IN THE 1960s, thousands of Harvard students took stands on local controversies, marching for fair housing policies in Cambridge and against highways that threatened neighborhoods far removed from the Square.

But today, most students ignore issues beyond Johnston Gate. This year, while reports emerged questioning the quality of the city's water, while negotiations continued on the University's impact on and responsibility to the city and while state officials threatened to put a 16-lane, 11-story highway interchange in East Cambridge, most Harvard students went about their routine without noticing.

Cambridge politics is important to all of us. Harvard students should make an effort to keep abreast of local issues. And those who are registered in Cambridge should vote.

THE CITY COUNCIL, with its first liberal majority in 20 years, has done an adequate job in the past two-year term. Some observers say that the fact that only 19 candidates--instead of the usual 30--are running for the nine council seats this year is a tribute to the effectiveness of the last council.

The council has helped the city manager deal effectively with the recession and the state's drastic cutbacks in local aid.

Most cities and towns in the commonwealth are broke or near-broke. Most municipalities have long depleted their cash resources and are taxing their property owners at the legal limit established by Proposition 2 1/2. Cambridge is one of a handful of cities that remains below its tax levy, retaining $18 million in free cash to keep its bond rating high and its borrowing costs low. While most cities are drastically reducing and cutting programs or are desperately trying to override Proposition 2 1/2, Cambridge has continued to offer, and in some cases improve, its extensive social service net.

During the last term the council voted to fund the position of police commissioner. Perry L. Anderson Jr., the former police chief of Miami, was hired to fill the job. Anderson has already begun to streamline the department and has made moves to diversify its leadership and make it more responsive to community concerns. His efforts are leading an increase in the number of officers patrolling Cambridge neighborhoods that have been under policed.

The council also approved a new in-lieu-of-tax agreement with Harvard, setting a new precedent for town-gown relations. As part of the agreement, Harvard will contribute to city coffers to compensate Cambridge for commercial properties the University buys and takes off the tax rolls. That agreement was an important acknowledgment of the University's impact upon the city.

The council has also shaken up the water department. In recent years Cambridge's water has been plagued with frequent violations of Environmental Protection Agency standards. The council has overseen new capital improvements and the hiring of a new water superintendent.

In the upcoming term, the council will vote on whether to renew City Manager Robert W. Healy's contract. Although Healy has been criticized for being overly development-minded, it is primarily his administration of the city which has kept Cambridge in the black. We urge that the new council renew the contract.

We also urge that the council take a more active role in addressing Cambridge's homelessness problem. The city must be prepared to take up some of the slack created by state cutbacks in the shelter system. They must strengthen the support of its shelters and must begin to think creatively about ways to allow ordinary citizens and the private sector to help the homeless. One such proposal might include the creation of food vouchers individuals could give to the homeless instead of change.

When Cantabrigians enter the voting booth today, they will be asked to rank their choices for the council. We believe there are several candidates who deserve your votes.

MORE THAN ANY other candidate, Francis H. Duehay '55 has emphasized Harvard students in his campaign. The longtime council veteran has visited nearly every registered student voter. Duehay has clearly shown that he believes Harvard students have an important role in the city and has helped spark interest among undergraduates in city issues.

Duehay has also been the most effective voice on the council this year. He designed and passed environmental ordinances dealing with ozone depletion and motor oil disposal. He has led the fight to ban unsightly billboards from Cambridge.

In addition, Duehay helped secure a fair and open-minded liberalization of regulations on street music. The reforms make it easier for musicians to play and earn money and easier for city residents to sleep at night.

Duehay was the first councillor to take a hard look at Scheme Z, a gigantic highway interchange slated to be built in East Cambridge. Even before councillors from East Cambridge stepped in, Duehay raised important questions about the highway's aesthetic and environmental impact. Those questions eventually led to a decisive council statement against the project.

Because of his leadership on these issues and because of his support for efforts to promote affordable housing, traffic solutions and zoning improvements, we urge the voters of Cambridge to give Frank Duehay their no. 1 vote on the ballot today.

IN ADDITION TO DUEHAY, there are several other candidates who deserve support tomorrow.

The first is Alice K. Wolf. As mayor for the past two years, Wolf has been a powerful voice of reason on both the council and the School Committee. Wolf is particularly committed to Cambridge's gays, women and children.

Wolf also formed a special committee on town-gown relations. Created in the wake of the new in-lieu-of-tax agreement, the commission gives city servants and administrators from Harvard and other local universities a chance to discuss ways to work together and address problems of the city.

Edward N. Cyr also deserves your vote. Cyr has a good handle on the city budget problems and has effectively led the council and Cambridge citizens through the tumultuous budget process.

Cyr is a strong defender of neighborhood issues, the elderly and the homeless. His biggest contribution to the council has been his ability to bring in new ideas. Cyr has taken a hard look at using the money in the affordable housing trust fund and has created a land bank. Both programs will hopefully convert vacant city lots into low-income housing.

Kenneth E. Reeves '72 also merits consideration. Reeves is not a perfect councillor. He has a temper and a tendency to make long-winded speeches. More important, we question Reeve's decision to retain his rent controlled apartment. We do not know his salary, but as a private lawyer and a city councillor he clearly makes a good living. He does not need rent control.

Yet Reeves has made an effort to get students involved in the city through his continued involvement with Phillips Brooks House Association. Reeves, a strong progressive voice on a variety of issues, has had the courage to lead the fight to reform rent control and to develop more affordable housing in the city. In addition, he has provided a voice for the concerns of minority constituents in Cambridge.

THREE CANDIDATES particularly unworthy of your support.

William H. Walsh is an able voice for business interests in the city, but his own business dealings are hazy. He has been sued by former employees and former real estate partners. Walsh's law firm represents many of the city's largest landlords, and as a city councillor he regularly makes decisions that could affect these dealings. Because of the many conflicts of interest that surround Walsh and his political and business activities, we urge the citizens of Cambridge not to vote for him.

For most of the 1970s and early 1980s Walter J. Sullivan received more votes than any other politician in the city. But Sullivan is no longer an effective councillor.

He rarely casts crucial votes, never speaks during council meetings and never articulates a clear policy. Sullivan is the epitome of patronage politics, and lacks a vision of the larger problems and needs of the city. Sullivan cares deeply about the people of Cambridge, but has ceased to be a leader.

The final candidate that we urge people not to support is Alfred E. Vellucci. Vellucci, the council's senior member when he stepped down in 1989, is attempting to return to the council this year running on the same ideas that won him so many terms on the council.

But those ideas are outmoded, and the anti-Harvard rhetoric he spouts has grown tiresome. Vellucci was a maverick, an Independent who supported rent control and other liberal causes and loved to be the swing vote. But he brings nothing to the council, which is controlled by progressives today. His patronage politics and lack of energy and vision he displayed during his two years on School Committee and during his campaign indicate that he should be retired along with Sullivan.

WITH 1300 VOTERS on campus this year, Harvard students can make a difference. Those votes are more than enough to elect one candidate in Cambridge's system of proportional representation. We urge everyone to pay attention to today's city elections, and we urge everyone registered in Cambridge to vote.