Veishea will continue only if no violence can be assured
AMES (AP) --- Iowa State University President Greg Geoffroy said Monday he would decide the future of the school's annual spring festival by next week, allowing it to continue only if he can be assured there will be no future violence.
"The question in my mind is: 'Can that be achieved?"' Geoffroy said in an interview with The Associated Press.
The future of the festival was in doubt after a weekend riot in which a mob smashed store windows, pulled down light poles and flipped over cars. Police used tear gas to break up the riot, which police said involved about 1,000 people and lasted several hours.
Police have had problems before with the festival. The university barred alcohol from the event after a man was killed in the hours after the 1997 celebration. Neither the victim nor his assailant were ISU students. The death followed campus riots in 1988, 1992 and 1994.
The student-organized festival known as Veishea, pronounced VEE-sha, an acronym for several of the major colleges at Iowa State, dates to 1922.
"There are great aspects of Veishea that people just love," Geoffroy said. "It is, for most of our students, a very positive learning experience.
"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."
In the past, Geoffroy said, committees have been set up to study problems and recommend changes -- only to have it happen again. Geoffroy said he will not use that process this time, but will consult with administrators, students and business and community leaders before issuing a quick decision.
Gov. Tom Vilsack said earlier Monday that he supported Geoffroy's decision to review the future of the event.
"I think President Geoffroy is handling this thing properly by taking a look at it and reviewing whether or not it is something that should continue and, if so, what additional steps need to be taken to make sure that we don't have the kind of violent and unacceptable behavior we saw over the weekend," Vilsack said Monday after a bill-signing ceremony in Des Moines.
About 30 people were arrested during the riot on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to assaulting a police officer. Police said Monday they would be reviewing photographs and home video taken of the riot to identify those who took part in the violence and additional arrests would be made. Geoffroy said the university would cooperate.
Andrew Tugan, the student representative on the Ames City Council, said the city's preliminary estimate of damage to city-owned property, which includes such things as police equipment and light poles was $100,000. Police said three of their vehicles were damaged, as well as several belonging to the Story County sheriff's office.
Area businesses still were compiling damage estimates on Monday. Most of the damage was contained to several blocks of the business district known as Campustown.
The city of Ames will take no stand on whether the annual celebration should continue, said city spokeswoman Claire Bills.
"We certainly hope that this does not reflect on Veishea. Something like this could happen on any weekend. It's unfortunate that a small group of students had to ruin it for everyone else," Bills said.
But business owners were less forgiving.
"I think the problem is that Veishea has become something that the university can no longer control," said Patrick Bailey, president of the Campustown Business Association. "I think a lot of business owners are questioning whether a little bit of extra business on one weekend is worth this."
Police said officers responded to a call around midnight that a party near campus was getting out of hand. They found a crowd of several hundred people overflowing into the street.
The crowd began throwing bottles and cans at the officers and yelling "riot, riot," according to a police department press release.
Police said people scattered from the area, breaking windows, tearing down street lights and road signs, setting trash bins on fire and overturning parked cars.
Kei Kuo, owner of the Golden Wok restaurant, told The Tribune that he watched everything from his second-floor window. Seven of Kuo's store windows were broken by flying rocks.
"The police couldn't do anything," Kuo said. "There were just way too many people. Beer was everywhere. Bottle and cans were everywhere. They put alcohol in my trash can and lit it on fire."
Several students alleged that police made the situation worse by firing tear gas into the crowd. Brice Pattison, a junior at Iowa State, told The Tribune that the mob didn't get angry "until the cops started shooting gas everywhere."
John Crawford, manager of Copyworks, a print shop popular with students, said his front window was smashed and his business sprayed with water when students opened a nearby fire hydrant. He estimated damage at about $2,000.
"I'm disappointed in what happened," said Crawford, who grew up in Ames and said he has a sentimental attachment to Veishea. "The students that were here let us down -- they go and they plug away at the people who have been here serving them all this time."
He suggested a four- to five-year moratorium on the festival.
"Let's take it away for a few years. Let them feel what it's like to have it gone," he said.
Geoffroy said that was one of several options he was considering.
About 300 students attended a rally Monday in support of the annual tradition, chanting "We are Veishea." Their message was that the actions of a relatively small group of people should not reflect on the university at large.
"There were about 1,000 people on the street, but there are about 26,000 people at this university," said Josh Miltenberger, a senior from Sloan. "These were truly not the actions of the vast majority of students here."
