Council members rejected a motion for preferential housing for first-year residents of 29 Garden St. and approved a recommendation for "Enhanced Choice," a plan that would have promised to give 25 percent of rising sophomores their first choice in the spring housing lottery.

In December the council approved a grants package of nearly $41,000 to be distributed among 103 campus organizations. It also provided enhanced council-sponsored airport shuttle service.

The council enlisted comedian Rich Ceisler, who entertained about 400 Harvard students at a performance in the Science Center. And in March, Saturday Night Live comedian Adam Sandler rocked a sell-out crowd of 1,200 students in Sanders Theatre with jokes and songs geared towards college students.

In its only political action of the year, the council drafted a letter to President Neil L. Rudenstine "affirm[ing] the council's committed support" for the University's stance against the ban on homosexuals in the military. The letter, written after Rudenstine defended the choice of Gen. Colin L. Powell as Commencement speaker, was approved nearly four hours into the council's last scheduled meeting of the year.

But in a fracas not uncommon at this year's council meetings, the vote on the Powell letter was punctuated with political jockeying and posturing that led some council members to storm out of Sever Hall in an apparent attempt to thwart the formation of a quorum. Hanselman then conducted a roll call revote, but the tally fell short of quorum, essentially killing the letter.

In March, the council sank into factional squabbling again. Harvard-Radcliffe Rock for Shelter members expressed anger that Beys was pressured to allot Phillips Brooks House $3,000 that they say was earmarked for Rock for Shelter use.

Beys and other council members vehemently denied charges of impropriety, but not all on the council were satisfied.

Members devoted a segment of their Sunday night meeting to grill Beys on the probity of his actions. Rumors of an impeachment process against the council chair circulated throughout the meeting as veteran representatives rushed to Beys' defense. Treasurer Carey W. Gabay '94 even threatened to resign if the impeachment process was carried forward.

Council members say they hope such incidents do not recur next fall. They say the revamped council will benefit from its new bylaws. But even if the bureaucratic solution proves to be sound, the efficacy of the council seems to depend more on how resolute the members are in pursuing a coherent agenda than on how rigorously a list of rules frames their work.