As the 37th Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Senate convenes for its first meeting tonight, newly re-elected USG executives and last term's senators are reflecting on the year's accomplishments.

USG President Galen Foulke said the progress made on the recommendations of the Constitutional Review Committee to improve student government was one of the biggest successes of last term.

"We have been, from the beginning, trying to make a more effective student voice organization," Foulke said. "From the get-go we recognized that USG's structure and mission are fundamentally at odds."

The proposed student government reformation, the University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA), would change USG's focus from a governmental to a student advocacy focus.

If passed, the structure would be changed from a three-branch system to one house with 34 members appointed and elected according to campus address, college or greek affiliation. The 34 student representatives would chair seven standing committees, including academic affairs and diversity/campus relations.

The committee said the recommendations are still a work in progress, and they have met with opposition from some students who said the UPUA is still fraught with problems.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Emily de Mers said she is worried about losing the USG Supreme Court.

"It is advocacy but I think advocacy for a select few, and we are losing student interest," she said.

Constitutional Review Committee Student Chair Jeff Corbets said the proposed structure changes could be approved by either the USG Senate and Academic Assembly or by Penn State President Graham Spanier, the Penn State Board of Trustees, the University Faculty Senate and the Office of Student Affairs.

Foulke said that aside from trying to restructure USG, he made progress on 12 of his 13 goals last year through the overall teamwork of the executive cabinet.

"It ran smoother, did more, was more effective and more self-sufficient than any other executive I have ever seen," Foulke said.

USG Vice President Luke Adams said he considers the Web site that lists fitness building occupancies and wait times, and improving the efficiency of Senate meetings as accomplishments.

The "We Are" Campaign, headed by Missi Lau, led various initiatives to increase respect and appreciation within the students at Penn State.

The campaign promoted recycling newspapers to decrease classroom waste, hung posters around campus, funded a speaker series during its month of awareness, and will be holding a clean-up day Friday with an awards ceremony for students who have given back to the university.

The USG Social Awareness Committee, founded and directed by Ace Ekhtiarzadeh, starting holding weekly Perspective Mics in the HUB-Robeson Center again, allowing students to voice their opinions on a variety of student concerns.

They also facilitated roundtable discussions between various student groups on fighting student apathy.

Former Senate President Chris Owens said a more relaxed atmosphere marked the 36th Senate.

Town Sen. Louise Durante said this success could be attributed to Adams' and Owens' leadership, and said they had fun and kept the meetings short.

As Town Caucus chair, Durante said her committee's biggest achievement was the creation of an off-campus parking map. "It was an easy thing that can benefit so many students," she said.

North Halls Sen. and Operations Chair Alex Ibrahim said his committee worked with Penn State University Police to create a policy dealing with the ethical placement of cameras.

He said while the Senate started strong, lack of communication hurt progress toward the end of the term.

"No one can do it alone," Ibrahim said. "It has to be a group effort, and if we work together we can get plenty of stuff done."