As the polls for local elections open today, Harvard students may not be rushing to cast their ballots.

But last night, both challengers and incumbents stressed the importance of students playing a role in city politics.

"Harvard really hasn't plugged in to the Cambridge schools," said School Committee candidate Charles Stead. "Black and Hispanic men are not making it in the city of Cambridge [schools] and I have yet to see Harvard step up and help... but if individual students could help out, we'd certainly appreciate it."

Stead, a former principal of the King School, was busy pounding the pavement in Central Square as the sun set yesterday.

Stead shook hands with passersby at the corner of Mass. Ave and Prospect Street, chatting about his appearance at three area churches Sunday and his experience as a 33-year veteran of the Cambridge school system.

"I'm a grassroots person, a lifelong resident of Cambridge from the Coast, the riverside, to the 'port, to North Cambridge," Stead said, stressing the importance of students voting in both the city election and schools.

Across the street from Stead, incumbent city councillors were busy addressing community concerns in city hall.

Councillors listened patiently as residents voiced concern regarding recent events ranging from Jiang Zemin's visit to the Tasty's fate--events that in their minds overshadowed the local election.

"You're all slow on the uptake tonight," joked Mayor Sheila Doyle Russell as councillors shuffled through reams of proposals set for consideration at the end of the meeting.

Councillor Henrietta Davis took a break from deliberations to emphasize a point made just as the meeting convened.

In the wake of the recent death of an MIT student, residents called for increased safety precautions surrounding Memorial Drive, and Davis was quick to note the proposal's importance for Harvard students as well.

"There are a lot of student interests at stake in this election," Davis said.

"Obviously the first was brought up at the beginning of the meeting--the safety of Memorial Drive. But in general, the things decided here [in city hall] affect all affect each students' life in some way," she said.

Students eligible to vote in the local election can cast their votes at several area sites throughout Cambridge.

Polling sites include the Agassiz School at 29 Garden St., King School on Putnam Ave., Peabody School on Linnaean St., Putnam Apartments at 2 Mt. Auburn St., Youville Hospital on Hovey Ave. and on-campus polling stations at Quincy House and Gund Hall.

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