes off to the greek system and residence halls [for their efforts].”

Hill said he believed many student organizations stepped up to the challenge of “staying dry.”

“You look at the groups that took the pledge; they were out in front, and they were making a commitment,” he said. “They took the lead, which is what we need. They stepped up to the plate.”

Hill said he was pleased the greek system honored the Veishea pledge.

“I’m very proud of the greek system,” he said. “That’s where a lot of the things have happened, and they took care of their business.”

Jaeger said DPS initially was uncertain about Veishea’s outcome this year, and he admitted to some “apprehension” as to whether students would accept the challenge of keeping the largest student-run festival alcohol-free.

Jaeger said one of the most significant statistics was the number of underage persons DPS arrested this year for possessing alcohol — only two students were cited.

Last year, more than 100 underage persons were arrested, he said.

“That tells me a couple of things. No. 1, students understood the challenge at hand; No. 2, there was not tremendous influx of underage students [as with past Veisheas],” Jaeger said.

Jaeger said the enormous amount of publicity surrounding Veishea prompted many students to stay alcohol-free.

Hill said students were concerned about the future of the celebration.

“They wanted to preserve the tradition. If you take a look at what has happened this academic year around the nation, there have been serious problems with alcohol,” Hill said, noting that an ISU student nearly died last week from binge drinking on his birthday.

Jaeger said he felt there was optimism around the university about possibilities of alcohol-free and safe Veisheas in the future.

“We may be on track to turning Veishea around,” he said.

Jaeger added that concern for alcohol abuse should not be focused only on Veishea.

“The [new] ordinances weren’t just put in place for Veishea,” he said. “There’s a serious attitude, and not just for Veishea … we’ve got to deal with [alcohol abuse]. It’s a very serious problem.