Last night the Undergraduate Student Government's first election debate of the year attracted a small turnout, but many audience members came and left with a particular candidate in mind.

Few of the audience members had no ties to the tickets. The parents of USG presidential candidate Jim Ryerson even traveled from Maryland to attend.

Spectators, who filled about 90 seats in the HUB Assembly Room, varied from older to younger college students with personal connections to the candidates.

During a discussion about strengthening USG with their experience, Ryerson and Candice Anderson gained the attention of Frank Lordi (senior-accounting), who also shares fraternity membership with Ryerson at Sigma Phi Epsilon, 524 Locust Lane.

Although he thinks candidates Rich Schaffer and Chris Grodon could remedy student apathy, Rick Schmidt (senior-secondary education) holds a friendship with Schaffer begun at the Delaware County Campus.

And Student 1st Step members Tracy Semonik (freshman-nursing) and Diana Tiebout (freshman-linguistics), who took an interest in Rob Kampia and Beth Schneck's focus on activism, have worked with Kampia in his role as president of the Penn State National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

It seemed crowd members turned out to support a certain candidate. "I didn't know what USG stood for until about three weeks ago," admitted Semonik (freshman-nursing).

But for Anderson, the turnout was anticipated.

"It was about what I expected. This is what we've seen in past years," she said.