Martin Jischke set down an ultimatum: either we have a dry Veishea or no Veishea at all.

He was forced to act, and this is what he came up with. He asked for the support of the five student leadership programs (GSB, Inter-Residence Hall Association, Inter-Fraternity Council, Panhellenic Council and Veishea Executive Board), and he got it. It doesn’t matter how much support the student organizations give to a cause; without the students’ support, it’s not possible.

Students who go out to celebrate a special time of year and who have a few drinks responsibly are being punished. Is this the best solution to the problem? Is this really going to stop us from getting together with some friends and drinking?

A lot of students came to college tired of being regulated by their parents. They are ready cut loose and do whatever they want.

Does Jischke honestly think these students are going to follow this “pledge” not to drink? A lot of them are going to laugh at Jischke’s feeble attempt to regulate their social lives and will drink more.

Prohibiting drinking will lead to more off-campus parties, and some of these parties will end up drawing record crowds, opening the door for several potential problems.

At least when drinking was allowed on campus, the law enforcement officers could concentrate their efforts on this relatively contained area and minimize the problems.

How are they going to keep off- campus parties that are spread all over Ames from getting out of control? It won’t just be a university problem; it will city-wide problem. The people who are going to have to face consequences of all the large parties are neighbors. They will have to deal with more noise, possible damage to their property or even riots.

There really aren’t a whole lot of solutions to the Veishea problems except to cancel it altogether. But this would be unfair to people who are responsibly having a good time and to whose who celebrate Veishea for its tradition.

Another solution that has been thrown around is a one-year moratorium. This would give Jischke and the student groups more time to come up with better solutions, but what will they come up with in the next year that they haven’t thought of in the last six months?

However, a moratorium would show some students what they would be missing out on if Veishea didn’t exist.

The decision to limit drinking for Veishea is not up to Jischke and his administrators. It is up to me students who choose to drink. Instead of telling us we can’t drink, why can’t we be encouraged to have a good time and drink responsibly?

There should campaigns directed toward safe drinking on Veishea.

Encourage friends to be careful, and always think about current condition before you drink. All Jischke can really do is cancel Veishea altogether. It is up to us keep the celebration alive and act responsibly.

Benjamin Good

Junior

Industrial technology