The newly-elected Undergraduate Council selected its treasurer and secretary last night, in what Council President Beth A. Stewart '00 described as one of the longest meetings of the semester.

While the outcome was not astonishing--Sterling P.A. Darling '01 was re-elected treasurer--the process produced a few surprises.

Darling challenged Burton for the position of treasurer, in a move which neither Burton nor Darling say they expected when they came to the meeting.

"I had just had dinner with Sterling, and he said he was running for secretary, and so I thought I would nominate him. So I was surprised when he ran against me for treasurer," Burton said. "But it all worked out in the end," he added.

Darling said he had not planned to enter the race for treasurer, in which he also ran against Michael E. Thakur '01 and Steve W. Chung '01, but decided on the spur of the moment.

"It was something I had discussed with people," Darling said.

When Kamil E. Redmond '00, who is a Crimson editor, nominated Darling for treasurer, Darling accepted "not necessarily because there was a problem but because there was room for improvement," he said.

In his election speech, Darling said that when he stayed at Harvard over the summer, he found many student group leaders were confused about how to get money from the Council and had difficulty getting their grant money expediently.

Darling said he would try to improve the relationship between the council and student groups, and would issue weekly financial reports to the council.

Chung, who had served as an executive assistant to both Stewart and former council president Lamelle D. Rawlins '99 as a council member last year, said he would dedicate himself to the job, and had only one extracurricular commitment other than the council.

Chung said he would write pieces for The Crimson and the council's newspaper, the Student Voice, in order to improve communication between the council and student groups.

Thakur, who is beginning his first year on the council, said he had gained financial experience last year as treasurer for CHANCE, a Phillips Brooks House organization. He pledged to raise more funds for student groups.

Burton, the incumbent, said he had "developed an affinity for checkbooks" over the previous semester. He said he would put grant applications on-line and make the grant-making process faster.

After no candidate gained a clear majority in the election, top finishers Burton and Darling faced each other in a run-off, in which Burton edged out his challenger.

But Darling received a consolation prize in the form of the position of secretary, which he gained uncontested after Thakur and several others declined nominations to the post.