The race for the chairmanship of the Undergraduate Council's Communications and Finance Committee took an unexpected turn at elections last week, although it remains unclear whether this was due to an oversight or an afterthought.

The controversial development occured at the committee's first meeting last Thursday when Ethan Cohen '86 of Quincy House took the chair following a secret ballot. It wasn't until after Cohen's election that Council Member Brian R. Melendez '86 said the committee had forgotten to consider the possibility of co-chairs--a practice which the officers of the council had discouraged in a memorandum circulated last Wednesday.

Treasurer Eliot T. Kieval '84 then moved to adopt co-chairs and nominated Felicia Eckstein '84 of Eliot House for the post. Just minutes after the secret ballot vote, Cohen found himself being joined at the committee's helm by Eskstein.

"I was very surprised but pleased," said Eckstein, a veteran of last year's Communications and Finance committee. But she added, "it should have been dealt with earlier."

"I felt awkward at first, as if I shouldn't say anything because I was chair," said Cohen. But he said that he now believes the broad scope of the committee, whose functions include dispensing grants to student groups and the publication of a weekly newsletter, make it too big a job for one person. "In hindsight, it was a good idea," Cohen said.