Although Rawlins will not announce her own endorsement for the next president and vice president until next week, her legacy will certainly be debated by the candidates.

"The student body gets the impression that the U.C. has forgotten about the issues that matter to them most," Hulse said. "The vast majority of what we do is in committee and outside the full council meeting." According to Hulse, the creation of many committees and task forces over the past two semesters has exacerbated the separation of the council from the concerns of the student body.

Cabot Henderson '00 and Alex M. Carter '00, who are running for president and vice-president respectively, say they notice this alienation as complete outsiders in this year's election.

"The votes that Cabot and I are trying to go after are the disenfranchised students," said Carter, who is a Crimson editor. "The U.C. is important, and most students don't seem to understand this."

"We think the impression most students have of Lamelle's tenure in office is about diversity on campus.... We want to broaden the appeal of the U.C.," Carter said. "It looked like there was a lot of talk and no action." A number of candidates also expressed frustration with what they see as the quashing of council reform under Rawlins' tenure and intimated that when she retires, the council will debate significant changes.

Presidential candidates David J. Malan '99, Stuart D. Shapley '99, Dorian S. Berger '00 and Michael S. Bush '99 and vice presidential candidates Lilly J. Epstein '00 and Andrew F. Ruggiero '99 also announced their bids at the meeting