Shuffling through paperwork and wading through election regulations, 14 hopefuls for the hotly-contested Undergraduate Council presidential and vice-presidential elections officially declared their candidacies at an election commission meeting late last night.

Although campaigning cannot officially begin until next Monday, the candidates already see themselves as aligned with segments of the student body.

Council Treasurer Beth A. Stewart '00 and council Campus Live Committee Co-Chair Samuel C. Cohen '00, running for president and vice-president respectively, represent reform of the council's focus, Stewart said.

"I think the conflict is between those who think the purpose of the U.C. is to pursue a political agenda and those who think it is to pursue student interests," Stewart said.

"I think that [the election] is very much about the legacy of Rob and Lamelle versus a change of the focus of the council to a much more non-political view," Stewart added, referring to former and current council presidents Robert M. Hyman '98 and Lamelle D. Rawlins '99.

Hyman was the first popularly elected council president, and Rawlins was his vice president before being elected president last December.

The council under Rawlins has followed a three-year trend toward increased political activism in the council and has tackled issues large and small, including the moral rectitude of the protests against Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Core Curriculum reform, shuttle service and the controversy over grapes in Harvard dining halls.

Stewart and Cohen say that they aim to depoliticize the council.

Benjamin W. Hulse '99, also a candidate for president, says that these political issues do deserve consideration by the council.

Although Hulse originally gathered signatures for a vice-presidential candidacy, he changed his mind at the last minute and submitted a petition for the presidency, choosing as his running mate council Secretary Olivia Verma '99-'00.

Hulse says that the various candidates need to come to an understanding about their stance on particular issues.

"Beth and [presidential candidate Jobe G. Danganan '99] and I are all very good friends," Hulse said. "People shouldn't expect to see the animosity that characterized last year's election."

Since many of the candidates will have similar platforms, for example emphasizing student services as a priority, Hulse says that it is unclear which student groups will endorse particular candidates.

"We are, I think, like the other candidates, going to talk to the biggest groups on campus," Hulse said.

Her endorsement by groups such as the Black Students Association and the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgendered and Supporters Alliance played a crucial role in Rawlins' election last year.

Few candidates have staked out positions as politically liberal as Rawlins'. A possible exception is Co-Chair of the Faculty Diversity Task Force Kamil E. Redmond '00, who will run as vice-president on a ticket with Danganan. She has previously voiced support for a number of liberal causes on campus such as adding transgenderism to the University's non-discrimination policy.

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