RIP, Veishea

alarson

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Been there done that. Ask 2004. Apparently only works for a decade before everyone forgets.

Including the police and administration. I put as much blame on them for forgetting those lessons over the years. A lot of the the 2004 recommendations were followed in 06 but fell off after that over time.
 

kingcy

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Then punish those involved, cancel Veishea next year and resume the following with a better plan in place.

They have tired that in the past. It is a cycle. Something bad happens they cancel or water it down, then things go good for awhile and it slowly builds into something bad happening again.
 

Skyh13

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Been there done that. Ask 2004. Apparently only works for a decade before everyone forgets.

You're forgetting the "coming up with a new plan" part. I wasn't there in 03, so I don't know, but were there any substantial changes in the way VEISHEA was done after the 1 year hiatus? 05 was still a pretty darn big VEISHEA as far as I could tell, especially compared to later years. So I'm guessing not.

It isn't just the 1 year cancellation. Come up with a new plan. I still contend VEISHEA was more than just nighttime student activities, although Leath and Co. apparently didn't see it that way.
 

mj4cy

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They have tired that in the past. It is a cycle. Something bad happens they cancel or water it down, then things go good for awhile and it slowly builds into something bad happening again.


So come up with a better plan. It sends a horrible message to the students. It tells them "can't" is a word. You are supposed to be Iowa State....innovative....leading edge. Come up with success. Don't let detractors ruin your best showcase.
 

Section110

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They made the decision that they had to make. It's that simple. Some of you are too blinded by bias that you can't see that. A University as big as Iowa State absolutely can not associate itself with anything that has repeatedly resulted in rioting. Especially when it's their students doing the rioting, and it has become part of the tradition of the particular event being discussed. You add to the fact that a kid was almost killed last year as a result of the rioting and this is what you get. If the University had reinstated VEISHEA there would have been a whole can of worms in terms of potential legal battles in the future that they would have had to worry about.

Think about this...
- It's obvious rioting was becoming a part of VIESHEA
- Had VEISHEA continued and another riot occurred ISU could have absolutely been held accountable for any damages, injuries, or deaths that were the result of it because they knew in advance there was a good chance it could happen and they chose to proceed with the event anyways. There's really very little that can be done in terms of law enforcement to prevent a riot. The only fool proof way to prevent a riot is to eliminate the event.

In today's day and age, when a red flag is waving you had better take notice. That's what they did. They made a hard choice, but it was the right one.
 

RubyClone

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Seconded. This task force did nothing to truly evaluate the root causes of the problem and whether past recommendations were even being followed anymore. A few idiots causing a relatively small amount of damage every few years is nothing compared to the value VEISHEA brought to ISU and the city of Ames every single year, not to mention the opportunity it brought for alumni to reunite.

Mark my words, with nothing really being done to address the root issues, and campustown getting more and more densely populated (see the two tall buildings going up now, and id imagine more will come) if the root issues arent addressed i'd guess we'll see similar issues in a future spring. It may not be next year, or the year after (its not like we had veishea riots every year either) but something will happen eventually because nobody has addressed the real causes.

What are the root issues?
 

WrestlerJJE

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I wonder what events they will come up with because I would be absolutely clueless on what to plan!
 

Fitzy

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I just laugh when it's referenced that "student safety" is one of the main reasons they cancelled VEISHEA.

Those fools in the mob should know everything they're getting themselves into when they take part in those actions. Threat of injury included. It's not the University's responsibility.
 

kingcy

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So come up with a better plan. It sends a horrible message to the students. It tells them "can't" is a word. You are supposed to be Iowa State....innovative....leading edge. Come up with success. Don't let detractors ruin your best showcase.

If you keep in going in some way it sends a message to the students you can cause problems and face no punishment. They have tried different things in the past to stop this thing from happening, yet it still builds into something like this happening.
 

DFWClone

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Leath is just the worst. But veishea will be back eventually. A future president will want to "up" his popularity and will bring it back.

That said, will we still have a concert this year? What will we have this year? Anyone have an idea?
 

alarson

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If you keep in going in some way it sends a message to the students you can cause problems and face no punishment. They have tried different things in the past to stop this thing from happening, yet it still builds into something like this happening.

Periodic issues happen with every event though. I dont see anyone demanding the state fair end because of the idiots that turn up for that nearly every year. Ending VEISHEA because of the actions of a few idiots is a knee jerk response and does nothing to punish those that actually did anything... it just punishes the 99% that enjoyed veishea and had no part in the problematic acts.
 

RubyClone

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I just laugh when it's referenced that "student safety" is one of the main reasons they cancelled VEISHEA.

Those fools in the mob should know everything they're getting themselves into when they take part in those actions. Threat of injury included. It's not the University's responsibility.

While common sense says you're absolutely correct, the American judicial system in civil judgements seems to veer away often from such common sense....
 
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agrabes

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Seconded. This task force did nothing to truly evaluate the root causes of the problem and whether past recommendations were even being followed anymore. A few idiots causing a relatively small amount of damage every few years is nothing compared to the value VEISHEA brought to ISU and the city of Ames every single year, not to mention the opportunity it brought for alumni to reunite.

Mark my words, with nothing really being done to address the root issues, and campustown getting more and more densely populated (see the two tall buildings going up now, and id imagine more will come) if the root issues arent addressed i'd guess we'll see similar issues in a future spring. It may not be next year, or the year after (its not like we had veishea riots every year either) but something will happen eventually because nobody has addressed the real causes.

The root cause is pretty simple, imo. There is a culture of rioting around VEISHEA. Everyone, even people who have no desire to ever riot, think about riots when they think of VEISHEA. We joke about it, and that's fine, but those jokes give the idiots the idea that maybe they should actually riot. I think this year's riot was a direct result of that. You can't attribute it to angry people reacting to a police crackdown, it was just a bunch of people in the same place who thought it was the VEISHEA thing to do to flip cars. I highly doubt that riots will just occur in the future without VEISHEA. Look at Iowa City, or any other college with a concentrated college bar area. They don't have riots, not even one every 10 years. A high density of people in a college bar area does not lead to rioting. Ames and VEISHEA have a much higher rate of rioting than other comparable college towns and I highly doubt that Ames or ISU PD police practices are significantly different than those of other college police. How do you, as the president of ISU, explain why your school has riots every 10 years when Sally Mason over at U of I does not ever have riots?
 

ribsnwhiskey

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I grew up in Ames, am an ISU alum and remember the days when VESHEIA friday was a local holiday. And yet, this decision doesn't seem to really bother me. For the people blaming the administration and task force for doing this, get real. The first "riot" was in 1988. That was the beginning of the end. When it made national news, it went from local celebration to a weeklong drunkfest. Over 26 years, many things were attempted to change that and none of them worked. Don't blame the powers that be for making this decision, the only ones to blame are the morons and students who over the years have treated it as nothing but an excuse to get drunk and party.
 

A-town Cy

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Unfortunately I think Veishea was going to see another riot in the near future due to these factors -> Social Media (people can gather quicker than ever), more & more students living in campustown with new apartment complexes going in the area, fewer bars to handle crowds.
 

00clone

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Then punish those involved, cancel Veishea next year and resume the following with a better plan in place.


Whoa...moderators can respond to posts before they're made....

But...This has been tried...several times.

Not that I'm in favor of banning it, but that's not going to work, hasn't before.