2000 State of the Union Address

Delivered by Student Union President Joshua F. A. Peck on 29 November, 2000.

We are fortunate to be students here at a very unique time in Brandeis history. We are the benefactors of some remarkable hard work and progress in recent years. We are operating under a new constitution that has increased the efficiency and productivity of the Student Government. The Student Activities Fee is now 1% of tuition and provides nearly double the money for activities than it did just two years ago. We have begun construction on the new student center, which promises great enhancements to student life. I firmly believe that student satisfaction is on the rise and see it continuing to rise by orders of magnitude in the years to come.

From our vantage point we are blessed to see many things that inspire gratitude and celebration, but we cannot ignore our tremendous responsibility to turn what we have been given into something even greater still for generations of students yet to arrive. By witnessing a time of progress, we have been uniquely equipped with the tools to further that progress. We are riding a wave of improvement, and we must take every opportunity to build the strength of that wave and ensure its continuity so that future Brandeisians may enjoy a better experience than our own.

We, the members of the Student Union, have a pressing and indispensable role to play in that process:

The administration has decided to focus more of its energy on students. The Board of Trustees and Executive Vice President of Students and Enrollment are making concerted efforts towards that end. However, our reception of their efforts and our influence on the form that those changes will take will reflect heavily on the lives of future students. In essence, the lives of students are actively being restructured and if we are proactive, we will help form a structure that will benefit generations of Brandeisians.

When I ran for President, I proposed three areas I would focus on during my presidency: unity, communication, and results. By Unity, I mean to bring the student body together. By Communication, I hope to generate more contact between both the government and students and, between the government and the administration. By Results, I mean tangible changes and action, not just words. All three areas of focus can be continually improved, but I believe we have made some marked progress in each area.

In terms of unity, we have explored multiple ways to bring students together. We have supported a town meeting with the faculty and administration each semester. The Student Senate sponsored the last Pulse forum; to demonstrate the importance of student-initiated forums; the work being done to construct a club congress is based on a similar ideal. We hope that the club congress will foster more communication between club leaders and between those leaders and the administration. With this in mind, Class committees were created. We hoped that they would promote class rivalries that might bring the community together further. Ridgewood Senator Mark Tapper has organized busses to the Avalon and other clubs to bring the Union government into a brand new role and bring the community together. Very successful Turkey and New York shuttles have also helped to bring students together just because they are Brandeis students. The idea is to make the student body more aware of the lives of their peers and to bring together those very different lives in as many ways possible.

In the realm of communication, we have made some significant advances; the addition of a Director of Communications to the Executive office has played a significant role. The Union newsletter is intended to maintain contact between the Student Union and the Student Union Government. The newsletter is our attempt to make the actions of Student Union Government as transparent as possible to the Student body. Online polling has also increased communication between students and the Union Government. Online elections have brought the voice of more students into the Union office by increasing voter turnout immensely, even in single seat elections. The Director of Events and Union Advocate are providing services that have never been offered to clubs. Taking on responsibility for some of the more detailed problems has permitted the Union government to advocate where they have not in the past been able to advocate. Club leader emails and all campus emails have enabled us to keep the Student body informed about what we are doing like never before. The advocacy committee led by Peter Novak and Stephanie Knepper will, for the first time ever, have been to a munchies on every hall in North, East and Massell quads by the end of this semester. They will go back to every single one of those halls next semester, bringing from the munchies a laundry list of ideas that will inevitably result.

Our communication with the administration has also experienced noticeable improvement. Executive officers meet with Rick Sawyer and Jean Eddy during weekly meetings, even at the expense of 8:00 am treks to Sherman. For the first time in our collective memory administrators have approached us asking to come to senate meetings. For the first time in President Reinharz's seven years as president, he visited the Student Union office to see how we operated. For the first time ever, regularly scheduled meeting with Administrators happen in the Union office. The Board of Trustees invited the Executive Officers to a lunch with them for the first time ever. Senators are using a new system of communication with administrative liaisons that ensure solid relationships and efficient use of time. We have clearly expanded the nature of our communication with the administration and the results have shown.

Instead of talking about results specifically now, I hope that my speech as a whole will testify to both the intent of our actions and the results accomplished. To speak as one of our forefather's might have spoken, I hold these results to be self-evident.

The Union government has been working to stop the payment of workers in Secured Allocations Funding groups with student activities fee money. We recognize that we are taking on a responsibility of oversight that was ignored last year. We also realize that having oversight when none seemingly existed before can be a big change. It is expressly the problems we have observed that have compelled us to enact this administration; it is also the express design of the constitution that this oversight exists. Allow me to make the case from the Constitution itself. From Article 3, Section 4 the Student Union Constitution the Union Treasurer is to "Act as the comptroller of all Union funds in accordance with this Constitution, the Union Government Budget, and Union Allocations Board decisions." The Treasurer acts in the interest of the people he represents, to make sure their dollars are being spent in accordance with the highest of standards. If, for example, Student Events did not pay its workers, we could have another Run DMC come every year or, to put it into terms that everyone is familiar with, we could have 12.2 more Pachangas every year.

Oversight cannot only exist in reference to others, as those entrusted with the trust of the community we must never shrink from honest self-evaluation. I have made some mistakes in office. For those who have suffered as a result, I apologize. One thing that I have dropped the ball on is the return of polling information to the student body. While we make good use of the data, sharing it with the student body is yet another way we can make everyone feel more connected. I hope to increase the frequency of polling, because the data we collect is so valuable. One of the projects we are working on is making a polling site that can be more flexible in the types of questions we can ask. That is something people can look to for next semester. Along with some of the management that has come this year with SAF groups, I also wish that I could be in a better position to advocate on their behalf. Getting to know each of the organizations and the ways I could help each one is one of my personal desires, though I believe it would be perceived as stepping on their toes (which is why I have resisted involvement). I hope that any SAF organization that would like to teach me a little bit more about its everyday problems will let me know that I am welcome. I am saddened by what seems to be an unnecessarily hostile relationship that has developed between the Justice and the Student Union that has been created this year. I hope, in the coming semester, to try to improve that relationship, in part by increasing the dialogue we have with them.

This has been a very good year for the Executive Branch of the Union. We work extremely well together. One of the biggest dangers that exist in small groups is that they spend a lot of time working toward a particular end that it is easy for them to agree on something really off base. One of the things that please me most about this set of Executive Officers is that the diversity of opinion and perspective has really kept the decisions we have made down to Earth. While we will always remain aware of our potential to make bad decisions, this past semester of decision-making has gone very well. I want to take this opportunity to share with my colleagues some of my observations about how things have gone thus far.

Vice President David Klein, your performance of your duties as VP has been phenomenal. Your ability to chair senate meetings is remarkable. As someone who has been involved in organizations that operate with Robert's Rules of order for 7 years, I think you are the best chair I have ever seen. Your insight and perspective during Executive Officer meetings is a great asset to the Union. Frequently, you are the one to catch something that we have all forgotten. For this contribution, I cannot thank you enough. The duties of Vice President are some of the most dynamic in the union. The only obligation you have that persists throughout the semester to chair Senate meetings. Your guidance of senators has been invaluable. As a freshman senator, I wish I could have had the guidance you give. As chair, you have helped to lead the joint student committee/task force on Master planning. As a result of the work you and Jonathan Sclarsic did with Public Safety, I know that starting next semester the Waltham Shuttle service will be ferrying students into Waltham at 4 PM so that they can get to businesses that close at 5PM. In this spirit, I hope that next semester you will try to take on even more independent projects. While not directly delineated in your duties, I feel your skill as an advocate and the credibility that your title lends to your advocacy could better serve the needs of the student body if you undertook more projects.

Treasurer Kabir Kumar, you are probably the greatest treasure that the Union has had. Even, if every member of government contributed half, as much as you did, we would be in marvelous shape. The 12-hour days you put in so frequently, the late nights, the weekends, go unrecognized by almost everyone. The systems you have, and continue to create, work to ensure standards of organization and duty; they will help treasurers for years to come. The responsibility that comes along with managing such large sums of money is immense. I commend you and have the utmost respect for your pursuit of the equitable distribution of Union funds even in the face of public scrutiny. My praise for you would be identical if you only performed your duties as Treasurer, but again you go above and far beyond the call of duty. Most of the student body does not know, but the second Pachanga of the year would not have happened if it had not been for you. Your resolve and dedication to represent those whose voice has been muffled demonstrates, to me, both courage and an understanding of your responsibility to the world as a whole that is beyond that of most of your peers. Separate from your responsibilities as Treasurer, you are a kind human being and a dear friend. I implore you to do only one thing during this upcoming break and during the following semester: please stay clear of all activities that are remotely dangerous. No skydiving, no bungee jumping, and please be sure to wear your seatbelt. Thank you for your service to the Union.

Secretary Benjamin Brandzel, it is tough having a boss who used to do your job and is one of your best friends. As your friend, you complain to me about your boss and it keeps coming back to you. Having done your job, I know all the ins and outs. In many places, you have picked up where I left off. One of my biggest failures as Secretary was my inability to maintain government documents. You have made the Union Register a reality and kept the bylaws updated. You have also been one to embrace change and challenge some of our normal operations. You welcomed putting elections online and demonstrated that election rules can be constructed justly, yet still give candidates freedoms they have never had before. During Executive Officer meetings, your contributions to the ideas we discuss can sometimes only be described as impressive: impressive for their depth, their wisdom, their understanding, and their presentation. I believe, possibly, they are the most valuable in the Union. You did a great job on the first-ever referendum. Now, you are doing a great job on the first-ever petition. You have brought; a new paint system, paper holders, and we now make our purchases online through The Greater Good. The position of secretary is challenging. Nothing is hard to do; there are just 400 little things that need to be done all the time. It is a hard pace to have to keep. Quite honestly, I think your nature makes keeping up with the little things as Secretary difficult. I know that in many ways, it has been discouraging for you. I commend you for making a significant effort to keep up with the workload and improving very significantly in recent weeks. I want to remind you the Union government is supposed to be fun. There is a part of union government that you have a strong passion for and that you are phenomenal at. I hope that you will not to let struggles discourage you from the parts of student advocacy that you have a passion for; you are a natural leader and advocate. Though maybe not the best Secretary as of yet, I am proud to have you as an Executive Officer and foresee continuing improvement in your performance.

Executive Senator Jonathan Sclarsic, the senate chose wisely when they chose you as Executive Senator. At the beginning of this year, while I new constitutionally, I did not know, in reality, what an executive senator was supposed to do. You taught me. I would like to give what I believe are known as "props" to the framers for making the position. Not only are you Executive Senator, but you are also a Senator for the Class of 2002 and a Co-chair for the Senate Services committee. I will talk about Senate Services a little later, but the work you have done as Executive Senator has been extraordinary. Your weekly email reports to the Senate and the attention you have paid to intra-governmental relations have been very helpful. I hope to see you refine some of your current practices and develop new ones that can be passed on to future Executive Senators. Executor of Union Affairs David Brooks, it was a week after you were appointed, I believe, that elections went online. You should be very proud of making the first-ever online election at Brandeis happen. You have brought the Union government to the doorstep of students and made it more accessible than it was ever before. In single position elections, we have had some of the highest voter turnout ever. I avidly wait to see the results of a full-blown election. I know that you are working on other online projects which all hold potential to make significant changes. While you brought it to my attention, it is imperative that you make the things you are doing sustainable. Your talents have made us successful, but we have to ensure that the continuance of these services is not luck. You have also worked with Treasurer Kumar and Union Advocate Schabelman to bring into existence the first-ever Club Congress. In an attempt to create some unity in the face of a very fragmented population of clubs, your work is cut out for you. While I realize that the details are still being ironed out, the Congress potentially will facilitate unity, and establish a direct link between club leaders and the administration. Its construction, however, will take a lot of work. I recognize you have a very full plate, but you are responsible for a number changes. So, as the great Luke Skywalker was once told, "Stay on target."

Communications Director Adam Herman, we knew we were taking a chance by appointing someone without Union Government experience to an Executive office, particularly a first-year student. You have dashed every question and every doubt that I had about making that choice. The Union Newsletter was intended to make the government more transparent, to broadcast to the student body what the Student Union Government was doing and to make it clear who students should contact with their concerns. As is your habit, you went above and beyond the duties you agreed to, you single-handedly, put together an incredibly informational, first-ever, Union Newsletter. While a novelty now, it is the plan to make the newsletter a commonplace. I have every confidence that you will achieve that goal. Moreover, you have contributed countless times to the increase in both quality and quantity of our communication with the administration. Through memos, responses, and letters you have demonstrated that we recognize the pressures that the administration endures and appreciate the efforts that they have made. Your compassion and understanding always keep me mindful of the reasons that I ran for President. Your desire to help people is pure. Thank you for that daily contribution. Adam, there is a lot of work to be done. Another aspect of your duties that is yet untapped is our web page. While it is more my fault than yours, because of have pushed you in other directions, it is important that you work with Dave and Ben to make our web page more than a static resource. Your perspective is incredibly valuable and the fresh look you bring things is invaluable.

Events Director Amanda Moskowitz we are here tonight because of you. You resigned from the Allocation's board to become an Executive Officer. In this role, you help clubs plan their events, providing a service that has never been offered. You also help plan Union events such as this and Doing Justice Weekend that is to come. In my years in Union Government, we have never had an official bonding event, but this Saturday you are going to make it happen. During our meetings, you bring to the table, along with your cheer, perspectives that are not otherwise represented, but are nevertheless important. Amanda, for you, I hope to see you look more deeply into the ways you can help clubs plan their events, making it known that you are resource, not for only planning, but also for helping clubs deal with administrative difficulties.

Union Advocate Esti Schabelman, I find your advice indescribably valuable. I do not always act on it, but your logical and analytical skills are impressive. I appreciate your candor both in and out of the office. Your participation in the Financial Review Committee, the construction of the Club Congress, the Constitutional review committee, your efforts to pass by laws, and phenomenal commitment to the responsibilities that you signed on to, makes you a very valuable asset to the Union. You bring balance to the Executive Office. Just so you know, you have a good heart, whether you like it or not. I know that there is a lot you want to do this year, so I will give you the same advice that I gave Dave Brooks. Stay on target and realize the limitations that time has placed on you so that you might achieve the goals you have set for yourself.

The Union Senate of today is very different from the Union Senate of my freshman year. I think it is a better body than the one that existed 2 years ago, but some valuable practices have been lost. I think the senators of today are more professional in their interactions with each other and with the community as a whole, though there will always be room for improvement. I see senators working together more and more to accomplish joint projects. Kate Tansey has organized multiple meetings with Assistant Vice President for University Services Mark Collins and quad senators in an attempt to bring more washers and dryers to East, Rosenthal, Castle, Ziv, and Grad as well as card swipe mechanisms. There are a few things that I hope the Senate, as a whole, works on during the upcoming semester. I hope to see more discussions on email. Last year and the year before, my email box was flooded with discussion of resolutions. I think it elevated the level of discussion and made meetings run more efficiently. I urge you to try to bring more of your discussions to the realm of email. Class senators, I do not think that class committees are being utilized, as they should be. It could be an idea that just is not going to work, but the work of the senior class committee has made me think otherwise. I think that, in order for critical mass to be reached in these committees, every single class committee needs to be active so that a possibility for class rivalries can exist. I would also urge the senate to reach out to constituents on a more one on one basis. While the polling we do certainly brings us the raw opinion of students, senators play a vital role by explaining and working out with constituents the reasoning for so many of our decisions. The senate represents the student body, a duty that has a great deal of responsibility built into it. The surveys of the First-Year Class put together by First-Year Senator Mike Berns, and the surveys sent out by Senior Class Senator Anuj Bhardwaj, to all of the sports teams are perfect examples of this kind of grass roots data gathering that I think senators should do more often. Remember also that your positions require that you not only represent your constituents to the Senate, but that you represent the Senate to your constituents. Continue to engage your peers, whenever possible, in this role.

Massel Quad Senator Roland Chlapowski, your environmental awareness and down to earth personality are great assets to the Union. Your efforts to make composting a reality, to document the pesticides being used here, to try to prevent erosion on campus, and your involvement in your quad are phenomenal. Your listserve, is yet another example of grass roots information gathering. I think you have a lot of potential and I look forward to seeing the path you choose for yourself. Ridgewood Quad Senator Mark Tapper, I hope that the club night this Friday is just as successful as the last one. You have moved the senate in a new direction, one that is very in touch with students desires. As a resident of Ridgewood Quad, I am proud to have you as my senator. Keep up the good work.

Senators for the Class of 2001 Amy Leichtner and Anuj Bhardwaj, your dedication to your positions and sheer amount of work you put into being senators is worthy of commendation. So frequently senior senators can be apathetic, instead you both are incredibly active. You both do more than just serve your class, though your work with the Senior Class committee has been great. Amy your work with the campus nutritionist to try to get nutritional information out to students and Anuj, your work with club sports has been beyond the call of duty.

Senator for Racial Minority Students Natalie Lukashevsky, all I can say is, "Wow." You had huge shoes to fill; the person who held your position last year won "Senator of the year." That person was, of course, Kabir Kumar. Natalie I think you might be giving Kabir a run for his money. You are a model senator. You are vocal, you are active, and you serve your constituency well. I see a bright future ahead of you.

First year senators Shiloh Sundstrom and Mike Berns, you both bring great contributions to the Union. Mike, your ability to sit at tables forever is remarkable and I respect it deeply. You have also aggressively pursued the needs of your constituents. Shiloh, your work with David Klein to bring loanable sports equipment to the gym and your willingness to make a wooden box are demonstrative of your hard work and the good nature of your personality.

Off Campus Senator Ramneet Waderha, your work to make sure that Students with G-Lot and T-Lot stickers will no longer be ticketed while parked in X-Lot is exemplary of the reason the position was created. I know you are working on a number of projects for your off campus constituents and I wish you the best of luck.

Transitional Year Program Senator Ebony Flint Crawley, you have not been with us for very long, but in that time, you proved to be a natural. You ask the questions of an experienced senator. Grad Senator Sherwin Tsai, your devotion to your quad is evident in the work you have done there. In response to the request of residents in Grad, you pushed to get the speed bumps painted and are attempting to acquire more washers and dryers.

Senate Secretary Eric Niver, your minutes, particularly in the beginning of the year, really upped the standard. Since next semester you will no longer be Senate Secretary, I hope to see you invest more energy in projects for you class.

Class of 2002 senator Khurrum Siddique, you bring a very open mind and keen perspective. You are working to make bicycles a viable form of transportation on this campus. I hope you find success with that endeavor next semester.

Emily Berry and Staci Gershuny, I commend you for your work to bring more washer and dryers to your quad and the efforts that you have put into your other projects.

North Quad Senator Jeff Rosenspan, I must say that I enjoy your contributions to meetings quite a lot. You bring a valuable point of view to many of our discussions.

Mod Senator Kara Grossman, your attempt to give back-door access to the gym for your residents is admirable. Keep working to represent the needs of your constituents.

East Quad Senator Emma Smizik, you have been working to bring the smoking shelters, washers and dryers, and an "East after Dark." I wish you the best of luck in the semester to come in your pursuit of these goals.

Steve Berns, while you are not a senator, I sometimes think of you as such. Your contributions to the union are phenomenal. You are heading the Constitution Review committee, which will be playing a significant role next semester though discussion is already well under way. You also qualify as one of the founding fathers of the Club Congress, so thank you for that contribution. Steve, you and Tova Neuget serve on the University Curriculum Committee. I hope that you will have the committee take a good look at the value of lab requirements in the semester to come.

I would like to commend Jonathan Sclarsic and David Groman, Co-Chairs for the Services Committee, for their work in making the Turkey and New York shuttles successes. However, keep in mind, you will find your greater challenges, the Midnight Buffet, the Second Semester activities fair, and Doing Justice Weekend ahead.

Not to berate the point, but again I would like to commend Peter Novak and Stephanie Knepper as Co-Chairs of the Advocacy Committee for their a senator-on-every-floor-for-a-munchies accomplishment.

Welcome to the list Melissa White and Roland Chlapowski, Co-Chairs of the Social Justice Committee. You are responsible for getting the Social Justice Committee going this year, which is no simple task. Nevertheless, you do not have the list of accomplishments that the other committees have. You have set for yourselves an impressive agenda: Aramark's hiring of special needs adults, the food waste issue, sweatshop labor in products sold and/or purchased on campus, and investment strategies for the University. The committee is going to go up for review at the end of the year, so be sure to get at least one report done this semester that can be published to the student body.

I have talked extensively about the ways in which the union government has taken brand new steps to advance its efforts on behalf of the student body. However, as always happens with changes of consequence, there have been those both inside and out of the Union Government who have voiced some resistance to our work. Firstly, I would say that we welcome these concerns and their open dissemination. If nothing else, they have provoked us, and myself in particular, to seriously contemplate potential shortcomings in our approach, and that is always a good thing to do. I would like to share with you the results of that contemplation.

Several charges have been levied in the student media. Though very general, they are serious, and certainly merit a direct response. It has been said that members of the Student Union Government, specifically Executive Officers, have been too aggressive, power hungry and aloof, making us disconnected from the student body. In examining this criticism, I am left with a simple equation. We must take an honest look at our motivations, and an honest look at our actions, and then try our best to see if we may have erred in this direction As for our intentions, I believe I have thoroughly expressed them in this speech up to this point. I leave it to your judgment to find over zealous aggression or aloofness among them. I have not.

As for our actions, I, in all sincerity, find it impossible to conclude that when the specifics of our duties, powers, and accomplishments are carefully examined, that the vague accusations of aggression and overreaching find any support whatsoever. This is the same Union Government that brought student wide polling, that brought online elections, that brought a Union Newsletter, that has a new policy of holding munchies on every floor in East, Massell and North every semester, that brought more Boston Shuttles after hearing from students that busses were crowded, that brought a shuttle into Waltham before the stores closed at 4, that advocated on behalf of the international club so that the second Pachanga of this year could happen. The same government that is bringing more washers and dryers to the residence halls, the same government that is trying to make sure that Student Activities Fee money is used fairly, the same Union Government that advocated on behalf of the Brandeis Football club so they could have field space for the tournament they hosted here, and that appointed 4 positions whose sole intent was to make our perspective more diverse and serve the needs of the student body. This is the first Union Government that put applications for University committees online, making participation more readily accessible. This is the first Union Government that has formed a master planning task force to make sure that all students who want to give input have a resource available to them. The same government that is working to create a club congress, that brought class committees that are composed of non senators, that has provided Logan and Turkey shuttles, that is working to reduce the number of all campus emails that students receive, and that is working to create an all inclusive website for every activity on campus, that worked to get the police to reduce the amount of ticketing.

In all of the accusations made, the only one coming directly from a nonaffiliated student and the only one containing any specific allegation charged that the union government was not representing students who were advocating for Jill Lynn Felman position. I am proud to say that long before this statement was ever made, Executive officers informed the referenced students about their right to submit a petition and have worked with them to make that petition a reality, culminating in the December 6th all school on-line referendum, the first in Brandeis History. That right to petition has never been exercised before, demonstrating that our Union Government serves as a resource to students in yet another way that breaks new ground. And, in a larger attempt to address the issues raised by this petition, the Union government has begun work to try to increase the administration's recognition of teaching with monetary rewards based on student approval ratings.

As I have said, our improvements this year are not simply individual accomplishments; they are institutional changes with an eye to the long term. This time of enhancements, that expands our responsibilities, (though significantly, do not expand our power over the lives of any student or enact any barriers between us and the student body) can easily be perceived as aggressive.

However, it is my honest summation that if there is one goal we pursue aggressively, it is seeking the opinion of members of the student body to make sure we are as representative as possible. Of the policy's I just mentioned, 7 of them are bringing perspectives to the Union Government that have never been brought before. I ask you, does it sound like we have been aggressive? Or instead have we been assertive in fighting for you? More importantly, if you think we have been aggressive, then on whose behalf have we been aggressive, what effects have we produced? I sincerely invite you to come to your own conclusions on these subjects, and please continue to share them with me and the other members of the Union Government in what I hope will be an ongoing dialogue about the ongoing process of reinventing government.

I ask the student body to bring their problems, large and small, to their representatives. Constituents play an essential role in a representative democracy. In order for it to work, people need to vote. That vote gives them a voice. Now with online voting they can acquire that voice in exchange for a just a few minutes of their time, making it easier than ever to make their government work for them.

The future brings hopes for us. A number of current projects are near completion while others are still being conceived. We are working to bring more blue lights to campus, to bring hammocks to residential quads, to bring a big clock and phone to the practice field and train station, to bring smoking shelters in east, to bring benches and bike racks to Sachar, the Library, Rosenthal, East, Grad and Ziv, to create a Riverside Shuttle, to create a composting system on campus and, to bring email terminals to Usdan. I hope to put as much of the Union as possible online. A movement I hope to call "Online Everything." I hope that the Club Congress will become a reality.

Perhaps the most fundamental problem with an institution such as ours is that 25% percent of the population leaves us every year and we experience a 100% turnover every four years. Institutional memory is weak and long term planning is limited. To begin to address the issue of long range plans, next semester, I will work to create a Union Endowment that will accumulate money over time so that Clubs and SAF groups will have its interest to draw from in future years. This should provide structure to encourage long-range vision, a critical first step.

I would like to close with a reminder. Nothing I have proposed is going to be easy. Nothing I have challenged the members of government to accomplish will be easy. Nothing I have asked of you will be easy. But we aren't looking for easy. We are looking to harness the potential of uniquely great times in ways that will prove to ourselves and future students that we made the most of what we were given, that we thought not only of how to reap the benefits of our past, but how to sow the seeds of our future. This is the challenge of our generation that neither begins nor ends with what we do here at Brandeis. But our role in that effort most certainly does. So remember, what we have before us will not be easy, but it will be possible. If we do it right, it can and will be a future we can all be proud to have created together.