An attempt to expel Town Sen. Jason Covener from the Undergraduate Student Government at last night's senate meeting failed.

Although the majority of senators voted for the expulsion (14-12), the measure did not pass because the senate by-laws state that expulsion requires a two-thirds majority.

Town Sen. Jen Radel motioned to expel Covener on the grounds of malfeasance, which means misconduct or wrongdoing, and violation of the USG constitution.

"Jason Covener has done many things that are injurious to this body," Radel said.

She cited two instances in which she believed Covener attacked two USG members: Vice President Amanda Hudnall, who chairs senate meetings and Information Technology Director Dan McCabe.

This provoked a two-hour, sometimes heated debate that focused on Radel's charges and Covener's character.

The evidence produced against him included two e-mails he sent to Hudnall and McCabe. In the e-mails he said he had the ability and support to revoke some of their powers if they did not comply with his requests.

In the e-mail to Hudnall, Covener disagreed with her calling senators out of order for using inappropriate language.

Covener wrote: "You call people out of order for using words you don't like. That is not your purpose. . . . So here is my solution. The next time you attempt to call a Senator out of order for his or her language, I will move to declare the chair vacant, and you will not chair for the remainder of the meeting. . . . I have discussed this with enough other Senators that I am confident that I have the support to follow through with this promise."

In the e-mail to McCabe, Covener threatened to remove him from his position of Information Technology Director if he did not re-phrase a link on the USG Web site regarding a Tuition Challenge Grant proposal Covener opposed.

"I think threatening people is not the action of a leader," Town Sen. Bridget Van Osten said. "We're elected to be leaders. Neither (e-mail) is honorable of character and they are injurious to the organization."

Covener defended the e-mails after calmly reading them aloud, saying all he did was address his concerns. Then he listed his contributions to Senate this year, including sponsoring a majority of legislation.

"This is about a few selfish and immature people with axes to grind," Covener said.

Town Sen. Josh Sullivan, one of Covener's roommates, said the letters were not grounds for expulsion, although he said the Hudnall e-mail "could have been better."

"That's not enough evidence to expel a fellow Senator," Sullivan said. "He's helped our body if nothing else. It just blows my mind that anyone could even consider this."

Town Sen. Rob Michaels, another of Covener's roommates, also argued the charges were invalid.

"This is an absolute joke," he said. "Jason has been a pro-active senator and a positive member (of USG)."

However, other members brought forth examples contradicting such positive views.

Town Sen. Mary Falcon, with tears streaming down her face, cited an argument last week between herself and Covener when he said his opinion was more valuable than hers was.

"I don't like my opinions being battered; I don't like being disgraced," Falcon said.

In response to senators saying Covener represents constituents, Falcon brought up Covener being appointed, not elected, to his current position.

"All emotions aside, Jason was not elected to this body. He got 200 votes or so, and you're saying that someone who the students did not want is speaking on behalf of the majority of the student body," Falcon said.

The discussion also included senators suggesting Covener's involvement in USG tarnishes its reputation.

"He has not been helping students. He has done injurious things to the senate. He is screwing up the image of USG as a whole. When people see USG they see a bull organization that bickers on Tuesday nights. They don't see Unity Week or MLK Day because what he is doing is overshadowing everything. That's ground to get him out," Pollock/Nittany Sen. Mike Kennedy said.

However, Covener disputed the charges.

"I've met a lot of people who have liked what I've done and many who have sincerely disliked what I've done," Covener told the group. "It's not an easy job to stand at the forefront and take controversial stances."

In spite of the measure not passing, USG President Justin Zartman said it was time for Covener to resign.

If Covener did resign, it would be his second resignation from senate.

He resigned from the post of senate president in 1998 after being arrested and suspended following an investigation of computer tampering in the USG office.

"This (attempt to expel Covener) did not work because of personal interests," Zartman said. "There are people here who live with Jason, but it was important for senate to bring its concerns forward. I hope that Jason will look at the vote and things brought up against him and decide to resign."