Measurement of $\phi$ meson production in Cu+Cu collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV from PHOBOS

Due to a combination of its long lifetime and a small hadronic scattering cross-section, the $\phi$ meson is a valuable probe of the early evolution of matter created in heavy ion collisions. In this talk, we present our measurement of $\phi$ meson production in Cu+Cu collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV using the $\phi \to K^+K^-$ decay channel. A comparison to the corresponding measurements from PHENIX and STAR will be made. The centrality evolution of $\phi$ meson $dN/dy$ values will be discussed. A motivation for a measurement of $\phi$ meson production at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}\simeq$20 GeV will be given. We also discuss the implications of an absence of any observed in-medium modifications of the mean or the width of the $\phi$ meson.