Mrs. Clinton lauds universal higher ed.

Ogontz, Pa. -- First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Pennsylvania State University's Abington/ Ogontz satellite campus yesterday, promising hundreds of cheering supporters that her husband will make the first two years of college as "universally available as a high school education." In a 45-minute speech outlining her husband's record in crime, welfare, family leave, health care and the environment, the First Lady kept returning to what she referred to as President Clinton's "unshakable" commitment to the future of American education. "This election is much more about the students who are here today than it is about people my age and older," Mrs. Clinton said. Clinton's speech offered no major new initiatives, focusing instead on many of the educational proposals the president suggested during his August acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. The proposals include: · Expanding federal funding for student loans while decreasing interest rates; · Connecting every classroom in America to the Internet by the year 2000; · Creating tax-free IRA accounts for parents who wish to save money on their children's college educations; · Establishing "Hope Scholarships" of $1,500 a year for two years to give students an affordable community college education; · Granting a $10,000-per-year tax deduction for college-related expenses. Hillary Clinton stressed that the initiatives would not require any new federal money and are all fully funded within her husband's balanced budget proposal. "He believes in balancing the budget and investing in education -- not cutting one to find more money for the other," she said of her husband. She added that the upcoming elections represent a "watershed" in American politics. "We are going to elect the last president of the 20th century and the first one of the 21st," Clinton said. "Now is no time to turn back the clock." In acknowledging that several of her husband's proposals tackle seemingly insignificant issues --Esuch as expanding the family-leave laws to allowing parents to attend parent-teacher conferences -- Clinton maintained that those plans form the "essence of politics." "I think it's entirely appropriate for a president to pay attention to the kind of issues people talk about at the kitchen table or around the water cooler," she explained. Clinton stressed the "twin pillars" of her husband's domestic policy -- opportunity and responsibility. "If we provide opportunity and ask for people to be responsible, we do it because we believe that it is good and right for America," she said. "Vote for hope and optimism and confidence. Vote for the best days America has ever seen." Approximately 15 Penn students, organized by College Democrats and Penn for Clinton/Gore, traveled an hour and a half to see the speech -- and said they thought it was worth the trip. "She talked about the issues that Bill? stressed and did exactly what she needed to do," said College sophomore Jana Kay, co-chairperson of Penn for Clinton/Gore. Wharton freshman Dasha Shushkovsky, who moved to the United States from Russia six years ago, described the speech as "exciting." "I wasn't disappointed that there were no new ideas," she said. "Politics is all about saying the same thing in different ways."