The Undergraduate Student Government Senate has changed its internal structure by making amendments to its bylaws during Tuesday night's meeting.

The new measures would give 11 people, less than half of senate's 28 members, the power to determine what legislation comes to the floor, to make recommendations to the executive branch, and to conduct the appointment process for vacant seats.

"We had to make these changes," said Town Sen. Rick Smith. "Certain practices the senate currently follows are contradictory to the by-laws."

However, some senators are weary about this new allocation of power.

"Nine people should not decide the fate of everything that comes out of this body," said Town Sen. Bridget Van Osten during the meeting. "I also don't like the fact that you can simply motion for the amendment of the bylaws. It just seems like one-third of senate can decide too much for me to be comfortable with."

Senate eliminated its Senate Appointments Review Board, and gave the responsibilities of Legislative and Appropriations Review Committee to the new 11-member Vice President's Executive Committee. Senate President Sean Clark said these changes were necessary since SARB lost most of its responsibilities last month, following discrepancies on how the group filled senate vacancies.

Senate also reinstated the position of a senate vice president. The new LARC chair, Mike Gallo, will automatically be assigned to the post. The Vice President's Executive Committee comprises the senate president, senate vice president, and nine other senators who will be elected at Tuesday's meeting.

"This may make the process more efficient and there will be quicker results, but it cuts down on the people involved in senate decisions," said Town Sen. Steph Wood.

Senate also approved another major change. Instead of needing a two-thirds majority to pass, measures will now need only fifty percent plus one to pass. This is unless the legislation involves the appropriation of funds, in which case two-thirds will still be required.

The legislation says the motivation behind these amendments is to make senate more efficient and to alleviate Clark's responsibilities.

This is the latest of changes senate has made this semester.

Senate already has control over the business department. At its Jan. 8 meeting, the group decided that the USG Senate Staff, headed by Town Sen. Jason Covener, would take over bus and calendar sales. They also had all monies in the business account transferred into an unrestricted account.

"Senate's increasing power is a bad thing," said former USG Business Director James Meashey. "Basically, this coalition in senate drove people out until they could build up a majority and override vetoes and appropriate money. It's unethical how they usurped power. It completely invalidates the checks and balance system in USG."

USG President Justin Zartman agreed that the new changes are not positive.

"I don't think this benefits senate," he said. "The need for these changes was not well communicated to the entire organization. Senate is a crucial part of USG and what they do affects all of USG. We (the executive branch) were not told this was going to happen (before the meeting)."

Yet, members of senate still maintain that the legislation is a positive and necessary measure.

"This does not give us more power, it's simply reorganization," Smith said.