The announcement of a cease-fire yesterday elicited hope among area residents and students, but many said they won't sleep well until the troops come home safely.

"I was excited, like everybody else, but I'm not getting my hopes up too much," said Elaine Warner, of Tyrone.

Warner's husband, 1st Lt. Todd R. Warner, commands a local Army Reserve unit. That unit's scheduled return has been delayed several times since American troops were deployed to the gulf region.

"I'm just a little skeptical," Warner said. "But I back the (Bush) administration 100 percent."

Edna Price, mother of a 21-year-old army reservist, said she doesn't expect her daughter Stephanie to return from the Gulf before June. Despite the cease-fire, Price said she expects her sleepless nights -- which began when the ground invasion started -- to continue.

"I wake up thinking, 'Where is she? Is she safe? Is she hurt? Is she well?' " Price said. "I never think she's in great danger, but over there you never know."

Price said she thinks allied troops will remain in the region for several weeks because Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is so unpredictable.

"I don't expect them to be out of there too quick," Price said. "I don't trust that dude."

Many students last night said they are skeptical of Saddam and would prefer to see him removed from power.

Yong Cho (junior-business logistics) said he thinks Saddam will be the source of continual conflicts in the Middle East unless he is banished.

"I really think we have to humiliate him so he won't be a problem again," he said.

Melinda Reid (junior-chemical engineering) said the war will have been fought for nothing if Saddam is allowed to slip away.

"It was all pointless if we let him off easily," she said.

Jessica Kopald (junior-anthropology) said Saddam cannot be trusted to obey treaties or cease-fires.

"Personally, I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him," she said.

Predictions on the future of the Middle East and what should happen to Saddam Hussein varied greatly.

"Overall I think the amount of death and destruction was appalling and unnecessary," said Steve Sanders (graduate-non-degree), who was watching CNN's coverage in the HUB's television lounge.

"The U.S. is probably going to prohibit Iraq from getting back on its feet. They want to make it as difficult as possible for a regime that is outwardly hostile to the United States," Sanders said while Desert Storm Commander Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf outlined the ground war's events with a map and plastic figures.

"There should be some penalty that Saddam should pay," Erich Gunderman (senior-exercise and sports science) said. "But you've got to catch him first and that's not going to be easy."

Many students were shocked by how fast the allies gained control in the ground war, but said there was little chance of the United States losing.

"I think they played it really smart. They didn't want another Vietnam," Kirk Newman (freshman-civil engineering) said as he munched on nachos in Liones West last night. "There's no way they could ever beat us."

"I'm really surprised at the number of prisoners we're taking," said Jim Dooling (senior-public service). "I would have thought a ground war would have taken a few weeks."

Local anti-war activists said they were relieved that the fighting had ended, at least temporarily.

Elton Atwater, a member of State College's Alternatives to War Committee and a University professor emeritus of political science, said he supports the decision to halt offensive operations in Iraq. But he said more than 100 U.S. deaths may have been avoided through sanctions.

"Had we been patient, in the long run, (sanctions) would probably have worked," he said.

Brian Green, vice president of Student's First Step, said he believed Bush's move would prove popular.

"Right now," he said, "it's very hard not to feel good about the war."

But Green added, "It's going to take some time to see the real effects of the war."