Clarence Page’s words reach out to an entire nation, but last night in the Student Center his voice reached out to a crowd to talk about the anxiety the public has towards today’s government, and his personal opinion towards some of the candidates for the next presidential race.

Page, a syndicated columnist for the Chicago Tribune, gave a speech called the Political Life in the Newt World Order. He spoke about how issues such as racial, political and economic anxieties affect how the political structure of

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America is determined. He said these things can cause problems within different communities.

We are a few years away from the end of the 20th century when great changes are going to happen and great anxieties are rising up, Page said. We need more leadership and guidance out of Washington politics.

Page said many politicians hide behind false debates and false choices, such as changing the subject when dealing with the issues at hand.

He said people need to find new ways to balance problems the country is facing, such as civil liberties, marital problems, moral and racial anxieties.

In a press conference, Page said some of the reasons people have these problems is because of the tension many people are feeling right now.

If our economy were better, than issues such as affirmative action and immigration wouldn’t be a problem, he said. It is only when people are not too sure about their future when people begin to discuss them.

Some of the solutions Page offered for economic anxieties were to restructure the tax system to provide incentives for business to retrain, or have out-placement programs, instead of just firing people. He also said educational steps need to be taken when it comes to future generations.

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Educational opportunities need to be improved to have a competitive workforce, Page said.

Page said the republican presidential candidates are not answering the public’s concerns as successfully as President Bill Clinton.

Clinton is successful because he has waffling down to a fine art, he said. He is testing the public’s mood and response to different problems, and there is a strong response to the idea that politics is not responding to the crisis.

Page said the country should return to a grassroots approach to deal with moral problems.

Moral crisis response begins in the home, church and the family.

Page said the response to the racial crisis can also be attributed to all the general anxieties of the American people.

We need to look to the tasks with divine dissatisfaction, he said. We need to have a vision to the future to look to how things could be. We have been through bigger crises in the past.

I don’t want to tell people what to think, he said. I just want to tell them about things to think about.