Cal Lutheran Eagerly Awaits Visit by Bush : Politics: Students are snapping up tickets to see the President. But the GOP rally for gubernatorial candidate Pete Wilson has barely caused a stir.

President Bush’s political support may be faltering elsewhere, but at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, students are more than anxious to read his lips.

Volunteers with the university’s Republican Student Speakers Bureau handed out tickets Thursday that will allow fellow students to see Bush and Republican gubernatorial candidate Pete Wilson at a 9 a.m. rally Saturday at the campus gym. Some students snapped up three or four.

“People are just astounded by Cal Lutheran being picked in the first place,” said senior Anne Louise Koefoed as she handed out tickets.

The fact that the appearance was planned as a rally for Wilson failed to impress some students.

Sophomore Jennifer Martinez said the rally was assigned by a political science professor as homework. She had no plans to take notes on Wilson’s speech.

“I’m coming for George Bush, basically,” Martinez said. “I’m from out of state, so I don’t know about the candidates for governor.”

Others took four or five tickets to hand out to friends who might be visiting.

“Most people are interested in just seeing Bush,” said Alexandra Kateraas, a sophomore from Norway. “They’re not interested in seeing Wilson.”

Outside the university, in restaurants and businesses, people are abuzz with talk of Bush’s visit, said Steve Rubenstein, president of the Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce.

City residents have not been as excited since former President Ronald Reagan used to pick up steaks at a meat market on Thousand Oaks Boulevard on his way to Santa Barbara, Rubenstein said.

Despite the fervor, the presence of an advance team from the White House and the Secret Service has disrupted life for some Cal Lutheran students used to the quiet of the pastoral campus.

Physical education classes at the gym were canceled Thursday and the gym itself was off-limits to all but workers preparing the facility for the visit from Bush and other GOP politicians.

In addition to Bush and Wilson, Gov. George Deukmejian is scheduled to attend the rally, said Dennis Gillette, university vice president for institutional advancement.

About 1,000 people will be permitted inside the gym, but more than 2,000 are expected to flood the campus, Gillette said. A football field across the street from the university gym is being readied for an overflow crowd, he said.

Even campus volunteerism is up. About 100 students--some not even Republicans--volunteered to make signs, pass out tickets and escort and drive presidential staff, said Eric Peterson, president of the Republican Student Speakers Bureau.

With interest high among both students and the public, “I suggested 7 a.m. for them to start showing up,” he said. “We’d run short on tickets before we run out of students who want to see the President.”

Tickets are available from local Republican Party officials.

One avid Republican student, who asked not to be identified, said she was worried that too many people would crowd her out. She plans to drag a sleeping bag to a nearby field during the night to wait for the President.

“I’m going to camp out on the field beforehand,” she said. “The worst they can do is send me back to my dorm room.”

Another student, who also asked not to be identified, threatened to play a prank and change a sign at Buth Memorial Park--named after history professor Wilfred Buth--to Bush Memorial Park.

“Can you imagine? That would really surprise the President,” he said.