The Veishea decision has been made. There will be a Veishea 1998.

In reality, most students, including myself, aren’t that surprised by President Jischke’s decision. I attended the announcement last week, and I pretty much anticipated the exact words that flowed from Jischke’s mouth.

Veishea has a history at Iowa State. For 75 years, it has intended to be a “showcase” of the university. In fact, it used to be a mighty recruitment tool for high school juniors and seniors. Since then, that has changed. Everyone is fully aware of these facts.

Okay, traditions are great. It’s fantastic to have traditions that remind you of when you were a kid — things like going to grandma’s house for the holidays, attending midnight mass on Christmas Eve, picking out your birthday cake flavor and family vacations.

But times change and people grow up. It’s nice to continue traditions because it reminds us of the original purpose and meaning of events and celebrations.

But times change.

Since its first year in 1922, Veishea has changed.

Veishea began before the stock market crash, before the Great Depression, before World War II, before the Cold War, Vietnam, Korea, Watergate and much, much more.

Then, most of the students at Iowa State College were quite homogenous in demographical characteristics.

Today, students are different on many scales. There is a more diverse student body that has faced a variety of social, economical and psychological experiences. Students are from the city and the farm, from large families with two parents and from broken families, from rich and poor heritages. Life is different for students today than it was 75 years ago.

And although Veishea is a great tradition, its focus has rightly changed with the students that attend ISU. The original meaning of the celebration has changed.

That leaves me wondering whether Veishea will continue past 1998.

It is ridiculous to think and imagine that Veishea could be the same. But it is nice to hope.

Realistically, the problems that have evolved with Veishea can’t be solved within a year. It took years for Veishea to become what it is today, whether or not you like what that is. It is not going to instantly return back to its original meaning.

Each little town in Iowa has its own yearly celebration, whether that be the Fourth of July, the Centennial, Heritage Days, Lincoln Highway Days or Panorama Days. Veishea is the Iowa State community’s celebration.

It’s great to recruit students to ISU, but shouldn’t we also focus the celebration toward the current students? I remember I was invited to come to Ames during Veishea when I was in high school, but I thought Veishea was a celebration for the students, not the possible incoming ones. I thought that high schoolers were only a minute part of the celebration.

Yes, Veishea needs to change, but I don’t think it should solely be a showcase for the university. There is more to ISU than that. There are students here, and without the unique combination of these students, Iowa State wouldn’t have much to showcase.

And yes, alcohol is a problem at Veishea, just as it is every other weekend in a college town. Jischke has said that Veishea must run smoothly, or else. But what does that really mean?

Student leaders are telling everyone to expect a Veishea that is drastically different. But if they are looking to make Veishea alcohol-free and maintain the celebration beyond this year, there is a lot of work to be done.

Although the pledge has been made in various student bodies, there is a large part of the ISU population that doesn’t support the Veishea pledge. At first, I didn’t support the pledge, and I am still unsure about it because I don’t think it will solve the deep-down problems Veishea has. To me, it is simply a cosmetic solution for Veishea.

I am unsure what the pledge means. I know that it means going alcohol-free, but what sort of ramifications will there be for students? I understand that many of the logistics of Veishea are still in the planning stages, but I sincerely hope there will be things to attract more students to the official Veishea activities.

I am also worried the crackdown on students will become too harsh.

Nearly all ISU students realize that, as a minor, it isn’t that difficult to drink during Veishea —ÿunless you are stupid about it. Also, there is a problem with drunken driving. Toughening up on those and other fronts is important.

However, I am left wondering what the pledge means for people who are of legal drinking age. Are people who are at least 21 going to be in trouble if they are consuming an alcoholic beverage in a restaurant or drinking establishment just because they are ISU students? That is an important question to ponder.

Yes, there are many problems with Veishea that need to be solved, but ISU needs to work especially hard at organizing and planning the celebration this year.

We need to look deep down at what needs to be fixed, at the need for Veishea to be focused on the students and at what the pledge means beyond being “safe and alcohol-free.”

Not only do we need to understand that Veishea has changed and it will be difficult to reshape it, but students need to know what to expect of Veishea 1998.

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Erin Payne is a senior in journalism and mass communication and political science from Rock Rapids.