Two ASMSU representatives plan to spearhead a campaign that could restructure the organization from a two-assembly system to one assembly.

The representatives also hope to merge with the Residence Halls Association to create a single governing body for students at the university.

MSU's undergraduate student government is composed of two assemblies, an Academic Assembly that handles academic concerns and a Student Assembly that handles student-life issues.

Bruce Serven and Glenn Sterner, both representatives for the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, said they hope to combine the two assemblies into a unicameral system. The combination, they said, would create a more effective organization.

"The goal is to make it more aligned with student government associations around the nation," Serven said.

Serven said joint resolutions often cross the two assemblies, and it would be more efficient and timely to have a single assembly to address each issue.

Potential changes within ASMSU's government would require a petition of 1,000 student signatures for a referendum, or a joint resolution bill calling for the merging of the assemblies. Both would require a student body vote in the spring elections, Serven said.

Academic Assembly Chairperson Jared English declined comment on the issue until he was presented with more information.

Initially, the student government wasn't a bicameral system until 1992, when Student Council and ASMSU merged into one unified structure with two assemblies.

Some students aren't convinced change is needed.

Human resource management sophomore Christy Barcroft said changing to a unicameral system isn't necessary for ASMSU.

"They should keep their system the way it is," Barcroft said. "It mocks the national government, which works well with a Senate and a House and a separate Student and Academic Assembly formed to make sure everyone's views are heard is a good thing."

But having two separate assemblies keeps students from adequate representation, Serven said, due to the inability of the two assemblies to find common ground and handle issues in a timely fashion.

The representation of the colleges and major governing groups would be maintained, Serven said, and the proposal would restructure the executive cabinet of ASMSU into an executive team led by a president and a vice president.

If unified, several full-time positions, paid with student taxes, would be eliminated.

"So much money is lost on salaries between the two assemblies," Sterner said. "Pulling the two assemblies together is so much more beneficial for students."

But a potential merger between RHA and ASMSU seems farfetched, RHA president Derek Wallbank said.

"RHA is doing some great things this semester, and what we are doing right now is working just fine," Wallbank said.

RHA spokesman Brian Winters said he supports any endeavor ASMSU would make to reform its own infrastructure, but he doesn't think that it would be plausible to merge the organizations together, given the large size of the MSU student community.

"Our constituent bodies are huge, and I doubt a collective group would be able to serve the needs of all of its students both on and off campus," Winters said.

A similar venture to change the constitution and merge the two assemblies into one Student Senate was attempted in October 1997 by ASMSU representatives Brent Deverman and Nathan Macek.

"It had been about five years since ASMSU was united into one organization, and the next logical step was to further streamline the organization and bring it into a common council that could represent all student into one body, create efficiency and accountability," Macek said.

Student Assembly approved a new constitutional draft at the time, but Academic Assembly voted the measure down, denying an opportunity for the draft to be put to a student vote.

It is difficult to predict if a second effort to reform ASMSU will be successful, Macek said.

"It is going to be a challenge to attempt an effort like this," he said. "There will be both supporters and opponents of the issue, but that just goes with the territory of government in general."