The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) held its last meeting of the semester last night, but the way the members acted, there wasn't anything final about it.

Senators discussed their committee plans for next semester. Work on the rules for this spring's planned USG election continued. USG executives discussed recent administrative policy changes and their plans to confront them.

Indeed, if one wasn't familiar with the events of the last year, it would be difficult to tell that USG was no longer the recognized voice of Penn State students.

The Penn State Administration gave that title to the new University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) after a referendum last spring.

Since then, USG members have been coming to terms with the reality that their organization now has no more influence with the administration than a typical student club.

Organizations that used to recognize USG have begun to cut their ties. Invitations to administration meetings that used to go to USG are now going to UPUA.

It's not as if USG is taking the changes lying down, though.

Ever since the beginning of the semester, USG President Nick Stathes has been on a crusade for student governance.

While Stathes says USG will work with UPUA if it is in students' interests, he has continued to oppose UPUA on principle, saying it reduces students to the role of advocates to the administration instead of giving them defined powers to make decisions.

"USG will continue to exist until we believe there is an avenue to change that is better than USG," he said.

In an effort to stay relevant, USG members have refocused their efforts on lobbying for small-scale improvements in student life. USG members have lobbied for lockers and coat hooks in the HUB-Robeson Center and letting vending machines accept LionCash.

They've also started a campaign to encourage students to ride bus routes that are free on campus and have begun distributing cards that list students' rights when dealing with the law.

"We've decided to concentrate on doing things that are in the realm of possibility right now," Stathes said.

Still, there are cracks in USG's image.

USG's "constitutional convention" to study the role of student government at Penn State, which aims to begin meeting by the end of the semester, has less than half of what was supposed to be 34 members. Two of the most active USG members have resigned their positions as Senate committee chairs.

And the odds are becoming increasingly thin that USG will ever regain its former status as the recognized student voice, let alone gain the defined powers that Stathes talks about.

However, Stathes said it isn't essential that USG regain its former status, as long as some group has the power to represent students like USG has in the past.

"The overall goal is to usher in an autonomous student government, whether that's USG, UPUA or another organization," he said. "Our goal isn't necessarily to be making major decisions. Our goal is to fight for future students that will hopefully have that opportunity."

Stathes said that he doesn't think there is any indication that that change will happen soon, and USG will "absolutely" continue to exist through the end of next semester.

"I think USG is getting done some of its greatest things in years and I think students are being helped by it, so I don't see any reason for us to stop doing what we're doing," Stathes added.