Due to poor attendance, the Undergraduate Council was unable to vote last night on specific by-laws changes to implement direct elections of the council president and vice president.

By council by-laws, fifty percent of the council must be in attendance for legislation to be passed. But when the time came to debate what one council member called "the most important bill of the year," only 26 of 61 current members were present.

When the council determined that the necessary quorum wasn't present, council president Joshua D. Liston, the sponsor of the by-laws changes, said that the council would have to find a way to make a decision.

"I think it's pretty imperative to have something down before next semester," Liston said.

Several plans were discussed to get around the restrictions in the constitution so that a vote could be made, including calling members who were not present and asking them to resign so that the number required for quorum would be lower.

"We obviously wanted to try to get around quorum and vote on this here," Liston said.

Instead, the executive board convened and decided to carry on with the status quo, council-only elections of officers next semester and to decide on by-laws changes at the first meeting next year. Liston, who engineered both the amendment and the proposed bylaws changes, will graduate this spring.

First-year council member Carsten M. Reichel '98 said that the inability to maintain quorum at last night's meeting reflects poorly on some members of the council.

"The fact that some members come to the beginning of the meeting to get credit for attending half a meeting reflects a lack of dedication to serving the students," Reichel said.

Before being forced to adjourn because of low attendance, the council honored Dean L. Fred Jewett '57 who is retiring after this year.

Last semester's council president David M. Hanselman '94-'95 gave a speech in tribute to Jewett's "forty years of dedicated service to students of Harvard College."

Hanselman said that Jewett deserved commendation for his dedication to tackling difficult policy issues while taking into account the opinions of undergraduates.

"Dean Jewett, the students thank you for all you've done, we are truly going to miss you," Hanselman said. The council awarded Jewett with a "Lifetime Achievement Award" for his service to the College.

In other business, the council approved the initial allocation for a Harvard-wide formal for next fall, tentatively scheduled for October 7.

The formal is expected to cost $75,000, and the council approved an expenditure of $15,000 to cover an expected revenue shortfall in addition to $10,000 in loans to be paid back with the money from ticket sales.