The administration has insisted that a separate, fenced-in area must serve as a beer garden at next Sunday's Springfest, despite Student Union officials' attempts to alter both that aspect of Brandeis' alcohol policy and the overall drinking culture on campus.The Union raised concerns last year about the inflexibility of the school's alcohol policy. It drafted a proposal that focused on the elimination of beer gardens, the addition of scanners to speed up the process of checking student IDs and adjusting the amount of security depending on the time and type of event.

Last year, Springfest served as a trial for exploring other options regarding alcohol at campus events. At the event, the entire Great Lawn was fenced in, which allowed students of legal age to consume alcohol within the venue and not just within the normally confined designated area.

This was intended to serve as a response to student complaints about the inability for students over 21 to comingle with students under 21, but many administrators were not convinced after the event.

"We discovered as an institution how much risk we were actually taking on by doing that; we had some underage consumption [at last year's Springfest], which was concerning to us as an institution," Director of Student Activities Stephanie Grimes said.

Grimes also addressed how many students felt that last year's Springfest was negatively affected by the change in policy.

"The atmosphere behind Springfest is really supposed to be fun and laid-back, where anyone can come and go," Grimes said. "But last year felt more structured because the Great Lawn was entirely fenced-in. So the beer garden just seems, programmatically, to allow students to have the alcohol and the atmosphere they want."

The Union has begun to redirect its approach to the alcohol situation by focusing on changing the drinking culture on campus. According to Union Advocate Brian Paternostro '08, this would require three steps: "Step one is to take the venue space we already have and using it for campus events with beer gardens."

"For example, we could put a bar in alumni lounge and have that serve as the beer garden and then have Levin Ballroom serve as the common space," Paternostro said. "You would still have a beer garden, but the segregation would not be as noticeable."

Paternostro also believes that the "neighbor-host relationship" needs to improve so that it becomes socially acceptable for students to knock on each other's doors when parties grow too loud. "We also need to stop being disrespectful to police officers," he said.

According to former Union president Alison Schwartzbaum '08, "We need to show the administration that we know how to drink responsibly. We need to prove that we are responsible adults that can be smart about our choices and look out for each other."

One way to do this would be to invoke a social drinking contract in which students under 21 would agree not to drink at campus social events, Schwartzbaum suggested.

"This would get people to take responsibility for their actions and would allow them to feel like they have a stake in their future and in the future of events here. I think that's a step that needs to be taken," Schwartzbaum said.

Paternostro said another issue is the administration's concern over the number of alcohol-related Brandeis Emergency Medical Corps transports, but said that Brandeis is much better off in this regard than many other schools.

Paternostro said many of the transports are related to hydration issues, and this could be solved by offering water at parties and events.

In response to this concern, Grimes said, "We're always watching this and, as an administration, assessing as we go."

Last year, there were 313 calls made to BEMCo, 57 of which were drug- or alcohol-related. Of those 57 calls, only 37 required a hospital transport. This year, however, there have been 224 calls, 39 of which were drug or alcohol-related; of these 39, only 23 required a transport.

Paternostro and Schwartzbaum explained that the slightly improved numbers could have resulted from certain steps being taken in regards to alcohol consumption at events.

BEMCo was unable to give an official statement about alcohol use in relation to the administration's decision to reinstate the beer garden for Springfest.

"As a community, I think we have a different attitude towards alcohol at campus events this year," Grimes said. "

"What pleases me is that student planners are beginning to look at alcohol not as the focus of the program but as a supplement to the program and as a way to attract 21-plus students to events,"?she said.

Recently, the Union has begun more programming focusing on safe drinking. There were more programs during this year's orientation that focused on alcohol education.

Additionally, in February, the Union implemented the Party Reimbursement Plan, which reimburses two parties every weekend with a $50 check in order to make sure that every party has snacks and non-alcoholic drinks available to encourage safer drinking.

"But in terms of Springfest, I think that 80 percent of its success is dependent on the weather," Paternostro said. "My biggest concern for Springfest would not be the beer garden; it would be that it could still snow on April 6.