Iowa State Riot: VEISHEA 2004

[queequek]

I was there, nursing some of my housemate from Pepper Maze.
Damn Ames Police!

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Midwest/0....ap/index.html

AMES, Iowa (AP) -- A yearly festival near the Iowa State University campus turned riotous early Sunday when more than 1,000 people vandalized cars, broke storefront windows and tore down street lights, police said.

Officers broke up the crowd with tear gas and arrested about 30 people on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to assaulting a police officer, police said.

About 20 people received treatment for minor injuries at a nearby hospital, mainly for skin and eye irritations from the tear gas.

There were no estimates of property damage Sunday afternoon, but police said the damage was "extensive."

Officers responded to a call around midnight that a group of people at the annual student-organized Veishea celebration was getting out of hand and arrived to find a crowd of several hundred people flowing into the street.

People from the crowd began throwing bottles and cans at police, and yelling "riot, riot!" police said in a news release. Festivalgoers tore down street lights and road signs, set trash bins on fire, rolled parked cars, broke storefront windows and attacked cars, police said.

Police let off tear gas but the crowd did not completely disperse until around 5:30 a.m.

Some at the scene said police behavior escalated the situation.

"The left side of my face is burning up. We didn't do anything. We were just walking away with the crowd," said Andrea Seminara, a junior at the school.

The Veishea celebration, begun in 1922, is an acronym contrived from the names of various schools at the university. It has had disturbances before.

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.

There were several riots after Veishea celebrations in the late 1980s and early 1990s, said university spokesman John McCarroll.

Although alcohol sales are banned, many students live in the immediate area and drinking is prevalent. McCarroll said administrators were to meet Sunday to determine how to respond.

"What we want to do right now is clean up," McCarroll said. "Then we'll convene to see what caused it, and where we'll go for sure."

[queequek]

On a brighter note:

Trad float is a highlight for Iowa State Greek System in VEISHEA, and the awards:

LARGE DIVISION
1st place Delta Delta Delta and Delta Tau Delta
2nd place Alpha Delta Pi, Phi Delta Theta, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and Pi Kappa Alpha

MEDIUM DIVISION
1st place Gamma Phi Beta, Theta Chi, and Theta Delta Chi
2nd place Pi Beta Phi and Alpha Kappa Lambda

Sweepstake Award Delta Delta Delta and Delta Tau Delta
President's Award Gamma Phi Beta, Theta Chi, and Theta Delta Chi

[ISUKappa]

Hey congrats!!

My sister went with her husband and my niece and they had a great time! She said the Kappas did a balloon with a fraternity (she couldn't remember who).

It's so unfortunate that a few irresponsible and thoughtless people (okay a few hundred) have to ruin such a great tradition. I agree the PD probably went a little overboard, but everyone's so skittish after the 1997 VEISHEA.

People need to realize that VEISHEA is not supposed to be one big party! It's supposed to be a time for students, alumni, family and friends of the Iowa State community to gather together and celebrate the University.

Yes, VEISHEA may need to make some changes, but some people, especially students and recent alumni, also need to change their attitudes about VEISHEA. The students in college now have only known a dry VEISHEA, how do you know that a wet one was better? Because smeone tells you it was? Learn how to think for yourself! Yes, you can have fun, but learn how to do it responsibly. If people want to leave during that weekend, I say fine. Go. We don't want your bad attitude around. Until people quit perpetuating negative attitudes towards VEISHEA, there are always going to be problems. I'd really hate to see the end of VEISHEA, it's a wonderful ISU tradition and one we're mostly proud of.

[bluefish81]

I thought that both your chapter's and the Delta Tau Delta/Delta Delta Delta floats looked awesome! Congratulations! We actually did the traditional large division float my senior year and I developed a even greater respect for all the time and hours upon hours that go into making those things happen.
The riots were unfortunate to say the least. I missed all of it, I was already asleep and honestly I'm not that sad about missing it. The idea of getting tear gassed, maced or arrested doesn't really excite me. I think that this years problem may have started because Hunt St. was out of control. I don't know that breaking up the parties prior to when they did would have stopped anything, but it's a thought. When we were driving home (not me actually driving) we drove down Hunt and the lawns were just wall to wall people, it was ridiculous and there were no cops in site that I could see. When I was in school I went to plenty of parties on that street and never did anything get to that point before it was busted up regardless of it only being like 11:30 or something.
What the future holds for VEISHEA I don't really know what to say. I'd be sad to see it stop all together, I still remember going to it as a kid. And I had a great time this year doing traditional VEISHEA things like going to the parade, having a cherry pie, doing the whole Taste of VEISHEA thing and just catching up with tons of people who were back in town from my chapter and from other houses. I definetely agree with ISUKappa that the current students have no recollection a wet VEISHEA, nor do I so I can't really say that a wet one is going to be any better.. One of my friends and her husband were at the riots and she said that the crowd was chanting "F*** dry VEISHEA" and she found it to be pretty ridiculous because none of them were around to remember a wet VEISHEA.