The Student Union passed two resolutions in response to recent academic restructuring proposals-one that supported the new Business major and Communications, Media and Society major and one that advocated making the Justice Brandeis Semester optional on a temporary basis but eventually requiring it for all incoming students.The resolution supporting the proposed majors was read at the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee meeting last Thursday, at which the proposed majors, as well as the Brandeis Justice Semester, were approved. The resolutions will be presented to the faculty for a vote at this Thursday's faculty meeting.

These resolutions are the only ones regarding academics that have been created and passed this semester by the Union.

Student Union President Jason Gray '10 explained that a resolution is "an expression of the Student Union's views on a particular subject on behalf of the student body." Gray, along with Executive Senator and Acting Vice President Andrew Brooks '09 and a few other senators co-wrote both resolutions, which were then signed by other members of the Senate. The majors resolution was passed by a majority vote, with one senator opposed and two senators absent. The Justice Brandeis Semester resolution was supported unanimously.

Brooks said in an interview that he feels both majors would "make our University more competitive and reach out to more potential constituencies during the application process. ... I feel that these majors won't fundamentally change Brandeis to the point where it's unrecognizable but that it will aid us in this economic crisis."

Gray said the addition of majors would, "increase Brandeis' ability to recruit more high-caliber students so that our ranking as a university and the academic intellect of students on this campus remains high."

Senator for the Castle Nathan Robinson '11 was the only senator who voted against the resolution supporting the proposed majors. "I don't think a Business major has a place at a liberal arts institution," he said. "If I were on the committee that puts together majors and minors, I wouldn't have a Business minor either. I think the point of an institution like ours is to enrich us as people. ... the study of business is pure careerism and it doesn't nourish us or fulfill us as people; it trains us to be worker bees in the corporate hive."

He also said, "I don't really have an opinion on the Communications major, and if they were separate resolutions I would have voted for the Communications and against the Business."

Nipun Marwaha, senator for the Class of 2012, said, "I think adding anything to an academic institution as far as majors goes only bolsters the [University's] work toward academic integrity and teaching the next generation."

This Justice Brandeis Semester is now being proposed to the faculty as optional, as opposed to an original proposal that required students of the Class of 2014 and on to participate in this semester as a graduation requirement. The Senate resolution regarding this, however, encourages the faculty to pass the Justice Brandeis Semester as optional and rereview it after it has been in effect to address whether it should then be optional or required.