Despite taking a year off and returning to campaign as a relative unknown, David L. Hanselman '94-'95 still won 45 of 77 votes to claim the Undergraduate Council's presidency last night.

In a run-off election Hanselman beat outgoing vice president Joshua D. Liston '95, who was painted by each of his three opponents as a scandal-burdened political opportunist.

Hanselman and Liston first ran in a four-way race against Sam Ferrell '95 and Jason E. Schmitt '98. But because a majority vote was needed to elect an officer the two leading candidates were sent back to the ballot.

Although Liston lost the second race, he still made good on his first campaign promise: to repeal last year's $10 term-bill fee hike, even though he wrote the initial resolution supporting it.

In other races, outgoing secretary Brandon C. Gregoire '95 was elected vice president, outgoing press secretary Jonathan P. Feeney '97 was elected secretary and outgoing finance committee chair Jay I. Kim '95 won the race for treasurer.

The presidential and vice presidential candidates spoke of new visions for the council and said they planned the improve the council's campus image by avoiding scandal and responding to real student concerns.

Hanselman philosophized on the nature of Memorial Hall's sexton, the "anonymous leader" who rings the bells that structure students' days.

"Harvard College would probably function just as well without this leader," said the candidate who visited each new council member's room last week.

"We need to select not a sexton who will chair meetings and go home, but an active leader who knows you personally," he said, "and who knows where you sleep."

Hanselman said his priorities as president would include strengthening the house advising system and advocating reform that would allow departmental classes to count for Core credit.

He even pledged a "no-scandal guarantee": he promised to resign if he is shown to have acted dishonestly or subversively.

Hanselman made clear allusions to last year's accusations that Liston kept inaccurate attendance records and allowed several members to remain on the council when their numbers of illegal absences should have forced Liston to expel them.

Liston, whose censure by the council was overturned on a technicality, has consistently denied that he did anything inappropriate.

Though Hanselman's credibility was also questioned in the election process, the charges against him proved less damaging than those directed at Liston.

First-year Schmitt included Hanselman in his attacks on entrenched council representatives who had chances as executives to change the council for the better--and didn't.

Schmitt called upon an unprecedented 63 new members to support him in leaving behind corruption and incompetence.

Ferrell scoffed at Hanselman's depiction of himself as scandal-free.

During his term as vice chair Hanselman was harshly criticized for his treatment of women.

Women council members accused Hanselman of sexism after he said secret meetings of female council members held to discuss a perceived "glass ceiling" on the executive board were motivated by "sour grapes."

No woman has even been elected council president, and women have never comprised more than one-quarter of the council's membership.

At another council meeting Hanselman gave a pair of pantyhose to a male representative who had picked up a woman at a conference. It was a congratulatory gesture before the full council.

Last night Hanselman said he regretted the pantyhose incident. But he made no apologies for attacking the women's secret meetings: he said he agreed with their perceptions--but couldn't support their divisive method of dealing with the problem.

Even the charge that Hanselman couldn't be responsive to student interests since he now lives off-campus with his new wife didn't make a noticeable dent in his armor.

"I have a meal plan, I spend a lot of time at Currier, which is still my house, and I talk to students all the time," Hanselman responded.

"I think I'm pretty mainstream," he added. "The only reason you'd have to worry is if I were trying to act as some kind of vanguard for off-campus students, and I'm not."

Vice President

Former council secretary Randall A. Fine '96, who was not re-elected to the council last year, defended his name before last night's vice presidential election.

He finished third among the three vice-presidential candidates, with 12 votes to Kim's 18 and Gregoire's 45.

Fine, who admits his name has become symbolic of undergraduate authority gone awry, cited Anne Frank's admonition that doubting others hurts all. "We'll never win the students' trust if we're always suspecting one another," he said.

"But if I didn't know the rumors about me are false I would probably think I was some kind of scumbag too," Fine conceded.

He denied that he used a $24,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency for inappropriate purposes, even though he admitted that applying for the grant in the council's name without first obtaining its full approval was a mistake.

He also denied rumors that his family is a major investor in the company which produces the energy-efficient lights he sold to Harvard during his first-year. "I wish it were true," he said. "But it's not."

Fine also refuted charges that he tried to buy votes in a Republican Club election as a first-year student.

But the opening words of Fine's speech--a reference to the political debacle of Ross Perot running-mate James Stockdale in his debate with AlGore and Dan Quayle--resurrected almost verbatim the speech of John A. Mann '92-'94 when he ran for vice president last year.

Feeney beat Schmitt for secretary, and Kim, who is a Crimson editor, beat outgoing campus life committee co-chair Mark P. Connolly '96 for treasurer.

In other business, the council also approved extending their fall grant deadline to 5 p.m. this Friday