While the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Senate President Andy Banducci said this year's attendance at USG Senate and committee meetings has been acceptable, USG Vice President Luke Adams disagrees.

Only a few senators have not attended Senate and committee meetings so far, Banducci said.

"Most senators are attending religiously," he said. "There are a few senators who aren't attending any meetings."

However, Adams, whose role is to preside over Senate, said last year most senate meetings met quorum, the requirement that a majority of members be in attendance, 90 to 95 percent of the time at Senate and committee meetings.

But this year, "The exception has definitely become the rule," he said. "Now, no one is going to meetings, and every once in a while people meet quorum."

However, Banducci said Senate has seen the fewest number of resignations this year, and most of the senators are committing themselves to their responsibilities.

"The vast, vast majority of Senate is doing a great job," he said.

Adams said the Internal Affairs committee "always" meets quorum, but student services and the operations committee are not meeting it on a regular basis.

Last semester, Senate had trouble meeting quorum for all three of its committees. Some senators attributed the drop in attendance to The Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon being in full swing at the time.

Banducci said each senator is allotted 10 roll-call absences from Senate, which includes weekly meetings and committee meetings. Since Senate takes roll call twice at every meeting, senators can potentially be counted absent twice for one meeting.

Banducci said those who have been missing meetings have been excused for various reasons. He added there are a couple of senators who have missed a lot of Senate meetings without an excuse that will have to choose to resign or recommit.

Besides attending weekly meetings, each senator is required to join one of the Senate committees, all of which have held full meetings, Banducci said.

Mikhail Hutton, operations committee chair, said the committee has not been able to meet its six-person minimum attendance requirement, which he attributed to time conflicts.

"[It's a] matter of figuring out everyone's schedule," Hutton said.

Hutton said this year, operations will continue checking blue lights on campus each month and looking into the day-to-day operations on campus, including construction. He added that the committee would also work with the Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA) to make the bus system more efficient for students.

"It's just an idea we're trying to clarify more and put it into action," he said.

Matt Ritsko, former Internal Affairs chair, said the operations committee also looked into safety issues with CATA and conducted surveys of students' knowledge and thoughts of campus surveillance cameras. He added that he hopes these projects will continue into this year.

Brock Coleman, Internal Affairs chair, said the group's main function is to make sure legislation that comes to Senate is constitutional. The committee is also responsible for reviewing new senators, court justices and executive cabinet appointments.

Coleman said Internal Affairs is reviewing the election code with a tentative deadline for the end of November. He said that every year the election code has to be either re-ratified or rewritten.

Coleman said Internal Affairs is reviewing suggestions made by last year's election commissioners including increasing the amount of money a candidate can spend.

Ron Capurso, student services chair, said the committee is looking into exactly what Penn State's Napster has to offer and how much money is taken out of the student technology fee for the service.

Capurso said the committee is also trying to get a book list for classes on e-lion and encouraging senators to host socials to increase the awareness of USG on campus.