A Calmer Scene in Loker Commons

CNN's coverage of last night's election was projected onto a big screen in Loker Commons, but only a handful of students seemed to care. Most were seeking assistance with their math homework, trying to focus as occasional shouts from party faithful broke their concentration. Many were first-years.

Most of those who took the time to watch as the numbers came in were somewhat undecided--not members of the party faithful. "I don't fully support either candidate," said Michelle Young '04.

Working through a calculus problem set while keeping a watchful eye on the screen, Sammy Ford '04 of Texas, said that he was "motivated...because I would not trust George W. to make life or death decisions about our country."

For several students, simply taking a break from studying by playing a game of pool, the election held some significance.

"At first I thought it was anticlimactic to decide between two candidates that I cared little about" said Sam Bryson '04. His roommate, Patrick Smith '04 gave the election "two thumbs up. An extraordinarily important election because it will determine the camp ideological makeup of the Supreme Court," he said.

When asked of any reservations of the race, he stated, "I'm kind of disappointed the candidates didn't address some of the most important issues, the death penalty and gun control in particular. [I'm] disappointed that Al Gore didn't have the courage to go after Bush on those issues," he said.

Others were content to only glance up as word came in of the latest electoral count.

"I'm praying for the state of the nation," sighed Onyechi Ezekwueche '04."

Jamion Warren '04 said, "I think its silly that people watch the election like a football game. It's not necessary to check the 'score' every five minutes."

As for his vote, he said, "I forgot to put postage on my absentee ballot application."

Other students expressed regret at not being able to express their voice because of the difficulty of the complexity of the absentee ballot system. " I felt bad because I couldn't get my absentee ballot in on time", said Tiffany Chantra '04. "I really wanted to vote."