In his semiannual State of the Union address last night, Student Union President Andy Hogan '11 elaborated on the measures announced in the Constitutional Review Committee report. The report, released last week, proposed changes to the structure of the Student Union and initiatives affecting the Brandeis student body in areas including but not limited to dining and transportation. Hogan addressed "long-term plans for dining, the next president [and] student conduct" in his speech. In an interview with the Justice, Hogan identified the changing "emphasis the Student Union is putting on its identity" as an area of specific Union interest by focusing on "outreach to the Brandeis community" instead of solely legislation.

The speech identified the constitutional review as a "new stage for the Student Union, one based solely around advocacy" for Brandeis students and their interests.

As a result of previous student opinion polling, Hogan announced a new reconsideration for the dining program. More details about MarketMatch, a new initiative in dining, will be announced later this week, but it will address "the meal plan, food quality, dining hours, locations" and other student requests concerning dining.

In his address, Hogan explained that Aramark will be "interviewing students, staff and faculty to see what our dining needs are. They will then match our dining needs by changing the current dining program to a more long-term solution that fits Brandeis."

When asked what student services will expand most to meet the needs of an expanding student body, Andrea Ortega '13, the senator for North Quad, identified MarketMatch as a service that will greatly benefit students.

Other expansions of student services will include running additional BranVans Mondays and Thursdays from 5:45 to 9:45 p.m. In an interview with the Justice, Hogan identified this change as one of the most immediate ones that Brandeis students will notice as a direct result of the student opinion that went into the choice of time expansion.

The speech focused largely on increased student involvement in changes concerning the future of the Union and the University in general, with Hogan expressing his satisfaction "that administrators and trustees are continuing to come to students to engage in discussion about what should be cut or increased in the future." Taking into account student responses regarding budget cuts, Hogan will be "passing along" suggestions recorded in the questionnaire, including what he said was the most popular idea: turning off lights to save energy in buildings late at night.

Other topics of the speech included the proposed constitutional amendment that the Student Union Senate "be split into two separate bodies." One body would work exclusively with clubs and one, which would be called the Union Assembly and would no longer be governed by Robert's Rules of order like the current Student Union Senate, would emphasize "outreach to the Brandeis community," taking into account more student opinions on legislative decisions. Moreover, the Union Judiciary would be renamed the Student Judiciary, with more focus on mediation instead of the "adversarial trial[s]" that Hogan referred to in his speech. This is in an effort to change the history of "countless cases that were arguably not best served by a trial," and would better benefit from mediation activities. Furthermore, "next year the Department of Student Rights and Community Standards is adding peer mediators," to the "student conduct world." According to Tamar Ariel '10, director of Student Rights and Advocacy, this was the first time that the new mediation program was "vocally publicized," and applications are currently available for the Brandeis Peer Mentor program.

Additionally, the senator for racial minority students will be renamed the representative for historically underrepresented races. In his speech, Hogan stated that "currently, only students that have registered as a racial minority with the University are eligible to run and vote," but if the Constitutional Review Committee's proposals are accepted by the student body, "[the representative for historically underrepresented races] will be changed to allow anyone to run and only racial minorities to vote for their representative."

University President Jehuda Reinharz and Provost Marty Krauss were both present for the address. Krauss stated in an interview that the changes to the Student Union were indicative of the "reflection of everybody [at Brandeis] to be as efficient as possible" in "an era of examining ourselves," in light of recent committees formed to review Brandeis such as the Curriculum and Academic Restructuring Steering committee and the Brandeis 2020 Committee. Reinharz described the changes as the result of a "long-term process of a highly responsible student body" working together.