It’s almost here.

Most students at Iowa State now have their minds on Veishea weekend, but for 370 ISU students, Veishea has been on their minds for quite some time.

Planning for Veishea ’97, “Celebrating 75 Years of Leadership,” has been going on for nearly a year. About 370 Iowa State students are involved with a variety of Veishea committees this year.

General co-chairs Daniel Faidley and Stephanie Carney Michaels are heading up this year’s festivities. Faidley is a senior in agricultural business and a member of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity. Carney Michaels is a senior in elementary education and a member of Kappa Delta sorority.

Both Faidley and Carney Michaels have been involved with Veishea since they were freshmen. Both also said they have always wanted to be co-chairs.

“I always wanted to be on the executive board and when I became friends with Daniel we ran as a pair,” Carney Michaels said.

Faidley and Carney Michaels were the only pair to run last spring and were named co-chairs during Dead Week.

Faidley and Carney Michaels were selected by the 1996 Veishea general co-chairs, the Veishea advisers and six to eight representatives from the community and university.

“The business manager was also selected during Dead Week in order to take care of finances and settle up the books during the summer,” Faidley said.

In late September, Faidley and Carney Michaels began campus-wide recruitment for co-chairs for the 13 Veishea committees. In mid-October, students interviewed for the remaining positions in the committees.

The 13 Veishea committees include Ambassadors, Business, Educational Outreach, Entertainment, Executive Secretary, Marketing, Open House, Operations, Parade, Public Relations, Special Events, Stars Over Veishea and Tournaments.

About 60 percent of the students involved in Veishea are in the greek system, and most of the committees have about 12-20 members, Faidley said.

“Usually freshmen start out as a Veishea aide or a parade aide or on a larger committee like Marketing and step up,” Faidley said.

“Veishea is so unique because students have the ability to create new events and change events,” Carney Michaels said. “Many other organizations go by the book all of the time. Veishea is flexible.”