After nearly three hours, two recesses and four attempts to suspend its bylaws during Student Senate’s meeting Wednesday night, members left with no election of next semester’s speaker of the senate.

A bylaw was adopted by the senate extending the opportunity to run for speaker to anyone who has “held a position in Student Government that is subject to election by the student body.” This allows current executive members to run but also launched the senate into a detailed discussion of complications.

Two current executive officers expressed intent to run for the speaker position, which would take effect immediately after the election.

The Student Body Constitution states that a student cannot hold an executive office and a senate position at the same time, said Ryan Berger, current speaker of the senate.

Bylaws also say the speaker should be elected at the senate’s last regular meeting, at which time the student body president would run the meeting until the new speaker is elected. The new speaker would then take over and preside over the newly seated senate.

The problem created by these guidelines is that one member of the executive board had not held a previous position on senate and would, therefore, have to be sworn in as a senate member before running for the office of speaker.

As it stands, any executive board member who is elected speaker must resign from his or her executive position before assuming the role of speaker. If an executive member has not held a previous senate position, he or she must resign and be sworn in before they may run.

These discrepancies must be addressed because they have potential to affect future student senates, Berger said.

Senate voted to hold senate goodbyes, seating of the new senate members, oaths of office and speaker elections until its meeting next week.

Senate also approved the Apportionment Board, Student Government and University Board budgets for the 2006 fiscal year. These budgets were in the amounts of $22,435; $34,161; and $236,446 respectively.

Jill David, chair of the Student Relations Committee, was voted Senator of the Semester, and Keila Lacy, chair of the Diversity Committee, was voted Senator of the Year.

Senate will hold its last meeting of the semester at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Arcola-Tuscola Room of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.