The question of political apathy among students is a key issue for many voters.

"I can't really see that students are very interested in local issues," Cambridge native Jeremiah H. Gregory '98 said last night.

"Most issues don't affect Harvard directly--they affect the neighborhoods and schools," he said.

Gregory, who went to Cambridge Rindge and Latin School and said he's relatively familiar with School Committee politics, said he will be voting today, but is not yet sure where his own political allegiance lies.

"I usually just vote for the names I recognize," Gregory said, adding that his parents keep him informed about the political situation in his own neighborhood while he's at college.

Gregory said that success in local politics is heavily dependent on grass-roots campaigning.

"The way [elections] usually work is councillors are known in the neighborhood they live in and that's where the people who vote for them end up coming from," he said.

Gregory encouraged students who can vote to go out and cast their ballots, but said that given the choice, he couldn't change his residency to vote while in college.

"If I was to go to school in California, probably wouldn't vote in local elections," Gregory said.

Some students who are local residents however, said that they will vote in the election because they feel a sense of obligation toward their community.

"I wasn't even aware of the election, but now I have to vote," said Cambridge resident Matthew A. Tambiah '98.

Tambiah, whose family lives in Porter Square, said he grew familiar with Cambridge politics because he lived across the street from Vice Mayor Kathleen L. Born.

"I'm just going to vote for those [councillors] I know and what I know from my friends," Tambiah said. "[Cambridge] doesn't have local news--you just hear from word of mouth."

Although Tambiah admitted that he is not familiar with School Committee politics, he said that he informed enough to know that some councillors aren't getting his vote.

"I've seen what those on city council can do and how they can abuse their power," Tambiah said, although he did not further elaborate as to how the council has not lived up to his expectations.

Tambiah said he feels that most students fail to get involved in local politics because they are insulated from outside affairs.

Instead of student apathy, Tambiah blamed paltry media coverage.

"It's not just too much [to do], it's that people don't have exposure to [local politics]," he said.

"No one gets the [Cambridge] Chronicle at Harvard and Cambridge politics isn't in the Globe except for rent control," Tambiah added.

Although Harvard students may not feel that their lives will be affected by the local elections, their votes could have a significant impact on the community in which they live, Tambiah said