Kennedy on campus

Marisa O’Neil

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy spoke to a packed house at UC Irvine Friday

night about education, health care and the war in Iraq.

The lecture drew what director of UCI’s Center for the Study of

Democracy Russell J. Dalton called the largest crowd ever for the

university’s Peltason Lecture on Democracy series. At least 200

people filled the student center auditorium, and another 500 watched

it on closed circuit television in a second auditorium.

“I want to say this directly to the people in the other room,”

Kennedy said at the start of his speech. “I know what it’s like. As

the ninth member of a large family, at dinner, I was always in the

next room.”

During his speech, the Massachusetts senator spoke out against the

war in Iraq, its rising cost and the continued presence of U.S.

troops there. America, he said, should have garnered more

international support for the effort and should give Iraqis more of a

stake in their own future.

“We should never have gone to Iraq the way we did and for the

reasons that were given,” he said. “Now, 85% of coalition troops are

American, 85% of casualties are American. And $87 billion won’t

change that.”

The reasons given to go into Iraq, he said, were based on what he

called a “selective use of intelligence.”

The $87 billion that President George W. Bush has requested for

the rebuilding of Iraq would be better spent on educational programs

and health care reforms, Kennedy said. He supports a universal health

care program and believes, in the meantime, employers should provide

at least some coverage for workers.

Accessible education should also be a priority, and steps should

be taken to stem rising college tuitions, such as UCI’s recent 19%

hike, he said.

“Just as we made Social Security a promise to every person, we

need to make education security a promise to every person,” he said.

Improving education for younger students should also be a

priority, he said. He cited a closing of the gap for test scores

between minority and white students in Massachusetts, which has

already been using reforms similar to the No Child Left Behind Act,

as proof the program can work on a national scale.

“We know the need is greatest in the poorest communities that

serve the neediest children,” he said. “It’s a national concern.”

There was one issue that Kennedy did skirt -- he made it clear

that he would not field any questions about California Gov.-Elect

Arnold Schwarzenegger. He did, however, say he was happy for his

nephew-in-law.

“I love Arnold,” Kennedy said. “How couldn’t you, when he has you

by your ankles?”

* MARISA O’NEIL covers education and may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.