In a scurry to get enough senators to approve a new, scaled-down Student Association constitution, six students were called to Sunday’s senate meeting and appointed as senators.

The newly-appointed senators, which the senate approved 21-1, were allowed on the senate for the sole purpose of getting the 27 votes needed to make any changes in the current constitution.

The new senators added just enough votes to approve the new constitution 29-0.

However, they were not given their seats without some objection by Sen. Don Kruszewski.

Kruszewski said bringing in students who knew little or nothing about the proposed constitution and its changes solely to pad the vote was wrong.

He complained that only 23 ‘experienced’ senators had approved the constitution while the four extra votes needed for passage had come from the ‘inexperienced’ senators.

The newly-appointed senators, four of whom were about a half hour late to the meeting, were brought by SA President-elect Preston Came and Sen. Mike Ruderman.

“These people are … willing to work, they are here. There is a half a senate that is not here,” Ruderman said in appealing for approval of the senators.

“We need these (constitutional changes) badly. This is how far we are going to get these changes,” he said.

The senate made no major changes in the constitution, except for removing descriptions of the nine SA advisers and their committees.

The descriptions will go into the SA bylaws, which would give the advisers and the committees more control over their responsibility, said SA President Pro Tem David Ivers.

Ivers said that because advisers are usually more active in the SA, the new constitution moves “a lot of the power where it belongs.”

The shift of power comes from the fact that changing bylaws requires only two-thirds of senators present at any official meeting, while at least 27 senators (two-thirds of 40) need to vote for any constitutional changes.

“The idea is to make things work better,” Ivers said.

Other changes in the constitution include allowing the senate to vote in a new vice president if the seat is vacated during the year and giving the senate power to start a referendum.