By Nicole Haley
As President George W. Bush made the entrance for his State of the Union Address, many Northeastern students watching in after-HOURS greeted him with loud booing.
Members of Northeastern University Campus Against War and Racism (NUCAWR), the Progressive Student Alliance (PSA) and the International Student Organ-ization (ISO), among others, watched as Bush spoke about a wide range of issues from the No Child Left Behind Act to the danger of steroid use to his opposition of gay marriage.
When Bush introduced the president of Iraq’s new governing counsel and spoke of a liberated Iraqi people, members of NUCAWR chanted, “Occupation isn’t liberation.”
Bush talked about the danger of believing that the terror threat no longer exists. When he warned Congress that the Patriot Act would expire next year, students echoed their applause. Bush implored Congress to consider the threat to homeland security that such a discontinuance might imp-ose.
At the suggestion of dismantling dangerous weapons of destruction during the war on terror, Democratic Mass-achusetts Senator Edward Kennedy was seen shaking his head in disapproval.
Bush’s statements were met with a range of chuckles, chanting and general disdain from students.
“At one point I was sweating because I was so angered at what he was saying,” said Rae Burruss, a sophomore political science major.
Stanislav Vysotsky, a sociology graduate student, found irony in Bush’s attempt to appear as someone making big changes.
“He presents right wing policies as being progressive – you’re moving forwards by going backwards,” Vysotsky said.
When asked what presidential candidate he would support, Vysotsky said he will not be voting. In fact, he said he never votes for presidents, only for referendums.
Patrick McCluskey, a sophomore civil engineering and geology major, is a libertarian who spotted a flyer for the viewing in his dorm and decided to come out and see what people were saying. Mc-Cluskey said he is undecided in terms of supporting any candidate.
“I don’t know if I want to vote for a Democrat just to keep Republicans out,” McCluskey said.
Joe Knott, an NUCAWR member and junior music major, said the event was a convenient way to “kick off politics and get activists organized.”
“Watching something like this by yourself can be pretty demoralizing. We want to give people the confidence to express their doubts and questions,” Knott said.
Mike Amato, a PSA member and a senior sociology and linguistics major, said it is important for students to discuss political concerns with other students.
“[Bush’s] State of the Union address is really the beginning of his campaign speech,” Amato said.
After Bush finished presenting his position, some students left for the couches of the Curry Student Center to discuss on their own and process what they had just seen.
Amato said a goal of the meeting to view and discuss the address was to “get people thinking about ideas they haven’t thought of before.”
“It’s important in a democracy to learn from each other,” Amato said.
