Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Senate President Chris Owens said a more relaxed culture has kept senators more motivated this semester.

"People were quitting left and right [last year] because they were sick of it," he said. "Nobody [this year] has quit because they're sick of Senate."

Owens said the Senate has much less internal strife this year, though USG President Galen Foulke's impeachment caused hours of arguing in the Senate last month.

"That's the kind of stuff that tears Senate apart," he said.

Owens said that this year, the Senate is focused on helping smaller organizations get funding. The Senate voted to fund programs by the Penn State Vedic Society, a Penn State Hillel production and the Black Caucus' Community Now More Than Ever conference.

So far, the current Senate has given about $3,500 to student organizations.

"All of our money has been going to small organizations to fund diversity things," he said.

Owens said a Senate committee is investigating a fund-raising packet to help small groups raise money.

East Halls Sen. Matt Ritsko said he is pleased with some legislation the Senate has passed, such as recommendations about how the university should alert students of snow delays and policy suggestions for on-campus surveillance cameras.

Ritsko said he ran for Senate initially because he felt past Senates and executive branches "did nothing ... and were worthless," and though he said there is always room for improvement, he thinks the Senate has worked hard this year to represent students' voices.

After students waited for hours in lines at the HUB-Robeson Center to vote on Election Day, Ritsko sponsored legislation expressing disapproval over what he deemed inadequate preparation for the increased voter registration among students. "It's just letting the county know Senate as a whole, which represents the opinion of all the students, feels that they could have done a better job, [and] they should have done a better job," he said.

Town Sen. Diana Maxham said legislation recommending the university institute a policy regarding the placement and use of on-campus surveillance cameras was one of the more important things the Senate has done this semester. "I think a lot of people didn't even know about them, and I think our big focus ... was whether or not students even knew they were being filmed walking through the hallways in the Willard Building," she said.