With the Nov. 7 midterm elections only days away, recent remarks by Sen. John Kerry have provoked harsh criticism from both Democrats and Republicans. At Penn State, there were mixed reactions to the senator's comments.

Kerry, D-Mass., was campaigning for Phil Angelides, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California, when, according to Kerry, he decided to open with a joke, The Associated Press reported.

"You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq," Kerry said at the speech, according to The Associated Press.

Kerry apologized Wednesday to "any service member, family member or American," offended by remarks deemed by Republicans and Democrats to be insulting to U.S. forces in Iraq, The Associated Press reported.

He added that he sincerely regretted that his words were "misinterpreted to imply anything negative about those in uniform."

Todd Taylor, president of the College Republicans, said he thought Kerry's remarks showed disrespect for those fighting in Iraq.

"He's saying that our troops in Iraq are somehow failures," Taylor said.

He added, "[It was] not a botched joke about President Bush" as Kerry had claimed.

Eliot Schmidt, press secretary for the College Democrats, said he also disapproved of Kerry's remarks.

"He shouldn't have said it in the first place, and he should have apologized sooner," Schmidt said. "I think it would be a mistake to take Kerry's remarks and apply it to all [Democratic] candidates."

Sgt. Edward Houston, an employee at the Army recruiting station, 228 W. College Ave., said Kerry's remarks were not as pertinent as the public made it seem.

"To be honest with you, it didn't even faze me," he said. "I don't even pay attention to stuff like that."

Kristen Jackson (senior-electrical engineering) said she also did not find Kerry's joke offensive.

"What he said wasn't valid. I don't think people should make a big deal out of it," she said. "I thought it was funny."

Stephen Caraluzzi (junior-crime, law and justice) was enlisted before attending college and is now a member of the Army ROTC. He said he understood Kerry might not have meant what he said, but his comments are still unacceptable.

"Maybe he was trying to hint at the Bush administration with his comment, but it came out wrong," he said. "That's extremely offensive."

Greg Pecko (sophomore-sports journalism) said he also thought Kerry's joke was offensive toward soldiers serving in Iraq.

"I think it's pretty much an insensitive comment," he said. "[It] doesn't show much respect for the troops."

Maxine Niederhaus (junior-mathematics) said she has friends in the reserves and believes Kerry's comments were simply untrue.

"I have a friend who was in Kuwait, and now he's back and he's getting a good education," she said.

Other students, such as David Giordano (senior-psychology) said Kerry's apology did not suffice.

Giordano said he did not believe Kerry was sorry about what he said in his apology.

"I think he's lying about what he meant when he said it," he said.