'Inquirer' editor discusses Perot, politics at U.

When he first asked Acel Moore, associate editor and columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer, to speak at the University, Quadrangle Faculty Resident Matthew Santirocco did not anticipate the topic that was on everyone's mind -- Ross Perot's decision to re-enter the presidential race. But much of last night's two-hour discussion between Moore and University students on campus centered around Perot's newly-announced candidacy and the presidential campaign in general. "I think people are disillusioned to the point . . . where they are taken in by [Perot's] rhetoric," Moore said. "He is a good salesman." Moore said he thinks Perot will either give an advantage to one candidate or send the vote to Congress, which, he said, "would be a disastrous set of circumstances if it ever happened." Moore came to campus last night to discuss the campaign and political disillusionment. After a short speech, Moore opened up the floor to questions and comments from the students. "I don't really like [Arkansas governor Bill] Clinton at all. [President] Bush hasn't really done much in the past four years, and I'm not sure that he'll do anything in the next four years," said Wharton freshman Ariff Alidina, a Perot supporter. And College freshman Brian Schulman said that, although he would not vote for Perot, he might like to see him win. "We're so set into party politics. The only good thing, if [Perot] did get elected, would be that it would throw our system for a loop," Schulman said. Moore said that if he were on a panel monitoring the upcoming presidential debate, he would like to ask Clinton "to be very specific on how he would deal with the deficit and . . . what his philosophy would be on picking federal judges." And Moore speculated about the future, saying that "if we don't do something about the deficit, the standard of living for people your age is going to be much lower than it was for your parents." Moore started off last night's discussion giving a brief summary of his life to date, especially how he arrived in the field of journalism. He described an American Dream progression from copyboy to associate editor. "I was one of the first African Americans hired at the Inquirer who didn't sweep the floor or run the elevators. I sort of learned the business from the bottom up. It took me six years to make it to reporter," he explained. Santirocco said after the discussion that he was pleased with the turnout of 30 students to the informal discussion. "It was a terrific discussion about journalism, its role in politics, this current election and the disillusionments of the electorate," Santirocco said. Both Schulman and Alidina said they found the conversation interesting. "The perspective of a journalist in an informal setting was . . . different a great deal from the normal political rhetoric that you get out of the media every day," Schulman said. Santirocco encouraged other students to attend the weekly discussion sessions held in his apartment, saying, "They're [Butcher-Speakman-Class of '28] events, but everyone is welcome to come have Italian pastries and meet interesting people from on and off campus."