By PATRICK CONDON
Associated Press Writer
AMES, Iowa (AP) - A day after a festival near the Iowa State University campus turned riotous, the school's president said he will shut down the yearly event unless he can be assured there will be no more violence.
``The question in my mind is, can that be achieved?'' President Greg Geoffroy said Monday in an interview with The Associated Press.
Geoffroy said he will decide the festival's fate by next week, after consulting with administrators, students, and business and community leaders.
More than 1,000 people vandalized cars, broke storefront windows and tore down street lights in the mayhem early Sunday.
Officers broke up the crowd with tear gas and arrested about 30 people on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to assaulting a police officer.
The student-organized Veishea celebration began in 1922. The acronym derives from the names of various schools at the university. It has had disturbances before.
``It's almost as if there are two Veisheas - there's a daytime Veishea that's wonderful, that showcases the university and everything it has to offer, and there's a nighttime Veishea that becomes problematic when these parties get out of control,'' Geoffroy said.
The university barred alcohol from being served at the event after a man was killed in the hours after the 1997 celebration. Neither the victim nor his two assailants were Iowa State students.
Several riots followed Veishea celebrations in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The preliminary estimate of damage to city-owned property was $100,000, said Andrew Tugan, the student representative on the Ames City Council. Businesses still were compiling damage estimates Monday.
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