Students impressed with Clinton speech

Many praised the president's charisma and ability to make complex issues easy to understand. He leaped over theater seats. He edged his way through hordes of anxious audience members. And in the end, College junior Cam Winton got exactly what he wanted: a chance to ask a question of President Clinton. "I asked for his advice for any aspiring politician," said Winton, a member-at-large on the executive board of the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education. "He said that I should work in campaigns, talk to a lot of people who are different than I am and know exactly why I want to run and be able to articulate that to people," Winton said. "It's good advice coming from the man himself." Like 400 other Penn undergraduates, Winton's brush with the chief executive came yesterday afternoon during Clinton's address on "The New Economy" in Irvine Auditorium. Kicking off the new Granoff Forum on International Development and the Global Economy, Clinton spent the better part of two hours at Penn, shaking hands and speaking with the throngs of students, faculty members and guests who flocked to greet him after his 35-minute speech. Student audience members -- who were invited to the event through the School of Arts and Sciences' International Relations program, the Political Science Department and the Lauder Institute -- responded to the president's speech with overwhelming enthusiasm. "It was a good speech," College sophomore Catherine Cho said. "I thought I wouldn't understand anything because I'm not into politics or anything, but he laid it out well." Cho wasn't the only one impressed with Clinton's ability to communicate complex economic concepts in understandable terms. "He laid everything out really fundamentally and made everything easy to understand," College sophomore Raymond Chin said. The president -- who arrived at the event slightly late because of a delayed White House departure -- was introduced by speeches from Philadelphia Mayor John Street, University President Judith Rodin and 1980 College graduate Michael Granoff, who is sponsoring the new lecture series. But for those in attendance, the real highlight of the afternoon was the chance to see the president display his much-celebrated public speaking skills. "I thought he was great," College junior Lauren Sierchio said. "He's so charismatic and I think he makes everything sound so exciting and wonderful." "The president has a very powerful presence in the room," College sophomore Jamie Dufresne added. "I was impressed with his policy on economics and how inclusive it was of technology." In a year when Penn has been graced with the presence of such dynamic speakers as former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and real estate magnate Donald Trump, Clinton drew perhaps the widest praise for his delivery and insight. "[Clinton's speech was] excellent," Wharton senior and former SCUE Chairman Aaron Fidler said. "He's already proven himself to be a great speechmaker, but I thought he did an excellent job here and touched on a lot of very relevant issues." "I think regardless of what you think of the president's views politically, everyone realizes his abilities as a politician," Senior Class President and College Republicans Chairwoman Lisa Marshall said. "I thought it was a good speech. He interjects a lot of personality into it and he's an intriguing speaker." And while the large majority of students saw Clinton only from their Irvine Auditorium seats, several members of Penn College Democrats had a unique opportunity to experience the president's visit from a different angle -- the presidential motorcade. These students -- four from Penn and six from nearby Swarthmore College -- served as volunteers for the presidential visit, driving motorcade vans, meeting with staff officials and even getting their own car in the line of vehicles from the airport. But while the other vehicles were labeled with signs indicating "press," "security," or other functions, the College Democrats' automobile was assigned another title -- "straggler." "We got to see a lot of cool things," College sophomore and College Democrats Vice President Christy Gressman said. "We got to ride in the motorcade through Philly and we got to meet the president and take a picture with him. So it was a fascinating experience and I think I learned a lot."

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