A proposal for a constitutional amendment requiring special elections for any Undergraduate Council vacancies failed to garner the necessary two-thirds majority during a meeting of representatives last night.

Council Vice-Chair David L. Hanselman '94 sponsored the proposed amendment, which he said "would democratize house elections." Hanselman said the amendment was needed to prevent council leaders from hand picking replacements.

The vice-chair said the amendment was offered in response to a report that a Leverett House representative chose his roommate to fill a vacated seat without consulting the house committee and delegation, as required by council by-laws. A special election has since been held for the seat.

The present system, which was upheld by the council last night, gives the head of the House delegation the choice of nominating a replacement for holding a special election to fill a vacant seat. If a replacement is nominated, other house delegates and the House's committee then vote to approve the nomination. In all, when there is no special election, the number of people involved in choosing replacements under this system is usually no more than 10.

Gian G. Neffinger '93 led the opposition to Hanselman's amendment. He said special elections would not permit House delegates enough time to advertise and that delegates could easily manipulate such elections.

Victor Chiu '94, director of publicity for the council, said he believed the council agreed with the spirit of the amendment, but said it was too poorly constructed to be passed.

"I think it wasn't that the council thought the elections were a bad thing, but that this parliamentary amendment was not well-constructed," Chiu said.

The 45-minute meeting was unusually brief, members said because council Chair Michael P. Beys '94 and other representatives said they wanted to watch the National Basketball Association All-Star game. Only 61 council members showed up for the meeting.

In other business, the Council approved Gil G. Lahav '94 and Susan Lee '96 as the new chairs of the Ad Hoc Committee for Environmental Affairs, created last week.

Lahav said the University's "bureaucracy needed an additional prod from the students...in recycling, cost-efficiency and environmental importance."

Neffinger was the only representative to criticize the committee. He said Lahav and Lee had not communicated well with members of the Phillips Brooks House's Environmental Action Committee.

The council treasurer, Carey W. Gabey '94, also reported that 36 organizations had received their grants from the council this year. The council now has $1090,000 in the bank, he said