Terrorism, politics and George “Dubya” Bush were the topics of interest Thursday night when syndicated Texan columnist Molly Ivins addressed a crowd of more than 1,000 at Sacramento State.

Despite a late start due to a higher attendance than anticipated, the crowd responded enthusiastically to Ivins as she took the stage.

After a crack about commentator Rush Limbaugh, Ivins quickly moved on to poke fun at one of her favorite targets: President Bush.

“I?m praying for the president: ?God, don?t let Dubya screw this one up,?” Ivins said, drawing laughter and applause from the audience.

Ivins then grew serious as she talked about the bombings in Afghanistan, or “The Situation,” as she called it. While expressing support for Bush?s new foreign policy, she also expressed concern for the Afghan people.

“If millions of Afghans starve to death, we will lose,” Ivins said, adding that winter is quickly closing in and food is getting scarce in Afghanistan. She stressed the importance of opening supply lines into the country so that civilians do not starve.

However, Ivins had no opposition to the military action being waged on Afghanistan by the United States.

“We?re bombing the most miserable place on the globe, but I see no alternative,” she said.

Switching the topic to Californians, Ivins drew more laughter and quickly asked, “Why?re you laughing? You?re the people who elected [Gov.] Gray Davis.”

Ivins, who speaks with an occasionally thick Texas drawl, is a nationally recognized political columnist and has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist three times. She has written several books, including “Shrub,” which chronicles Bush?s journey to the White House. Ivins has been credited as the person for giving him the nickname of “Dubya.”

Holding a Master?s degree in Journalism from Columbia University, Ivins began her career in the complaint department of The Houston Chronicle, Pauline Fletcher of the Women?s Resource Center said in her introduction of Ivins.

The event was sponsored by both the Women?s Resource Center and University UNIQUE programs, and was considered a success.

“I would say it?s one of the better attended functions we?ve had,” said University UNIQUE representative Bill Olmsted.

Students and Sacramento community members alike came to the event with high expectations.

“(Ivins) has a real gift for injecting humor into political commentary. She makes it more palatable than it would otherwise be,” said Karen Humphrey, a public policy graduate student. She and her husband, both 20-year Ivins fans, arrived 45 minutes early in order to get their front row seats.

After her remarks about foreign policy, Ivins emphasized two main points regarding American politics. First, she said, Americans are responsible for their country.

“All of us, with our one vote, have more power than 99 percent of the people who have ever lived,” Ivins said.

Second, the American people are our most valuable resource as a country, but fear is the one thing that can challenge freedom, she said.

“All that happens when you make yourselves less free is that you?re less free,” Ivins said.

But Ivins speech was not all serious, particularly when she began to tell stories about Texas.

“On dark days, you?ll think, ?I could feel like this and be in Texas,?” Ivins joked, before telling several stories about Texas House Speaker Gib Lewis, including a time when he unthinkingly asked a group of individuals in wheelchairs to “stand and be recognized.”

After her speech, Ivins took several questions from the crowd.

Communication Studies junior Roman Porter asked her opinion about the decreased media coverage of minorities and the fact that independent media sources are being bought out by large corporations.

Although Ivins works in the media industry, she did not hesitate to give her opinions on the “Hollywoodization of the news industry.”

Journalistic standards are declining, she said, and corporations see media outlets as easy sources of profit. Ivins? comments caused another audience member to ask what part of journalism she still believes in.”They pay you to go out and learn,” Ivins said. “It?s an honorable profession.”

She added that the Internet is perhaps the best hope for rising journalists, but pointed out that it also has a downside.

“When you put bad information out there, it poisons the well of (public) debate,” she said.

The crowd of 1,010 people gave Ivins a standing ovation at the close of her speech, and people lined up outside the Ballroom afterward, where Ivins signed copies of her book for nearly an hour.

Melissa Nocero, a junior interior design major, already owned Ivins? books, but bought more at the event to give as gifts.

“I loved it,” Nocero said. “It made the last couple of months for me.”Porter, who asked Ivins for her opinions on the media, enjoyed the presentation, but pointed out that she didn?t say anything that hadn?t already been said in her column.

“I think she relied on information in columns she?s already written,” Porter said, although it didn?t disappoint him. “I liked it.”