Local KSU students share insights of President Bush address
Staff reporter
Marion High School graduates Stacia Williams and Courtney Geis were among the 9,000 people Monday who attended the Landon Lecture to hear President George W. Bush speak at Bramlage Coliseum at Kansas State University, Manhattan.
"Hundreds of students joined a handful of die-hard campers Jan. 18 to secure a top place in line," said Williams. Tickets weren't distributed until noon. A line of approximately 5,000 students encircled the football stadium.
When Monday arrived, Williams said the motorcade was quite an ominous sight.
"President Bush arrived on Air Force One that morning at Forbes Field in Topeka," said Williams.
Bush was supposed to be transported by helicopter to the campus but was part of a motorcade with Senators Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback, and Governor Kathleen Sebelius.
"An entourage of what looked like 100 black SUVs formed an intimidating motorcade down I-70," said Williams.
Bush was introduced to the crowd by K-State president John Wefald, and was presented a K-State football jersey with #43 and "BUSH" on the back, said Williams.
"The '43' was for our 43rd president, not the number of football standout Darren Sproles," Williams said.
"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.
"More than anything, we saw a strangely relaxed, joking President Bush, speaking to us like a teacher would a student," Williams said. "Even though he avoided one student's question about the controversial movie 'Brokeback Mountain', and had no definite response for the $12.8 billion cut from education and student loans, he seemed to handle each question with a great deal of patience and insight."
Williams recalled Bush joking about a local bar, Rusty's Last Chance, choosing the color of the Oval Office rug as his first presidential task, and the endless advice of First Lady Laura Bush, whether he wants to hear it or not.
"The president retracted this last comment by waving to the camera, 'Just kidding, honey!'" Williams said.
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.
Following Bush's 45-minute speech, he spent nearly an hour answering more than a dozen questions.
Williams is the daughter of Roger and Laura Williams of Florence, and Geis is the daughter of Dale and Shawn Geis of Marion.
