About one year after House committees decided to send delegates to a convention to reform student government at Harvard, the convention's brainchild--Harvard's new Student Assembly--took its first few faltering steps.

The election of a chairman of the group, which dominated much of the meeting, offers some insights to the nature of the 96-member assembly.

Six candidates ran for the post, including four former members of the convention. The candidates differed sharply in their views, and the tightness of the race shows there could be significant ideological cleavages among the members.

Stephen V.R. Winthrop '80, a former convention delegate, won in the second run-off election, but only after tough opposition from two other candidates, Carl F. Rosen '80 and Chris Owens '81, who appeared to fall more to the left on the political spectrum.

During a question-and-answer period, two issues served as barometers of the political attitudes of the candidates: whether the minority clause in the constitution should be deleted, and in what manner the assembly would oppose the University if it ignores student government.

The answers, which varied, were often attended by boos, hisses, and laughter, depending on the candidate's wit and politics.

Toward the end of the meeting, the assembly dealt with its first substantive issue and voted to support a boycott of Nestle's Corporation--an issue the Committee on Houses and Undergraduate Life (CHUL) will consider Monday.