He shall from time to time give the Congress information of the State of the Union

The actual West Wing preempted the television drama "The West Wing" Wednesday night, as President Bush delivered his State of the Union address, drawing mixed responses from the IU community looking for domestic policies from the wartime president.\nBush's 53-minute speech -- the first of his second term and his fifth overall -- proposed an ambitious agenda balancing a continued presence in the war on terrorism while focusing on American concerns at home. That agenda included what the president called "building the prosperity of future generations" and "updating institutions that were created to meet the needs of an earlier time," such as Social Security reform, tax reform and immigration reform. \nStudent political leaders praised the speech but took note of the clear differences within the House of Representatives chamber where Bush spoke.\n"It flowed well," said IU College Republicans Chairman Andrew Lauck. "This was one of the smoothest speeches he's delivered, and I was impressed to see he gave so much attention to domestic issues, too." \nAlex Sharp, communications director for the IU College Democrats, said he thought it was a well-delivered speech. He conceded, however, that he thought everyone could have guessed what the speech was going to be about and that it won't disarm the Democrats going into debate on reform.\n"I noticed that for most of the domestic issues, the room was divided as to who was standing and who was not," Sharp said. "Social Security will be definitely be divided. Most of the domestic agenda is going to be a pretty heated, divided battle. And it'll be Bush's big battle."\nLauck said he wasn't surprised by the president's agenda because he really wouldn't expect anything less.\n"He's always been known for his boldness, and that's why I have more respect for him than a lot of people," Lauck said. "His ambition hasn't stopped him before. His agenda for the last four years was ambitious and will be ambitious for the next four years." \nIU professors were also paying attention Wednesday night, following the political issues that might affect the subjects they teach.\n"There are a lot of things that the president would like to accomplish," said William Henderson, an associate professor at the IU School of Law. "It's definitely a very ambitious agenda, and this is probably the first time I've heard Social Security brought up in the State of the Union." \nHenderson said he got the impression that the president's tort reform initiative -- reshuffling the legal system to avoid lawsuit abuses -- might be one of the first proposals to go through Congress in Bush's second term because of the presumed pack mentality against lawyers.\n"I get the impression that some of this stuff is tested with focus groups," Henderson said. "Everyone kind of likes to beats up on 'junk lawsuits' and 'frivolous lawsuits.' It might be one of the first things to go through because, in an ambitious agenda, it's the least controversial." \nHenderson said he believes that as the president attempts to build momentum for his domestic agenda, "he needs some victories under your belt." \nGeraldo Gonzalez, dean of the IU School of Education, said he believes the president recognizes education is critical for the future of the 21st century economy.\n"It was implied, but not said, that in order for students to be able to take advantage of higher education and participate fully in the 21st economy, they must have a strong preparation at the elementary and secondary level," Gonzalez said. "I think accountability is important, but what is also important is to provide the support that the schools need to ensure that all children have access to quality education."\nGonzalez said it's regrettable that the education community is confronting cuts at the same time that it is being asked to raise expectations for students.\n"It's really impossible to archive the goals of quality education in case we also make the commit to provide the support necessary," he said.\nNeither Lauck nor Sharp saw the speech as too vague or general, and both were hesitant about allowing for more intricate policy details within the speech at the expense of time.\n"I think the State of the Union is not the venue for the details on the agenda," Lauck said. "The president only has an hour to tell the entire American population what he's going to do. If you go back in history, traditionally you'd be hard-pressed to find a president who talks a lot about details in the State of the Union. It's more important to convey purpose and message."\nSharp agreed, noting that constitutionally all the State of the Union has to be is the equivalent of a "How's the country doing?"\n"I'm not really sure if it's the forum for details. It's the State of the Union, not the 'Share My Details of My Legislative Agenda,'" Sharp said. "Obviously it'd be nice, and it's often hard to get a hold of those details, especially for the average person, but I don't think it'd really be feasible, and I don't think most people have the patience for that." \n-- Contact Senior Writer Tony Sams at ajsams@indiana.edu.