The Justice

Perhaps Modfest was, as Ms. Kaplan suggests, always tentative. But in blaming the Justice for miscommunications over the increasingly fictional university-sponsored party, she is only shirking her own responsibility in this unfortunate saga. She insists she and members of the Union senate have held weekly meetings with administrators to rescussitate Modfest from its languished status. There were meetings last semester, and the semester before that, and the semester before that one, too.

Through my four years at Brandeis, it seemed that with each passing year, the Union became more interested in talking than making things happen. It has gone from an effective advocacy group to a tired bureaucracy that stumbles over its own elections four times a year. Ms. Kaplan's supposedly constant negotiations over Modfest have created nothing. But this sorry story is not entirely the fault of her Union.

In the tale of Modfest, both the administration and the Union bear responsibility. If Alwina Bennett and her colleagues in Student Life were not so toeheaded, they would see that an abcess of university-sanctioned parties only creates more time for students -- who will drink whether or not there is free beer in the Foster Mods -- to drink to excess
in their dorms. Modfest, on the other hand, is also attended by the Brandeis Police Department. As for that pre-gaming stuff, I have seen Brandeis's public safety officials led by Ed Callahan turn away obviously inebriated students staggering toward the Mods, hoping for one last drink. If that sort of vigilance were stepped up, Ms. Bennett's fears over pre-gaming might ease a bit, and so might her stubborness as well.

But increasingly, I am coming to see that Modfest went to its grave in large part due to Union inaction. For an increasing number of students, Modfest is becoming a myth. It was once a semesterly occasion. Now, it is random, a condition with which we have both the Union's and the university's officials to blame. Every time a Modfest "negotiation is held," the Union appears doeish and surprised with the blockheaded nature of the administration. Perhaps if Ms. Kaplan and her fellow Union officials were not so passive in their leadership, this Modfest morass might see its end.

I sincerely hope that in the future, the Union does not put its remaining shreds of reliability and integrity at risk as it did by acting sheepishly over something its constituents care about.