Student Union officials have drafted a new alcohol policy, after saying for over a year that the current University policy makes it too difficult to serve alcohol at campuswide parties, hindering social life.The proposed policy changes, which Union officials say would ease the costly burden of serving alcohol at campus events, cannot be enacted without administrative approval. It remains unclear if senior administrators will approve the new policy, but administrators in Student Life, while generally supportive of the policy, said parts of it may not be feasible.

Improving social life has been a central goal of the Union for years, and the enactment of a new alcohol policy by administrators last January incensed Union officials, who said they were not consulted. Meanwhile, administrators over the last few years cancelled ModFest, a popular campus party in the Foster Mods.

The Union's new policy, most notably, would allow student groups to purchase alcohol for events from vendors other than Aramark, the company that manages Dining Services. It also lightens the security requirement at events and gives students greater oversight responsibility for such events.

Other notable proposed changes include allowing underage students into certain beer gardens-the fenced in areas where beer is served at campus events-and allowing non-Aramark personnel to check IDs and bartend, if licensed by the state to do so.

"It's time we start normalizing alcohol," said Brian Paternostro '07, the Union's director of communications. "It's not scary; it's just beer."

During her State of the Union address last December, Union President Alison Schwartzbaum '08 said that Purple Rain, the Union-sponsored outdoor party on the Great Lawn in November that took nearly a semester to materialize, was held in part to demonstrate that the administration's alcohol policy requires an excessive number of security officers.

The security on-site included nine public safety officials, five escort safety officers, six Brandeis police officers and 11 other hired security officers, according to the Union's Purple Rain budget.

The Union paid about $3,000 for bartenders, ID checkers and lighting-to allow Public Safety officers to view the entire area-in order to comply with the alcohol policy.

Union Officials say such costs are unnecessary and inhibit large campuswide parties that contribute to social life.

Before any changes can go into effect, Paternostro said, they require the approval of both Jean Eddy, the senior vice president for students and enrollment, and Mark Collins, the vice president for campus operations.

"Overall I think it's a pretty decent policy," Stephanie Grimes, director of Student Activities, said. But she added that students tend to forget the big picture. One proposed change to which she expressed outright opposition calls for ending the practice of checking student IDs against a master list of all undergraduates, something she said provided a valuable resource in catching suspect IDs.

If the new policy fails and the University's liquor license is revoked, Grimes warned, it would also mean the University couldn't host outside-planned functions with alcohol, such as bar mitzvah receptions.

"The liquor license is for the University, not just for the students," she said.

If the policy is approved, students will have to enforce the rules a lot more on a peer-to-peer level, Grimes warned.

To this end, the proposed changes require students running events to stay sober during those events.

Paternostro also said public safety officials would be given more specific tasks to perform under the proposed policy.

"Cops are not going to be smoking cigarettes; the cops are going to be doing work," Paternostro said.

Under the proposed policy, if students receive outside funding for their parties-money not from the Student Activities Fee, which funds campus clubs-they can purchase non-Aramark alcohol.

This change would allow clubs to buy cheaper alcohol, Paternostro said.

But Alwina Bennett, an assistant dean of student life, was skeptical that the contract between Aramark and Brandeis would allow student clubs to purchase alcohol from a non-Aramark source, even if the party isn't funded through the SAF.

Under the new policy, underage students who wish to enter beer gardens at outdoor parties must have a noticeable "x" on their hands in permanent marker to ensure they won't be served alcohol. All partygoers would also wear different colored wristbands to distinguish drinking students from non-drinking students.

"The fact that only 21-year-olds are allowed in the beer garden is strictly a Brandeis rule," Paternostro said. "There is often no age segregation in real life, so there shouldn't be segregation here because Brandeis students need to learn socially responsible drinking."

Last March Grimes said a beer garden is a necessary safety measure and that she was aware of seven other universities that use it for crowd-control.

Paternostro would like to see Springfest as the first event where this new alcohol policy will go into effect.