Threat of war, free food draw students to watch Bush address

Last night, President George W. Bush found himself in more Penn apartments and dorm rooms than on any other night of the year. Whether it was political interest or the temptation of free pizza and popcorn, students huddled together to watch the address all over campus, from The Underground in Hamilton College House to TV lounges in the Quadrangle. Some people, such as Hill College House Graduate Adviser Tensai Asfaw, even held parties in their rooms to view the event. When asked how many people he expected to attend, Asfaw responded, "I asked a bunch of freshman -- some seemed really interested, some seemed lackluster and some were just like, 'State of the what?'" Many students at the start of the oration said that the threat of war with Iraq was what drew them to watch the event. And in the end, Engineering junior Juan Carlos Baez said Bush should have focused more on the possibility of war. "I don't think he said too much," Baez said. "There was a lot of rhetoric involved." As Bush took the podium to a prolonged standing ovation, most students at Asfaw's gathering remained silent. But the minute he opened his mouth, silence was anything but golden in the room. Republican students in attendance spent most of their time on their feet, mirroring the applause of the Republicans on the screen, while snickers from the Democrats were more than plentiful. Bush's topics ranged from prescription drugs, environmental protection, abortion and AIDS relief to urges of medical liability reform. "I was shocked how he talked about AIDS," College freshman Rafael Viana said. "I didn't expect that." Interspersed promises to fund research for hydrogen-fueled automobiles and antibiological warfare seemed to generate respect from the students. However, Bush's oft-ridiculed speech-making abilities led to some criticism. "He trips over his words -- his mind is moving too fast for his mouth," College sophomore Alex Lorenc said. And both sides of the political crowd broke into laughter together when Bush mispronounced "Korean peninsula." But shortly after, students became solemn for the portion of Bush's words that dealt with Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction. Following Bush's address, College of General Studies student Jason Bartlett admitted that the free popcorn had initially drawn him to view the speech in Hamilton's Underground. But as his crunching died down, he said, "It was a good speech. He even got Hillary Clinton to stand up first in some of the ovations -- she was popping up all over the place!" he chuckled. "Whenever you get bipartisan support [like that], it's gotta be a good speech."

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