Last semester, Brandeis Television (BTV65) was made an official Secured Allocations Fund (SAF) group on campus, significantly raising their annual funding to approximately $14,500 per year. Now, BTV65 is using the additional funding and secured status to introduce many new changes.Instead of BTV, the network's former name, all advertising is now calling the station BTV65. Club organizers, however, said the name change is simply to help students remember from which channel the network broadcasts.

"I interned with an ad agency and was talking with the media person, and she said it's the way a lot of other stations do it," said Julia Crantz '06, BTV65's new publicity director. "By saying BTV65, it creates a direct link between BTV -- which is what we are -- and where you can find us ... As the station gets bigger, new students will know it is BTV65 -- I can turn to Channel 65 and find it."

BTV65 received its first SAF check last week, and club leaders already have many ideas about how to use the new funding.

"Some of the things we will spend our money on this semester include blank media, mini DV cameras, microphones, a live-to-tape switcher, rights to copyrighted movies, public domain movies, a chroma-key background, publicity, lighting," BTV65 President Avi Kaufman '03 said. "In the future, we would like to purchase several custom-built switchers that will allow us to use the approximately 14 existing remote transmitters around campus. We will be able to broadcast live from those locations."

A weekly news show, "The Buzz," is another new BTV65 project. Eszter Lengyel '04, BTV65's community programming director, produces the show. "We pretty much just focus on Brandeis news and also get local and international news," she said.

"The Buzz" is anchored by Zach Foulkes '05 and Leora Walter '06. The show, which airs original episodes Sundays at 11 p.m. and repeats at 11 p.m. throughout the week, includes interviews and film clips from campus events. A question of the week, gauging student reaction to housing lottery numbers, will air this week on the show. "It's just another way to encourage students on campus to get involved through the media that's available on campus," Lengyel said.

BTV65 is also in the process of updating their website, which is currently down for construction. "We're redoing it because it was outdated, not user-friendly and not the most attractive website," Crantz said. Once the new site is functional, she said, a weekly BTV65 schedule will be posted.

Additionally, BTV65 is offering to produce free commercials for any club on campus that wants one, according to Kauffman. The commercials will air between programs.

Station Manager Nate Westheimer '05 said BTV65's expansion should have a profound effect on the Brandeis community. "I think people are ... excited about the vision of BTV," he said. "We see ourselves serving the artistic and cultural communities like never before at Brandeis. Additionally, we want to serve as a news source and a place for entertainment. This is something that we're already doing, and that brings in a very large base of people appreciating what we do."

BTV65 currently has a staff of approximately 40 undergraduate students. Crantz said she hopes that number will rise in the future. "A lot of what I'm trying to do is build relationships with people on campus to be able to really come out strong next semester and get new freshman (involved)," she said.