As the November elections loom, candidates hoping to represent Centre County faced off in a debate last night -- and some students came to protest.

The League of Women Voters of Centre Country sponsored the debate, which took place at the State College Municipal Building, 243 S. Allen St., at 7 p.m.

Candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives Rep. John Peterson (R-Pleasantville), and Don Hillard (D) spoke first, followed by contenders for the State Senate Sen. Jake Corman (R-Benner), Jon Eich (D), and Libertarian candidate Tom Martin. Candidates for the State House, Centre County Commissioner Scott Conklin (D-Centre) and his challenger Barbara Spencer (R), were the last to debate.

When Commissioner Conklin took the stage with Spencer, a group of about seven students dressed in "Altoona Curve" T-shirts filled in the front row seats.

Tiffany Iriana (senior-political science) said she organized her fellow students to protest a value of $7,000 on Conklin's expense account as Commissioner that he allegedly charged to taxpayers to visit the Altoona Curve, a local minor league baseball team.

Iriana, who is a member of the College Republicans, said the protest was not officially affiliated with the organization.

"Students were here on their own time," she said.

Other students attended the debate as part of Eco-Action, and submitted questions to each of the candidates about environmental concerns.

Jane Dahms (sophomore-horticulture) said she submitted questions during each debate about global warming and climate change.

"We were kind of frustrated because they didn't directly answer the questions," Dahms said.

When addressing the issue of climate change, Peterson said he was skeptical of the idea of global warming.

"The Kyoto Protocol would have made this country an economic disaster," he said.

Another member of Eco-Action, Elisabet Eppes (sophomore-premedicine), said she appreciated the debate nonetheless.

"I thought it was very informative on politicians' views on issues affecting State College," she said.

College Republicans chairman Todd Taylor (senior-international politics) also attended the debate.

"I think every candidate laid out issues of importance," he said.

"Congressman Peterson did an excellent job laying out ideas for energy."

Taylor said he was also impressed with Spencer's ideas for reform within the state.

Several of the candidates addressed issues directly concerning Penn State and the borough surrounding it.

"I think it is a shame that here we sit in a town with Penn State, and Pennsylvania ranks 45th in the nation as far as higher education," Eich said.

Conklin reaffirmed that that state needed to better fund the university.

"Penn State gets shortchanged every year," he said.

"We need to make sure that in-state students get higher tuition breaks."

When speaking after the debate, Penn State alum Martin, Class of 1981, contended that the state needed to implement dollar-for-dollar tax credit for tuition.

"Down in Harrisburg, they say, 'look at the size of the budget at Penn State,' " he said.

"When really you have less money per student than probably any other university in the Big Ten."