Ken Lee says his primary aim as council chairman would be to have the council "take a more aggressive stance in taking action on the issues which are most important to the University, even if they are the most difficult issues to deal with." He cites the selection process for the Board of Overseers--one of Harvard's governing boards--minority hiring and Harvard's investment policy as issues on which he would urge the council to take positions.

Another candidate, Lockwood, has gone beyond advocating that the council hear divisive issues--he has vocally taken sides on them. Lockwood sponsored last year's failed resolution backing an anti-discrimination complaint against the council and co-authored a bill calling on the University not to wage a campaign against the would-be staff election. He says convincing the nine final clubs to admit women would be a top priority in a Lockwood administration.

While Ken Lee says the council should vote one way or another on the recently released Young Report on procedures for Board of Overseers' nominations, Lockwood already condemns the report as "conduct unbecoming of the Harvard administration."

While Slotnick agrees that the council should consider devisive issues, she has based her campaign on service-oriented issues such as a council newsletter. Furthermore she has made her own strict neutrality on divisive questions a key part of her platform.

Her position paper states "I will work to incorporate each member's goals into the council's agenda for the semester to the best of my ability. In addition, as chairperson I will not judge the merits of any issue. That's the job of the council."

"While leading a discussion...it's not my job to make sure the debate ends up skewed in a certain way," says Slotnick. "It's my job to make sure that all sides of the issue are heard equally."

And Ron Lee says he supports a political council--up to a point. "More than anything else, I think the council needs to have its ear closer to the ground and closer to the students' voices in order to prevent politics from becoming an end in and of itself."

But Ron Lee has taken public positions on controversial issues: he advocated fair union elections at a council-Corporation meeting last spring and says he opposes a bill calling on final clubs to admit women.

The most important political issue that will face the next chairman will be the final clubs--to which 10 percent of male undergraduates belong--and how the council should deal with them.

In February, the council voted down a proposal to endorse the sex discrimination complaint brought by Lisa J. Schkolnick '88 against the Fly Club but gave her $250 for legal expenses to ensure a fair hearing. In May, the council tabled a bill which would have called on the clubs to admit women.

But other issues are also on the agenda, including campus-wide social life, the need for a student center, handling the council's newly doubled budget and perennial academic matters like tenure policy and the advising system.

Adding more fuel to the campaign's fires are the candidates' specific proposals and records.

Kenneth E. Lee '89

Ken Lee says as chairman, in addition to urging the council to take up "difficult" issues such as University investment, he also hopes to "tap the resources of more council members" so they will take a more active role in council decisions and activities. Generally, Ken Lee estimates, about 12 members do most of the body's work.

The economics concentrator says his experience as vice-chairman and his role on the freedom of speech committee make him qualified to hold the top job. The council approved the free speech committee's report, which proposed guidelines for controversial campus speaking events this fall. A student-faculty committee chaired by Professor of Government Joseph S. Nye, which numbers Ken Lee among its members, will this fall propose formal guidelines to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.