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Local KSU students weigh in on President Bush s speech

By ROWENA PLETT and SUSAN COOPER

Staff writers

Centre High School graduates Shaina Makovec and Dana Beltz and Marion High School graduate Courtney Geis were among 9,000 people Monday who attended the Landon Lecture Series' presentation of President George W. Bush at Bramlage Coliseum.

Bush's speech focused on his foreign policy initiatives and, more specifically, the war on terror.

Makovec said she was impressed with the president's presentation.

"He scanned the crowd and made you feel he was talking to you," she said.

She was especially impressed with his statement that being president hasn't changed his moral values.

"I'm going to return to Texas with the same values that I had when I left," he said.

Makovec said the president related well to students as well as professors and other adults in attendance.

She was impressed with his expression of love and admiration for his wife.

He also praised the soldiers from Ft. Riley and Congressmen Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts for the roles they play.

After his speech, the President entertained a question-and-answer session.

Makovec said he did a good job of answering questions.

"He has a good sense of humor," she said.

She noted he had to deal with some touchy subjects but was able to handle them in a comfortable way.

Makovec said a woman from Iraq addressed the president for five minutes in broken English to express her thankfulness for what the U.S. has done for her family and country. She lost several family members under Saddam Hussein's brutal dictatorship, and two of her sisters are members of the newly-elected Iraq Parliament.

Beltz said it was awesome to see President Bush in person.

"He is a great people person," she said. "He puts things on a level that everyone can understand."

She appreciated the respect he showed for the state of Kansas.

She was interested to learn about the secret surveillance operation the government was conducting and how phone calls from overseas can be traced and kept track of.

"It isn't us they are spying on," she said he told the crowd. "It's for our security. Why are these people calling?"

Beltz said President Bush emphasized the rights American citizens enjoy and that he is fighting to keep them secure.

"My overall impression of the lecture was very positive," said Geis. "Most of the crowd seemed very supportive and alert during his entire presentation."

Bush said he made his most difficult decision to send troops to Iraq. It also was the reason he made the decision to authorize tapping of phone calls from known terror suspects into the U.S.

Among the spectators were 800 Fort Riley troops who just returned from Iraq.

"Just about everyone I discussed the lecture with afterward thought it was enjoyable and a neat experience," said Geis.

Geis was impressed with how genuine Bush seemed to be.

"He was funny and he seemed to be very open and straightforward about our country's issues," Geis said. "I'm not necessarily the most involved in politics, but I was really interested in what he had to say about the war."

Bush said his most important decisions involve protecting the American people. He said those terrorist attacks were not an isolated incident and an enemy is still out there.

Security for the event was not what Geis expected.

"I thought it would be more thorough," she said. There were four metal detectors at the entrances, each surrounded by security guards.

"I had to go through a specific line for people with cameras," Geis said. "It went pretty quickly."

There also were guards at each stair entrance who Geis thought were Secret Service men. Law enforcement and firefighters also were on hand for crowd control.

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