Members of Leath's "Veishea Task Force" Announced

[ImJustKCClone]

They could have been chanting Hallelujah but that wouldn't make it a tent revival...

 

[Cycsk]

I really hope the task force ends up looking at all options and isn't just a convenient set of names for Leath to blame an unpopular decision on. Having someone like Woody on there gives me hope that is not the case, but who knows.

My earlier post was trying to make the point that I think there are lots of people on this committee who will approach it from a perspective of valuing VEISHEA as a tradition and therefore won't be arbitrary and rash in making a recommendation that harms the tradition.

 

[CycloneErik]

They could have been chanting Hallelujah but that wouldn't make it a tent revival...

If it happened around a tent revival, it would call those meetings into question.

I hope they have the guts to pull the plug forever. That VEISHEA name has been connected to this stuff for a couple decades now. That's enough time and enough people involved to prove the culture won't be changing.

 

[3TrueFans]

I would say the woman who is the vice pres of the "south campus neighborhood assn" might be a tad bit anti-VEISHEA. However, once again, that would be the wrong target for her ire. VEISHEA itself is family friendly. The damage was the result of a drunken mob.

It's not like VEISHEA is an irrelevant part of the equation, I don't remember many rioting mobs on non-VEISHEA weeks.

 

[ImJustKCClone]

Having talked to people who were there last week, I hear talk from folks who think tipping cars and knocking over light poles is fun. I've even heard some say that the kid who got hit by the pole was partly responsible because he wasn't paying attention. Everyone else knew to move out of the way.

A neighborhood association person may be able help the committee address the mindset of partiers who seem to need to establish a few guidelines, such as "no car tipping" and "no knocking over light poles."

Good point. I understand why she would be a part of it. Just didn't think she would necessarily be on the supportive side. Did the drinking start in the bars that night, or did it start at house parties?

 

[ImJustKCClone]

It's not like VEISHEA is an irrelevant part of the equation, I don't remember many rioting mobs on non-VEISHEA weeks.

No, although we've had high arrest numbers on football weekends. The thing is, the more we persist with the connection, the more it remains. If we start combating the impression that the "riot" (drunken mob, really, in comparison to the first one) is a "part" of VEISHEA, maybe we will win back some currency. The only way to get the VEISHEA part of VEISHEA back to the forefront is to start condemning the "it's VEISHEA - time to be blottoed for a week" attitude.

 

[abe2010]

I really hope the task force ends up looking at all options and isn't just a convenient set of names for Leath to blame an unpopular decision on. Having someone like Woody on there gives me hope that is not the case, but who knows.

I think Woody at least will give us a straight answer about what happens in the meetings

 

[ImJustKCClone]

If it happened around a tent revival, it would call those meetings into question.

I hope they have the guts to pull the plug forever. That VEISHEA name has been connected to this stuff for a couple decades now. That's enough time and enough people involved to prove the culture won't be changing.

Certainly nothing will change if we give up...except the loss of a great tradition that has been corrupted.

 

[CyFan61]

If it happened around a tent revival, it would call those meetings into question.

I hope they have the guts to pull the plug forever. That VEISHEA name has been connected to this stuff for a couple decades now. That's enough time and enough people involved to prove the culture won't be changing.

If you mean pull the plug on the "VEISHEA" name, then I might agree with you. Re-creating the event and returning it to its original purpose is probably the best way to go. Ditching any sort of spring celebration of Iowa State is an awful idea. It's one of our proudest traditions.

 

[MNCyGuy]

If it happened around a tent revival, it would call those meetings into question.

I hope they have the guts to pull the plug forever. That VEISHEA name has been connected to this stuff for a couple decades now. That's enough time and enough people involved to prove the culture won't be changing.

I hope they don't outright kill it. I could stomach a multi-year hiatus if they thought it was necessary and I was tentatively supportive of cancelling this year to send a message if it lead to something more nuanced going forward. Ending it forever really does seem knee-jerky and cowardly though.

 

[CycloneErik]

Certainly nothing will change if we give up...except the loss of a great tradition that has been corrupted.

Eh. Traditions change. Life moves on.

 

[Cycsk]

There are two streams of promotion for VEISHEA. 1) promotion of the cool activities, parades, etc. 2) promotion of the partying with a lenience related to riotous behavior. I think something needs to be done to separate the two. For instance, a PR campaign that identifies the riots as something other than VEISHEA.

"The V in VEISHEA doesn't stand for Violence!"

 

[3TrueFans]

No, although we've had high arrest numbers on football weekends. The thing is, the more we persist with the connection, the more it remains. If we start combating the impression that the "riot" (drunken mob, really, in comparison to the first one) is a "part" of VEISHEA, maybe we will win back some currency. The only way to get the VEISHEA part of VEISHEA back to the forefront is to start condemning the "it's VEISHEA - time to be blottoed for a week" attitude.

I don't think ignoring the correlation between the two will accomplish much. I don't see how you can keep VEISHEA going as planned in the future and also try to change that perception though, I think it either needs a name change or to be gone for multiple years and then bring it back in a revamped fashion.

 

[Cycsk]

I could see the mob effect being changed dramatically by a handful of people who "seem" like participants, but who are really gathering evidence for the police to make arrests. If the City announces that it had planted "moles," perhaps that will be a deterrent to things going too far, especially if the police are able to make dozens of arrests immediately following the incidents. So far, the threat of arrests hasn't seem to have been realized very much.

Yes, this is another example of old people "ruining" social media for the young!

 

[MNCyGuy]

How much would it cost to get someone like Rhoads or Woody, basically anyone a drunk ISU student might actually recognize and listen to, camped out with a megaphone on Welch ready to calm things down at the first sign of a mob forming?

 

[3TrueFans]

How much would it cost to get someone like Rhoads or Woody, basically anyone a drunk ISU student might actually recognize and listen to, camped out with a megaphone on Welch ready to calm things down at the first sign of a mob forming?

I don't really see that making any sort of impact.

 

[ImJustKCClone]

Eh. Traditions change. Life moves on.

This may seem off-topic, but bear with me here. We spent a little time traveling around Great Britain a few years back. One of the things that blew me away was the sheer age of some of the buildings. They have oak trees in Cornwall that are older than than the landing on Plymouth Rock. It's awe-inspiring.

In this country, we tear down to build new. There's not a lot of history or tradition that lingers. Houses more than 100 years old are becoming increasingly rare, unless there is a local preservation society.

Yes, life moves on. And traditions change. I just think we (as a nation, and as ISU fans) are becoming terribly nonchalant about the things that have made us US.

 

[ImJustKCClone]

I don't really see that making any sort of impact.

It worked when Johnny Orr & Jim Walden did it...

 

[CycloneErik]

This may seem off-topic, but bear with me here. We spent a little time traveling around Great Britain a few years back. One of the things that blew me away was the sheer age of some of the buildings. They have oak trees in Cornwall that are older than than the landing on Plymouth Rock. It's awe-inspiring.

In this country, we tear down to build new. There's not a lot of history or tradition that lingers. Houses more than 100 years old are becoming increasingly rare, unless there is a local preservation society.

Yes, life moves on. And traditions change. I just think we (as a nation, and as ISU fans) are becoming terribly nonchalant about the things that have made us US.

Having seen what VEISHEA is or has become, it hasn't done us very well.
Traditions with value are worth preserving. Traditions without value aren't worth preserving. When one has this negative connotation, it's not worth preserving.

 

[ImJustKCClone]

Having seen what VEISHEA is or has become, it hasn't done us very well.
Traditions with value are worth preserving. Traditions without value aren't worth preserving. When one has this negative connotation, it's not worth preserving.

So you would allow people who overindulge in alcohol in the last 20 years to end a 100+ year FAMILY tradition? That just doesn't sit well with me. I'd rather fight the apparent "need" to get drunk & distructive.