Although Ralph Nader's presidential campaign explicitly targets college students as potential supporters, Harvard students have shown only moderate interest.

Tabling and postering by fans of the Green Party candidate have been somewhat effective in getting Nader's message out--but the response has not been as great as activists had hoped.

Perhaps a Tuesday visit by Nader to the ARCO Forum--which Institute of Politics staffers have said is a possibility--will turn things around for Nader supporters on campus.

"It was a very slow day today," lamented volunteer William D. Beuscher yesterday as the green-wearing Cambridge resident roamed Harvard Square by bicycle, distributing leaflets and talking to voters.

Beuscher, a middle-aged waiter, said he was around in 1969--when students took over University Hall to protest the Vietnam War--and is amazed at the difference 30 years makes.

"I felt that there was much more willingness [among students] to make it appear that they're involved," he said.

Now, Beuscher said, there is little visible evidence of activism on campus. Whether there is support for Nader beneath the surface that will translate into votes is anyone's guess.

Clifford Ginn, a first-year student at the law school and founder of the Law School Greens, said he believes there is.