With only 12 students running for 27 seats in the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Senate, the organization will have to rely on write-in candidates to fill its seats in the upcoming elections.

Last year, most candidates faced competition with 39 students running for office. This year, only those students running for South Halls senator will have to compete for a seat so far.

Head Elections Commissioner Tim Dorman said he is disappointed by the number of students running for town senator. Only 5 students are running for 18 seats. Last year, 25 students competed.

Dorman said he is surprised by the low numbers because USG elections have received more publicity this year than in the past.

Some senators said they believe the student body's negative perception of the Senate could be to blame for the lack of candidates.

"I think that a lot of the student body saw that USG didn't accomplish a whole lot of the goals it set forth, and it didn't talk too much about the issues students care about," South Halls Sen. Andy Banducci said.

Banducci, who is not seeking another term, said it is shameful that less than half of the Senate is going to be elected.

He added that people within USG tend to form cliques, which could deter students from getting involved.

"I think that when students see that USG is really representing mainstream students and not simply people who have been involved in USG in the past or common organizations on campus, then I think you'll start seeing a lot more interest," Banducci said.

Former Pollock/Nittany Sen. Vicky Cangelosi, who resigned this year and is currently running for South Halls senator, said she is concerned that those elected might not be qualified for the job since there is not very much competition this year.

"I don't know if it's that students aren't interested or if students are just frustrated by the progress of Senate or the lack of progress," Cangelosi said.

South Halls Sen. Ace Ekhtiarzadeh said the positive aspects of the Senate often get overlooked.

"A lot of the good things we do as individual senators gets lost because of all the other things that are happening," said Ekhtiarzadeh, who is seeking re-election. "The rest of the stuff gets a lot of attention, and it might turn students off."

Ekhtiarzadeh added that it is the Senate's responsibility to improve its image.

Town Sen. Mike Yohannan said the Senate would draw in more students if it changed the way it conducts business.

"We have all these parliamentary rules, and those can be good for structuring the meetings, but I think our meetings can be so structured that it actually hampers discussion," Yohannan said.

He added that the Senate's long meetings discourage students who get involved in the Senate to better Penn State and could be the reason 18 senators resigned this year.

Yohannan proposed a resolution Tuesday to restructure meetings to require the Senate to alternate between work sessions and legislative meetings, instead of having a legislative meeting every week.

USG President Ian Rosenberger said he is not concerned about the low number of students running for seats.

He said last year's number of candidates was much higher because USG extended the candidate deadline when there was a delay in approving the 2003 elections code.

Rosenberger said he is confident there will be enough write-in candidates to fill the empty seats. If all of the seats were not filled, the body would appoint senators.

Ekhtiarzadeh said he is more concerned about the high number of resignations this year.

"A bigger concern is not going to be how many people are running, but how many people will stay," Ekhtiarzadeh said. "Last year, we had a lot of people who didn't know how much work goes into it."