As everyone probably knows by now, Modfest remains indefinitely postponed. The reasons for this "moratorium" are listed by the administration as being primarily safety-related, and no amount of modifications offered up by the Student Union seem able to rectify its concerns. Such safety concerns have been repeatedly brought up and used as grounds for permanent cancellation since a high rate of noise complaints and hospital visits arose due to the popular campus-wide party back in fall 2004.While these circumstances have been reported in detail, it seems worthwhile to take a closer look at these supposedly irreparable safety issues and see if the administration is truly doing everything it can to preserve this highly anticipated Brandeis ritual.

One oft-cited reason the administration has used for canceling Modfest is the amount of noise it generates and the resulting complaints from local Waltham residents. Clearly, if you choose to move to an area within a two mile radius of any college campus you must be expecting some level of noise on the weekends. Regardless of whether or not Brandeis has a bad reputation for its party scene, its students are going to want to have a good time and blow off some steam when a long anticipated Friday night rolls around. Both the administration and our campus's neighbors should be tolerant and somewhat understanding of this fact, as long as private property and personal space are not being violated by partiers.

That said, it's absurd to pin specific blame on Modfest for higher levels of noise. Whether the administration is sponsoring an event or a student decides to have a huge party, a weekend night is bound to be noisy no matter what you attribute the noise to.

Then there's pregaming-in which students drink before Modfest actually begins in order to get as drunk as possible. There is no realistic way to prevent students, underage or otherwise, from drinking in their rooms prior to the big event. The frequency of such pre-party activities, however, could be lessened with a little creativity and effort. If legitimately interesting and appealing activities-hopefully including free give-away's-were offered in the hours preceding the party, far fewer people would be bored enough to sit around their dorms drinking until it started. It is blatantly unfair to punish those people, specifically seniors, who want to enjoy Modfest responsibly, for the indiscretions of the immature students who will choose to get as drunk as possible anyways.

Connected to the problem of pregaming is the ultimate, and most substantial reason put forth by Assistant Dean of Student Life Alwina Bennett and other administrators for Modfest's untimely end: the serious issue of underage drinking. Especially since the event is sponsored by the University, there are legal implications involved with underage students sneaking their way into the beer line and getting drunk. While this is a valid issue, many underage students will obtain and consume large amounts of alcohol on the weekend whether at a campus wide event or in the privacy of a dorm room. This has been the case for generations and will likely be the case for countless generations to come.

It's far safer for these students to get drunk if BEMCo and the Brandeis Police are present. Clearly, Modfest should not and could not support the concept of underage drinking, but it is unbelievably unfair to seniors with valid identification to have such a highly-anticipated event cancelled because some younger students simply couldn't wait their own turn.

With the recent and accidental release of a potential Oct. 21 date for this year's Modfest, the controversy has risen once again to the forefront of campus debate. While the administrators involved repeatedly claim the cancellation or indefinite postponement-whichever one it happens to be at the moment-is solely due to the aforementioned safety issues, nothing has been done to even partially remedy such problems. Clearly, its time they stopped focusing on what is wrong with our beloved Modfest and start dealing with what will make it right. Until then, the foot-dragging continues.