One day after President Clinton's criminal grand jury testimony, Dartmouth students were divided last night about whether they want the investigation to continue -- although an overwhelming majority said the president should not be impeached.
Clinton admitted to the nation in a live broadcast Monday night to having had "inappropriate" relations with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr is investigating whether Clinton lied under oath about his relationship with the former intern.
In a poll conducted by The Dartmouth last night, 47 percent said they want Starr to continue his investigation of the president, while 53 percent said they want the investigation to end now.
These numbers are inconsistent with national polls, in which nearly 70 percent of Americans said they want the investigation to end immediately.
"This case should not be closed until the issues of perjury and obstruction of justice have been resolved," one student wrote in the survey. "Until then, Starr should keep probing."
Political affiliations had little to do with the results of the survey. Nearly 82 percent of the Republicans who responded to the poll said they wanted Starr to end the investigation.
However, nearly 87 percent of students polled said Clinton should not be impeached on the basis of his disclosure. Out of the 87 percent, nearly half said Clinton should remain in office even if it is later proven he lied under oath.
"The perjury charge is unfair because the question had little relevance to the case and was a politically motivated question that Clinton had no recourse but to lie on," one student wrote.
Almost all students surveyed said their opinion of the president has remained the same or has become less favorable since his grand jury testimony.
Fifty-three percent said their opinion of the president has not changed, while 43 percent said they have a less favorable opinion of him. Only 6 percent of students said their opinion of Clinton has improved.
Survey respondents said they sympathized more with Clinton's family -- first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and his daughter Chelsea -- than they did with Clinton.
"Poor Chelsea," one student wrote.
Clinton is currently vacationing in Martha's Vineyard with his family. Starr is expected to present a report of his investigation of the president to Congress in coming weeks.
Many survey respondents said they were "sick" of the saturation of media coverage regarding the Lewinsky investigation.
"Enough is enough... every single day about Monica," one student wrote. "The American embassy gets bombed and masses die -- that only gets a day or two of coverage in the news. There's something wrong with the media."
Poll data is based on responses from 100 College students last night.
