The Brandeis Sustainability Fund Board announced the content of its received proposals and will announce its funding decisions for the proposals submitted by Brandeis undergraduates next week, according to Chair of the BSF Board and University Sustainability Coordinator Janna Cohen-Rosenthal '03. In a phone interview with the Justice, Cohen-Rosenthal explained that the content of the submitted proposals will be reviewed by the BSF board, which is comprised of Brandeis faculty and students, before final decisions on funding are made.

According its website, the BSF "provides grants, advice and support to any undergraduate student for their projects promoting sustainability." The BSF first received eight proposals by the preliminary Oct. 13 deadline, and the proposals were then revised by the students who submitted them while working with the BSF board. Seven proposals were submitted by the deadline for the final version of the proposals, Nov. 12. According to Cohen-Rosenthal, one student decided to withdraw his or her proposal from BSF revision and funding.

The proposals, which are now undergoing review by the board, range from energy conservation and production to environmental friendliness.

One of the proposals, titled "DeisBikes 2.0," seeks to expand Brandeis' current 'DeisBikes program by allowing bikes to be rented out for a semester rather than a day. Another project, "Go Green," aims to make orientation for midyear students more environmentally friendly by giving out information on USB drives rather than pieces of paper.

A project called "A Greener Residence Hall" is a pilot project that would upgrade student residence halls to conserve more energy by implementing vermiculture, indoor worm composting. Another proposal, titled "Brandeis Micro," seeks to have one microturbine installed on one parking lot light to generate wind energy.

A third proposal, called "HumanNRG," aims to update exercise machinery in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center so that it would generate energy with use. A project that would expand Brandeis' garden so students can grow during more of the year is called "Oh the Things We'll Grow!"

"Smart Meters" is a plan to install meters in a few buildings across campus that would measure the energy usage of those buildings, an idea already implemented at Boston College.

The proposals will be reviewed again by the board before the final decisions on funding will be made by next Tuesday at the earliest, according to Cohen-Rosenthal. She explained that funding for a proposal will be determined not only by its environmental benefits but also by its educational opportunities and the ability for its funding to be scaled. Cohen-Rosenthal said that submitters of a proposal are asked to provide the largest and smallest possible amounts of money needed to fund the project. Cohen-Rosenthal said that scaling the funding will increase the chance the proposal will receive funding.

According to Cohen-Rosenthal, the members of the BSF board will review each proposal and judge how well it meets criteria, whether it will receive funding and how much funding it will receive. Cohen-Rosenthal said that it is possible that not all proposals would be funded this semester. She expects that all $50,000 allocated to the BSF for proposals will be distributed this semester, but if not, it would be set aside for another funding cycle."I'm very happy with the proposals," said Cohen-Rosenthal, who worked with students submitting the proposals. "[The BSF received] a lot of creative and interesting ideas.