One of the most confusing chapters in the history of our great country came to an official end on Jan. 21 as Republican George W. Bush was sworn in as President of the United States.

Bush, the ex-governor of Texas, emerged as the winner of the highly controversial 2000 Presidential Election, defeating Democratic candidate Al Gore and Third Party candidate Ralph Nader.

The election was dragged out for over a month due to ballots not being filled out correctly, the process of re-counting those ballots and the court appeals that accompanied them.

Sophomore mass communications major Deidre Boylan did not think that the whole process was very well thought out.
“I was baffled at the fact that the government picked a random date for ballot counting to conclude,” said Boylan. “After all, there is nothing anywhere that says that all ballots need to be counted by a certain day.”

Despite the turmoil, Bush has now spent over a week in office, though most Quinnipiac students have been more concerned with getting back into their academic routine rather than with who is running our country.

Joe Tasca, a sophomore mass communications major, doesn’t think that many students at Quinnipiac or at other schools are very concerned with the presidency right now.

“I think that most college kids right now are more concerned with what classes they have and their teachers,” said Tasca. “Right now, those issues directly affect them more than any government issue could.”

Although the Bush administration is only officially two weeks old, it has already seen some controversy. In early January, Bush’s nominee to become Secretary of Labor, Linda Chavez, withdrew due to information surfacing that she had once housed an illegal immigrant and had not properly divulged that information.

Junior mass communications major, Lauren Gurry, thinks that Chavez made the right decision by taking herself out of consideration for the position. “She would have received a lot of negative publicity,” said Gurry, “and some people may not take her work seriously.”

Bush has also drawn stark criticism in some circles by nominating John Ashcroft, a man who has opposed abortion and affirmative action, along with changing his political views with the times, to the position of Attorney General.

Justin Weiner, a sophomore mass communications major, thinks the same way about Ashcroft that Gurry thinks about Chavez.

“I think a man who has so much of the focus on him in a controversial way will be bad for a position of such high status,” said Weiner.
Still, President Bush is not resting on his laurels now that he is officially the “Leader of the Free World.” He has moved ahead with his national missile defense plan, which, according to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, is to build a national shield to protect against limited attack from ballistic missiles.

Bush is also considering ordering an immediate reduction in the U.S. income tax if proposed tax cuts become laws.

Sophomore psychology major, Erin O’Mara, thinks that Bush is doing an excellent job for someone who has been in office for such a short amount of time. “After it was such an issue to simply elect a President,” said O’Mara. “It’s nice to have some stability at the head of the country.”

Yet, no matter how well Bush serves as President, some people just won’t be satisfied, including sophomore mass communications major Dave Gold.

“I don’t agree with some of his political views,” said Gold. “Bush is too conservative for me.”