Gauging the campus climate

Justin Schmaltz just doesn't want to vote.<P> He tuned in to watch the presidential candidates deliver their nomination speeches, he keeps up on national news and he even considers himself affiliated with one of the major parties.<P> But despite all this, the Wharton sophomore and Fargo, N.D., native says he still doesn't have all the facts he needs to make an informed choice come Election Day.<P> "I see voting as something you should do if you're educated about all the issues," the self-described conservative Republican said minutes after watching last night's debate between George W. Bush and Al Gore.<P> "And as of now," he said, "I still don't consider myself really informed."<P> Along with four other randomly selected Penn students, Schmaltz participated last night in a Daily Pennsylvanian panel designed to gauge student reaction to the first of three debates between the major party contenders for the White House.<P> And like students and voters across the country, the five participants responded to the 90-minute debate with an equally varied mix of optimism, criticism and doubt.<P> To College sophomore Alia Gonsalves -- a self-described political novice who will be voting this November for the first time -- the vice president's fact-based approach to questioning sealed up her decision to vote Democratic.<P> "Gore definitely has my vote," said Gonsalves, who was born in the United States but was raised in Kingston, Jamaica. "He knows his policies inside and out. He knows Bush's policies inside and out."<P> To others, though, the difference between Gore and Bush wasn't nearly as clear-cut. Both candidates, they said, appeared well-versed on the issues and dedicated to their convictions.<P> But while the students said Gore maintained an obvious strength in providing evidence to back up his policy claims, they also pointed out that Bush's charisma may have gained him the upper hand.<P> "Gore was much better with policy and providing statistical evidence," Wharton freshman Greg Eisner said. "But Bush showed more personality, so maybe to those who weren't listening as close, he came off better."<P> Eisner -- a native of Huntington, N.Y., and a Republican who has crossed party lines to support Gore -- added that the vice president clearly outshined his opponent on issues of substance, but Bush's one-liners may have made the difference considering the media's appetite for quick, biting commentary.<P> The Texas governor showed an affinity for such soundbites on numerous occasions throughout the debate, referring to Gore's Social Security plan as "fuzzy numbers" and his Medicare proposal as "Mediscare."<P> But such convoluted rhetoric may have obscured the key issues, College freshman Dina Ackermann said.<P> "I enjoyed watching the debate, but I wonder how much the average American got out of it," the Greensboro, N.C., native and Gore backer said. "Often the answers were long-winded and both of the candidates used the opportunity to speak on only the topics they wanted to."<P> From nearly the first moments of the debate, both Gore and Bush attempted to draw attention to those issues in which they viewed themselves as stronger.<P> Bush spent considerable time -- no matter what question was posed by moderator Jim Lehrer -- discussing his experiences as governor of Texas and lashing out at Gore's various policy proposals.<P> To the panelists, such mean-spirited barbs were indicative of Bush's general demeanor.<P> "It's getting ugly," Eisner noted as the two candidates engaged in a particularly abrasive exchange on the issue of oil production. "He takes one step forward and one step back and then sidesteps the issue."<P> Gore, by comparison, entered into several lengthy discussions on his plans for funding Social Security and Medicare -- exchanges which, said the panelists, became overly repetitive and predictable.<P> "My plan is Social Security plus," Gore said. "The governor's plan is Social Security..."<P> "Minus," Ackermann quipped as she correctly predicted the vice president's train of thought. "This is getting old."<P> While all five panelists admitted that the debate opened their eyes to the relevant issues in the campaign, they likewise said that the often-rambling commentary and misleading claims might have turned off some potential voters.<P> "Nothing they said changed my opinions in general," said College sophomore Erica Young, who hails from Allentown, Pa. "I disagreed with a lot of the things they both said, and I think a lot of it was over my head and over the heads of most Americans."<P> And while Schmaltz says his support sways more toward the Bush side, the debate did little to convince him to cast an unenthusiastic ballot on Election Day.<P> "I think I'm actually less likely to vote now," Schmaltz said. "I came into this liking Bush more, but I don't think either of these two men is ready to be president."<P>