FRED O. SMITH '04 makes a point at the Undergraduate Council presidential debate yesterday as DAVID M. DARST '04, JASON L. LURIE '05 and HUNTER A. MAATS '04 look on. Rohit Chopra '04 also participated.

Elections for the Undergraduate Council president and vice president began this morning at 12:01 a.m., following a debate yesterday among all the presidential candidates that elicited both hisses and laughs from the audience.

The debate, which drew about 100 people to the Kennedy School of Government’s ARCO Forum, provided an opportunity for audience members, panelists and the candidates themselves to ask questions.

The five presidential candidates first fielded questions from a panel comprised of members of the two organizations that co-sponsored the event, the Harvard Political Union and The Crimson.

All the candidates—Rohit Chopra ’04, David M. Darst ’04, Jason L. Lurie ’05, Hunter A. Maats ’04 and Fred O. Smith ’04—first addressed questions of how to make students feel represented and reform the Core.

Darst led off by saying that representation by the council president should “include more service in dining halls, more going door-to-door.”

Chopra, a council veteran, spent much of his speech time throughout the debate criticizing the council.

“Often, [council members] spend more time taking attendance than discussing the issues people care about,” Chopra said. “The UC has dropped the ball time and time again.”

Smith said the council needs to serve as an effective lobbying group, and that passing “broad legislation” did not fulfill its obligations.

Lurie drew on a theme of the “lack of respect” for the council.

“We waste their money on things we think are good,” he said, stating his belief that good potential council representatives decide not to run for council office because they don’t respect the organization.

Maats, wearing a blue seersucker suit and pink bow tie, said that “nobody’s behind” the council, and that a sense of humor is the way “to get people excited and get people jazzed.”

Darst emphasized the importance of social events, saying that “they mean a lot to students.” He stressed the importance of cooperation between the council and House Committees, involving University President Lawrence H. Summers in student groups’ initiatives and soliciting funds from non-University sources.

“These are alternative resources that we have,” he said.

Chopra said the council would have to work with the administration in order to implement many changes, and that finding Faculty members who support the council’s causes would be important.

“Harvard is being run by low-level bureaucrats,” Chopra said, later adding that the council should attempt to appeal to “really angry faculty members rising up.”