"John is definitely trying to, in light of the controversy, assert the fact that he is the vice president," Griffin told The Crimson.

Burton said on UC-General that he and President Fentrice D. Driskell '01 wanted to hold the elections in time to seat new members before the council's next meeting on Feb. 6. As vice president, he said, special elections properly fell under his purview.

"I appreciate Jim, Kyle and Sterling's concerns and they were taken into consideration before Fentrice...and I made up our minds one-two-three times.... So basically, no change," he wrote.

Burton also wrote that he didn't think the council's legitimacy was an issue.

"Special elections are designed to fill vacancies, I sincerely hope no one is relying upon them to 'solve our legitimacy problem,'" he wrote. "While that is a nice thing to toss out every so often, it doesn't seem so apropos."

Other council members said they thought the tone and content of Burton's e-mails suggested that he was not open to criticism.

"Way to get the campus involved in your organization," wrote David A. Tortorella '00, a former Kirkland House representative. "If you are going to belittle the whole student body, you should try and keep it off a public e-mail list."

John P. Marshall '01, the council's parliamentarian, continued the exchange, writing that he disagreed with the notion that the council's constitution gave Burton authority over the timing of special elections.