Attendance became an important factor last night for the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Senate.

Town Sen. Maya McGeathey was permanently expelled for excessive absences. Also, Senate agreed with the USG president's veto of the 2003 elections code in part because few senators were present when it passed.

Senate voted to remove McGeathey after debating the expulsion in a closed session for nearly 30 minutes. McGeathey missed 10 Senate meetings last semester, Senate President Bridget Van Osten said.

"This [expulsion] is not my personal opinion whatsoever," Van Osten said as she broached the topic. "This is just my job in the bylaws."

McGeathey said she did not totally understand the Senate's attendance policy.

"I was shocked at the fact that I had 10 absences," she said.

She said she was considered absent for entire meetings where she missed only the brief role call.

"I've been in student government since I've been here and I'm not going to stop," McGeathey said after she was expelled from the room.

"I hope they [Senate] get their stuff together."

She said it was important she was elected to be a voice for students, but chalked up her expulsion to "fate."

McGeathey was the Research and Action Committee chair for most of the fall semester before the position was dissolved.

Senate also approved USG President Rubina Javeri's veto of the 2003 elections code.

"A lot of senators were not present at the meeting which is very important for a piece of legislation that is debated like this," Javeri said.

Senate barely had the minimum number of senators required for a meeting to take place on Dec. 10 when the elections code was passed.

"We need to pass documents that are official and that we've looked over and over again," Javeri said.

"I just don't feel confident signing something where people just said, 'Oh, let's sign it now and we'll look at it later.' "

She also said she was worried that a spending cap for candidates was not discussed at the meeting.

Town Sen. Sean Miller agreed with the veto, saying that although he voted for the elections code, he was under the impression it needed to be passed then.

Stephanie Wood, who was appointed elections head commissioner during that meeting, had emphasized the need for the code to be passed quickly so she could begin her job.

In other USG business at last nigh's meeting, Town Sen. Manish Vaidya resigned from Senate due to a class conflict with meetings. He said he plans on running for a position again this spring.

Also, Matt Midles returned as the Senate parliamentarian last night. Senate had no parliamentarian for a brief period last semester until a temporary officer was appointed to replace Midles, who had a class conflict.

The parliamentarian advises the Senate on proper procedures during their meetings.