ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 29, 1996 TAG: 9610290076
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: MARK CLOTHIER STAFF WRITER
WHEN ROSS PEROT stops by, audiences come for more than his politics.
Stephanie Zinn and Ben Hornung - both 21 and Virginia Tech seniors - were seated toward the front of Burruss Hall on Monday to hear third-party presidential candidate/pop culture icon Ross Perot.
Initially, they said they were there to learn a little about Perot's Reform Party platform before Nov. 5; a safe, just-in-case-my-parents-read-this answer.
But the truth was that Perot's hour-long talk came a few weeks late: The two have already mailed their absentee ballots. Neither voted for Perot.
Their real motive was a bit more understandable: a chance for a brush with some fame.
The billionaire Texan, it seems, has a big following.
``Yeah,'' Hornung said, ``that's probably the biggest reason I'm here. It's historic.''
About 6,000 others can make that claim: the 3,200 who were inside the auditorium and another 2,800 or so who heard Perot over speakers mounted on the edge of the Drillfield. They saw his image on a big-screen television set up under a tent outside Burruss Hall and watched as he came out after his speech and addressed those who couldn't get a seat inside.
One Tech official estimated that an even larger crowd of 8,000 packed the campus.
Ben Nelson and his minicam were drawn to Perot's talk for two reasons.
First, the 12-year-old had a job to do: depending on the day, he's the reporter/anchorboy/camera boy for the morning news program at Graham Middle School in Bluefield.
But Nelson had another mission. He's playing the part of Perot in a mock election his school is holding Friday. Monday's event gave Nelson the chance to see the two-time candidate up close - the better for Graham to get Perot's mannerisms down.
``This little thing helps a lot,'' he said, lifting the press pass dangling from a cord around his neck. ``It gets me close. I'm pretty good at imitations. I'll have it by Friday.''
And, since this was a presidential candidate's rally and this is a college campus, there ought to be protesters. At least according to the members of the makeshift American Satire Party.
Member James Mentz was holding a sign that read ``Abolish Pants.''
``And I'm wearing pants,'' he said. ``Nothing wrong with a little hypocrisy in an election year.''
Party founder and chief sign maker Sid Bridge agreed. His sign read ``Oatmeal Good.''
``There's nobody protesting,'' he said. ``This is a college campus and it's pretty peaceful out here. Everyone's just standing around looking thoughtful, so we just thought we'd come out and say nothing important.''
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS PRESIDENTby CNB