State of the Union draws mixed reviews

President George W. Bush delivered the annual State of the Union address Tuesday night, outlining his plans for the next year and updating the nation on the progress of the continuing war on terrorism.\nThroughout the address, the President emphasized the justness of the war abroad and progress at home. Bush characterized latent terrorists as "ticking time bombs" and stressed the need for vigilance. He also announced the hard-line stance the United States has adopted toward the housing and support of terrorist cells. \nThe content of the address drew dissenting opinions from students and faculty.\n"President Bush emphasized the prosecution of the war in his speech because it is a source of his immense popularity," said Edward Carmines, Rudy Professor of political science. "He is faced with a dilemma. He is a war president, which gives him extremely high levels of popularity and almost unanimous support from the Senate and House. However, he wants to transfer the same approval to his domestic agenda, where Congress develops a partisan split."\nThe domestic agenda outlined by Bush includes making the controversial tax break of last year permanent, running a short-term deficit, increasing domestic energy production and passing a stimulus package. He also invited Americans to join the USA Freedom Corps, which will focus on emergency response, rebuilding communities and extending American compassion and goodwill. \nSome students were encouraged by the President's address.\n"With the new USA Freedom Corps, Bush encourages the entire country to help each other," freshman Erica Swier said. "This is a commendable step to keep the people involved in the nation's progress and to ensure that Americans know there is still much to be done to retrieve all we have lost."\nJunior Ian Snyder was also pleased with the President's message, but has some reservations.\n"I am in the Air Force reserves, so it was nice to hear the President recognize the contribution the military is making," Snyder said. "He proposed a lot of good plans and objectives but those coupled with a big tax break and a budget deficit don't seem conducive to fiscal balance. I hope the current administration remains solvent."\nOthers were not as impressed with the President's message and said he failed to address key issues.\n"I feel that all President Bush said was 'forget foreign policy,'" sophomore Trish Rieke said. "He said 'let's promote big business and over-consumption!' God bless America."\nSenior Matt Riley said the address was style without substance.\n"The President's speech was all smoke and mirrors, with no content," he said. "He didn't mention key issues like women's rights, civil rights and the environment, or he failed to completely develop what he was saying. Expanding our energy resources sounds like a great plan, until you realize that it means Bush wants to drill for oil in Alaska."\nAlso expressing disappointment with the State of the Union Address was political science Professor Timothy Tilton.\n"The great flaw in our politics at the present time is that we are unwilling to face up to hard problems," he said. "Politicians only want to speak to points that will make them popular."\nTilton noted that the President presented the war in Afghanistan as an unqualified success, without mentioning that Osama Bin Laden remains at large and a large portion of the Taliban escaped into Pakistan. \n"He also barely addressed the need for regulatory reform that the Enron collapse has made obvious," he said. "And he ignored environmental issues altogether. Thus, I have to dissent from the general enthusiasm for the President's message"