A presidential microscope

Responding to long-standing critic demands, President Barack Obama last week released a detailed Hawaii birth certificate. In a national TV statement from the White House, Obama portrayed himself as what the Associated Press called a voice of reason amid a long, lingering debate over whether he meets all the constitutional requirements (i.e., being a natural-born citizen) to hold the office of president. Obama produced a certificate showing that he's from Hawaii and was born to an American mother and a Kenyan father, which supporters say proves him eligible to hold office as the president. However, critic complaints about the amount of time it took the White House to release the document have kept the issue alive. Reactions among Richland students are mixed.

"I don't think it matters, other than that he's a U.S. citizen because that's all he needs to be," said Brandon Wyatt, 24. "The reporters don't have anything else to talk about."

Some Richland students are more worried about Obama's actions and the amount of time it took Obama to come forth with his certificate.

"If you have it, produce it," said Todd Kidder, 50. "Whether people agree or not, it's a constitutional law that you have to prove you're an American citizen, so why be coy about it?"

Wyatt believes much of the criticism of the president is due to race, which he says is not right.

"Part of it is because he's the first African-American president, so he's going to take some flack even though he's not supposed to," said Wyatt.

Kidder believes that the flack is deserved, though, because of the way Obama has gone about the whole situation and how he has handled himself.

"It irks people, his egotism and narcissism," said Kidder. "We know nothing about his childhood days, school days, or his paper in law school."

Kidder believes if you're going to take on this high of a position in the United States, it's just for everyone to want to solidify aspects of Obama's life.

"If you're going to lead the country and be one of the most powerful men on the face of the Earth, people should have an open examination of your records in life," said Kidder.