Former vice-chair Hanselman and former secretary Fine were two of the three highest-ranking council members in the spring of 1993. Hanselman took last year off from school, while Fine lost his seat in last fall's general election.
Both are all but guaranteed a return to the council. Fine in North and Hanselman in Currier ran in non-competitive elections.
Hanselman announced this week that he will challenge returning Vice President Joshua D. Liston '95 for the council presidency. Liston, who declared his candidacy in June, had no opponents before Hanselman's announcement.
Hanselman said this week that his time away from Harvard--during which he worked for a political organization in Indiana and got married--has provided him with the perspective of an outsider. Thanks to his time on the executive board, Hanselman said, he has the necessary tools to serve as an effective leader of the council.
In a five-page statement, Hanselman proposed calling a special session of the council committees on the night of officer elections. This would allow the council to get a head start on its agenda for the year, Hanselman said.
Hanselman also proposed convening a "Leadership and Issues Forum" between the council and University officials such as President Neil L. Rudenstine.
Meanwhile, Liston released a statement in which he reversed himself on several controversial positions he took last spring. Liston said a referendum conducted last spring proved that students do not support the council's $10 term-bill fee hike or elimination of the easy waiver of the council fee.
Last spring, when Liston was pushing for both of those measures, he pointed to the referendum's minuscule 22 percent turnout as evidence that students were "deferring" to the council.
Hanselman blasted Liston in a statement.
"Mr. Liston's ever-changing positions come more from political expediency than wanting to do what's right for the students," he said.
'Political Party'
Hanselman's public barbs came despite the fact that he and Liston joined the same "political party" this week.
The two presidential candidates signed up for the Movement to Reform the U.C. (MRUC), which announced its formation this week.
MRUC, organized by incumbents Rudd W. Coffey '97 and David V. Bonfili '96, recruited nearly 30 council candidates, each of whom signed on to a platform of reform.
MRUC's goals include adding another set of general elections before second semester. The party also wants to allow students to withhold all council funding--rather than the present five-sixths--by checking a box on the term bill.
The party has also promised to push for student services such as a 24-hour library, an interhouse facebook and reform of the core curriculum.
When he announced its creation, Bonfili said MRUC did not plan to endorse a presidential candidate.