Ashcroft addresses a packed house

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft last night made an impassioned speech on the preservation of freedom and the origins of the Patriot Act. He answered questions from students on topics ranging from abortion to gay marriage to the war in Iraq.

An estimated 600 students, faculty and members of the community turned out for the event, which?originating from Gannett Auditorium?was simulcast in Davis Auditorium, the Dana Hall lobby, and the Spa, and transmitted to student rooms via SkidTV.

All Albany-area media were on hand. Among their reports:

The Saratogian: Ashcroft said the U.S. should remain committed to technological advancements, which he said is essential to preserving freedom. For example, he credited the Reagan Administration?s ?Star Wars? program for helping end the Cold War by tipping the balance of power with regard to nuclear weapons. ?That commitment to technology led to the liberation of 300 million people without a single shot being fired,? Ashcroft said.

Albany Times Union: The former Missouri senator got some laughs at his own expense, pointing out that he was "the only person in the history of the universe ever to lose his Senate seat to a deceased opponent," a reference to his November 2000 loss to Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan, who died in a plane crash a month before the election. He drew hollers of disapproval when he accidentally called Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama "Osama."

Capital News 9: "Absolutely thought-provoking. I will go home and talk about it with my friends, and I hope others will as well, I think it is really a good learning experience that you don't usually get from a liberal college like Skidmore, it was a challenge for our students, and I think for the most part we lived up to it," said Ben Yellin.

The Glens Falls Post-Star: Ashcroft ... gave a historical roll call of American weaponry that began with the black powder of the Revolutionary War and ended with the fear of biological agents being released into the air in a "disastrous instrumentality of destruction and death."

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Skidmore's Young Republican Assembly sponsored the event, with support from the Young America's Foundation. Other campus sponsors were the College's Department of Government, First-Year Experience, and Office of Academic Affairs.