In an effort to reshape the perceived inflexibility of the current policy and to reduce the high cost of having events with alcohol on campus, the Student Union is working with Student Events and the administration to draft a new alcohol policy. Director of Student Events Sarah Blaker '07 said her group and the Union are working closely with administrators "to create a policy that will satisfy both the student as well as administrative needs."

"We have a few drafts of [the policy], but we're still meeting with administrators to find out what they'd like to see in it," said Union Director of Student Affairs Cindy Kaplan '08, who is drafting the policy with Union Director of Communications Brian Paternostro '07.

Blaker said a new policy should offer an alternative to the current "list system" at events, in which a student has to be on an approved list to be able to consume alcohol at an event. She said the list is often outdated, and "numerous students" have been turned away despite having multiple forms of identification.

The current policy stipulates that students and clubs planning alcohol-related events must be at least 21 years old. They must attend a One Stop Event Planning Meeting at which they meet with Public Safety, Student Events and Union representatives to discuss the role of alcohol at the event with administrators.

Alcohol must be provided and served by University Dining Services, which staffs all student-sponsored events with at least one bartender and one carder for every 75 legal-age students expected. There must be an area for alcohol 20 feet from the main area and separated by a physical barrier.

Only Brandeis students are admitted to such gathering, and ID checkers must have a list of students aged 21 and over to determine who can enter the area with alcohol.

Union President Alison Schwartzbaum '08 said the current rules regarding alcohol at events, specifically the expense of the alcohol and the strictness of the rules governing its distribution, are "not the right policy for this university and the types of events we have here."

The current alcohol policy was written by a group of administrators in January as a way to standardize all the policies related to alcohol use on campus, Director of Student Activities Stephanie Grimes said.

"At that point the [Student] Union was not involved, and they did raise some concern once the policy went into effect," said Grimes.

"As the policy currently exists it costs approximately $800 to serve one keg of beer," Blaker wrote in an e-mail to the Justice. "This includes $90 for one keg of mediocre beer such as Bud Light, one carder, one bartender, and public safety officers for the event."

Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan said he and his office are fine with the current policy.

"From my end, I try to introduce flexibility with students, but I have to maintain a certain level of staff at events," he said.

Assistant Dean of Student Life Alwina Bennett said the current policy requires party hosts to heed provisions that end up raising the cost of events.

"The beer gardens, the number of bartenders, the number of ID-ers, the amount of security can make it prohibitively expensive to serve alcohol at events," she said. "[However], those things are in place.for safety reasons."

Schwartzbaum also disagrees with the rule that a student must be at least 21 to plan an event with alcohol, even though an event must be approved at the One Stop meeting.

"I think we're all excited to see what they're going to come up with and then work together to make it something that's realistic," Bennett said.