Something has been different about this semester. The truth is, no one knows what it is exactly or how to explain it-it just is. This anomaly has taken many forms, but in the limelight has been our lackluster social life. Complaints of sparse parties, compounded with the few on- and off-campus parties being broken up early and the cancellation of Modfest have not gone unnoticed by your Student Union government officials who have been working diligently this whole semester to address these issues. Our most important goal was the reinstatement of Modfest, which-I am proud to say-has been accomplished through forthright discussions between invested students, union officials and administrators. It was clear from these talks that the administration strived to accommodate students and support our happiness at Brandeis.

Encouraged by the receptiveness of the administration, we continued onward in our mission and began communicating with Residence Life to expand programming like Modfest to other quads on campus. Successful negotiations are evident by the creation of Rosenball, the first of hopefully regular, large events that will complement Modfest.

This is no easy task and is very dependent on your cooperation. With past Modfests being plagued with sick students and emergency transports, advocating for increased programming-let alone trying to get support for the event itself-has become increasingly difficult. With drinking often becoming unsafe and dangerous, administrators are understandably cautious before sponsoring an event such as Modfest. Arguments to the contrary fall victim to logic and do not resonate with administrators.

I have frequently told administrators that partying at Brandeis has become a Catch-22. They are hesitant to provide us with more opportunities to drink because of our irresponsibility in the past. But perhaps a greater frequency of such events will lessen our desire to drink to excess, no longer impelling recklessness under the guise that this is your one and only chance to party vigorously.

In this lies the stalemate. We have recently made great headway in our initiatives to reclaim and improve our social life here at Brandeis. This coming weekend-with Modfest on Friday and Rosenball on Saturday-will be a tribute to our efforts. However, the success of these events and their survival-as well as our ability to continue advocating for future ones-is squarely put on your shoulders. Despite Rosenball being a dry event, this is the time to prove your maturity in an effort to forward our goal of creating a better social atmosphere at Brandeis.

There is much more in store for next semester. Let this weekend be a positive experience that we can proudly report back to administrators. Let this weekend be proof to the willingness of Brandeis students to cooperate with the administration. Let this weekend be a testament to our motivation in shaping a new social life here on campus. Let this weekend be the start of something big.

Editor's note: Mark Schlangel '05 is president of the Student Union.