Campus poll favors Al Gore

Although national polls peg today's U.S. presidential race too close to call, a random survey of Cal State Long Beach students, faculty and staff showed a clear majority support for Vice President Al Gore over Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

Of the 106 people questioned campuswide last week, 48 percent said they would vote for Gore, 30 percent for Bush and 9 percent for consumer advocate Ralph Nader. Another 13 percent said they were either undecided, planning to write-in another name or would not vote.

A Daily Forty-Niner online poll published Thursday, including responses from people on and off campus, yielded similar results: 47.9 percent for Gore, 29.1 percent for Nader and 18.7 percent for Bush.

As with the general populace, members of the campus community cited such issues as education reform, Social Security, tax relief, future U.S. Supreme Court appointees and abortion rights as pivotal factors in their support for one candidate or the other.

For some, it seemed unnecessary to change horses in mid-stream.

"[President Bill] Clinton has done a good job in his eight years," said Kelvin Nimsiriruengphol, a junior kinesiology major. "The way I see it, why change a good thing? Despite [Clinton's] scandals, he's done a good job. Gore will keep the flow going."

Many said they simply would vote along party lines although others planned to break ranks.

"I am voting for Gore based on the basic difference between Republicans and Democrats," said junior communications major Honesdo Ferrer. "Democrats are for the working people. The main issue is taxes. Republicans want to target the tax cuts to their buddies, Gore is targeting tax cuts to the working class."

Gore's tax plans also resonated with senior Aaron Moore.

"I like Gore's ideas on freeing up tax money for college tuition," said Moore, a liberal studies major who has two daughters nearing college age.

Alisa Sanchez, a senior majoring in kinesiology said she is a registered Republican, but plans to vote for the Democrat.

"I'm going to vote for Gore because Bush is an idiot," Sanchez said.

Bush supporters rallied to his calls for less government and a more trustworthy White House.

"I like Bush because I don't want the government to control everything in my life," said Stacy Mauciel, a graduate student majoring in criminal justice.

"I don't like Al Gore," added Justin Goss, a sophomore psychology major. "Al Gore is a shady character. Bush isn't. Bush seems to be more trustworthy."

Kristy Pyle, a senior communications major, said Bush's economic proposals would benefit entrepreneurs.

"My family owns a business and they're likely to do better with a Republican in office," Pyle said.

Nader's Sept. 13 Cal State Long Beach appearance won over several who heard him speak.

"Seeing him here on campus shows that he is reaching out to our generation," said business major Josh Mayors. "He made the effort to educate us on his views and that is incredibly important to me."

Michelle Ihira, a junior kinesiology major, also liked Nader's perspective.

"I attended Nader's speech on campus and really agreed with a lot of what he had to say," Ihira said. "I really liked his policies on the environment and his opposition to corporate America."

Still, some Nader supporters are having second thoughts about actually voting for him.

"Personally, I like Nader," said Ony Anyanwu, a sophomore with an undeclared major, "but he's not going to win and I think a vote for Nader is a vote for Bush."

Marilyn Dukala, a senior majoring in communications, said she is having a hard time deciding who to vote for.

"I'm going to vote, but I don't like either [Bush or Gore]," Dukala said. "I'm still undecided. My mom says Gore, my friends say Bush."

A 48-year-old faculty member, who asked that his name be withheld, said he also doesn't care for either of the leading candidates.

"This is the worst choice that I remember ever having," he said.

But while some are undecided or not voting, Justin Nielson, a sophomore electrical engineering major, has come up with his own solution. He plans to write in his own name.

"I think all the candidates are fake and I'm real," Nielson said. "I don't want to vote for Gore or Bush, so I'm just trying to make a statement."

Data collected by journalism students Tawnie Bassett-Parkins, Amy Cucinella, Rocio Escolar, Jeannie Formosa, Katrina Frazier, Danielle Grossman, Jason Gutierrez, Monesia Hobbs, Damon McCarthy, Jeff Moll, Nicole Nard, Anthony Ou, Craig Rizzi, Marcie Saenz, Ferhal Sencan, Yelda Tezel, Cynthia Tom and Svetco Vladich Jr.