Most of the 12 candidates for Undergraduate Council president agreed at a debate last night that "student advocacy" should be the primary goal of the council.

But candidates disagreed on the best way to address the issue.

Twelve candidates are running for president and five for vice president. Only one candidate, Adam D. Green '99, was absent from the debate, held last night in Boylston Auditorium.

Candidate Justin E. Porter '99 advocated a better working relationship with the administration.

"We want to work with the administration. For too long, the Undergraduate. Council has been antagonistic towards the administration," Porter said.

Candidate Joseph G. Cleemann '98, advocated a more militant strategy to deal with the administration.

"I don't propose to kill anyone. I don't propose to threaten to kill anyone, but people act when they're afraid," Cleemann said.

But Albert S. Lee '98 said that it is more important for the council to work towards attainable goals. He wanted upper-class access to Annenberg Hall, universal key-card access and fewer representatives on the council.

"Push for the smaller victories, not the big issues," he said.

Candidate David S. Goodman '97-'98 said the council needs to work on getting immediate results, and he used a walking toy dinosaur to emphasize his point.

"This shows how quickly [the council] moves on student responsiveness," he said, as the dinosaur plodded across the podium.

"If we're trying to get over there, with me, look at how simple it is," he concluded, picking up the dinosaur and striding across the room.

Eric M. Nelson '99, a Crimson editor who is chair of the council's Student Affairs Committee, emphasized his vision of uniting the council to work towards important goals.

"Our platform is very clear and very practical," Nelson said, listing Core reform, grading reform and concentration advising as his major issues.

Benjamin R. Kaplan '99, criticized some of his rivals for endorsing vice presidential candidates, attempting to force certain ideas onto the council and otherwise politicizing the race.