Students who chose to skip Friday’s Veishea forum in favor of Halloween fun missed a candid presentation by Government of the Student Body President Rob Wiese and several other GSB senators.

Only six people attended the Veishea forum led by Wiese. The forum was held in the Pioneer Room of the Memorial Union from 3 to 4 p.m.

Wiese expressed his disappointment, but not surprise, at the low turnout.

“When [GSB members] are elected, we had all these ideas [to get people involved],” Wiese said. “No one shows up, but when you make a decision, they’ll jump all over you.”

Wiese said the intent of the forum was to discuss how to take “the regulations from the Veishea weekend and extend them to every weekend.”

One member of the audience agreed with the proposal.

“I think the incidents that happened at Veishea and earlier this year, can happen any weekend, on any campus, and especially at ISU,” said Brian Burkhardt, engineering. “I think the university needs to start treating every weekend with that importance, and with consideration for the students’ safety.”

If that happens, Burkhardt said “the impact and ramifications of going dry for a whole weekend won’t be as traumatic.”

Wiese said alcohol has become an incredible problem at ISU, and not just on Veishea weekend.

“Veishea is not the problem per se,” Wiese said. “Using the regulations for Veishea weekend, is like putting a band-aid on a gaping, open wound. We need to do more than just try to do [a dry] Veishea weekend.”

Wiese acknowledged that many students are angry about the dry Veishea decision, and he said GSB leaders knew there would be some anger from students when they took the pledge.

When recalling past Veishea and Homecoming celebration riots, Wiese and others at the meeting acknowledged that ISU students, not just out-of-town students, cause a fair amount of damage.

Burkhardt, a member of this year’s Homecoming committee, agreed.

“If we have another riot [during this year’s Veishea celebration], our students will lose any credibility that we have in this state,” Wiese said. “The ball’s in our court. If we screw up, we’ve screwed ourselves over, and put ourselves out of getting anything accomplished.”

Citing the latest reports of binge drinking on campus, such as the incident a few weeks ago where freshman Jason Kenyon was hospitalized after drinking a fifth of vodka, Wiese said any attempts at “responsible drinking would be a huge step.”

Wiese said it would be great if everyone followed the Veishea pledge, but realistically, that is not going to happen. Wiese said responsible drinking is something ISU needs to address.

“That sort of [binge] drinking is not only illegal for a lot of people, it’s also unhealthy, and potentially fatal,” Wiese said.

Wiese rejected the notion that college is a time for experimentation with alcohol. “When you have five people OD and go to Mary Greeley [Medical Center] each weekend, that’s not experimenting, that’s just stupid,” he said.

Wiese said there probably will not be another Veishea forum in the near future because of the lack of participation Friday’s forum received.