The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Senate voted against considering a resolution proposing changes to the body's impeachment procedures at last night's meeting because of issues of constitutionality.

The Senate tabled the resolution at its March 2 meeting so East Halls Sen. Matt Ritsko, who objected to considering it, could write an e-mail message indicating which portions of the resolution violated the USG Constitution.

South Halls Sen. Ace Ekhtiarzadeh said, although he voted to bring the resolution to the floor, he did not support it in its current form.

"I don't think the issue should be dead, Ekhtiarzadeh said. "I do think it's a hole in the USG Constitution and the bylaws."

North Halls Sen. Kwamena Entsuah, who sponsored the legislation, which also introduced a Senate Code of Conduct, said the Senate's response to the resolution is an example of discrimination.

"It's a fact that happens to all minority voices in Senate," Entsuah said. "They're a part of Senate but never included."

Entsuah is currently the only black senator in the organization. Entsuah said the legislation is, in part, a response to how the Senate dealt with the two senators who attended former Town Sen. Brian Battaglia's controversial Halloween party.

One of the photographs from the party posted on Battaglia's Web site pictured former Town Sen. Jason Covener dressed in blackface.

Entsuah said his point could be illustrated by the fact that the Senate did not refuse to consider a separate resolution sponsored by South Halls Sen. Ace Ekhtiarzadeh and Town Sen. Mike Yohannan, which proposed changes to the structure of Senate meetings.

The resolution, which was automatically tabled for one week because it deals with bylaw changes, would require the Senate to alternate between non-legislative meetings or work sessions and legislative meetings during which the Senate would vote on resolutions.

Yohannan said the current structure of Senate meetings, which includes detailed reports by a number of USG members, is too time-consuming.

He added that meetings could be more efficient if senators could debate issues informally in a work session.

The Senate also debated a resolution to reword the current preamble to the bylaws.

Ekhtiarzadeh, who sponsored the resolution, said the revised preamble clearly explains the role of the Senate.

"USG needs to stop looking like the U.S. Government," Ekhtiarzadeh said. "If we can promote this kind of message, USG will stop drawing in people like me who major in political science and start drawing in people who want to get involved in student affairs."

Some senators were concerned that the revised preamble would be even more confusing than the current one. The Senate voted to commit the resolution to Internal Affairs for review.

Ekhtiarzadeh said the preamble is just one part of the Senate bylaws that needs to be changed.

"We've also seen a lot of things where [Senate is] inefficient and doesn't work properly," Ekhtiarzadeh said. "We should try to fix a lot of those things before the new senators begin."