The Brandeis Face Book, traditionally given out at the beginning of the year to all first-years, will now be produced by the Union Senate and distributed free of charge starting next year, according to Union President Joshua Brandfon '05. The Face Book, which in the past has been created by the Department of Student Life, was phased out after the production costs had risen beyond the department's budget. At this point, Brandfon presented legislation to the Union Senate to take over the project in order to make it free again.

"With the addition of the little blue calendars, Student Life/Orientation was no longer able to give out the face books free to incoming students," Brandfon said. "The Class of 2007 was charged $13 for theirs, and it wound up not arriving until well after Orientation. We decided that by taking over the project, we could make the book free once again to all incoming students. It also provides us with a great opportunity to publicize what the Student Union does as a body, and how we go about advocating for student needs."

The Face Book will now be created by a committee formed by an editor, who will be an executive appointee and confirmed by the Senate. The book will still have student photos, club descriptions and a list of the Union officers as dictated by the by-laws, but will also include some new changes, according to Brandfon.

"There is a small committee being formed that will decide exactly what goes into the book," Brandfon said. "We have also talked about possibly including advertisements from local businesses, personal ads from parents of new students and more. The price will be reduced to zero," Brandfon said.

The Face Book has been a long-term staple of Brandeis' Orientation and many members of the Union Government did not want to see it go, according to Brandfon.

"The book has been a tradition at Brandeis for decades," Brandfon said. "It allows first-years to find and identify each other during Orientation, and serves as a great reference throughout a student's career. It's just one more thing that makes Brandeis unique, and we didn't want to see it phased out."

Last Sunday the Senate rejected a $2100 budget proposal after the budget drew too much from discretionary accounts.

-By Brian Paternostro