PANEL OF PROFESSORS AREES CLINTON WON'T QUIT

Resign.

That is the advice one liberal college professor would give President Clinton.

Dr. Michael Levy, an assistant professor of political science at Southeast Missouri State University, offered that advice during a panel discussion Wednesday.

But Levy and his colleagues agreed that Clinton likely will ride out the political storm surrounding the White House sex scandal and serve the remaining two years of his term.

Levy's colleagues on the panel included Dr. Peter Bergerson, who chairs the political science department, political science assistant professor Dr. Brian Smentkowski, and history professor Dr. J. Christopher Schnell.

The noontime "Common Hour" program was held in Crisp Hall Auditorium.

Levy proudly says he is a liberal Democrat. He views Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's investigation of the president as little more than a witch hunt.

Still, Levy said Clinton should resign for the good of the country and the Democratic Party.

Levy said Clinton has broken his trust with the American public. Clinton, he said, is a wounded president pursued by "a flock of buzzards" who will not rest until he is driven from office.

"The media-feeding frenzy will dominate the airwaves and Clinton's time while problems such as Russia, Japan, the economic turmoil in the rest of Asia and Latin America, peace in Northern Ireland and the Middle East, and the domestic economy mount," said Levy.

"America needs an effective president unburdened by personal difficulties to deal with these problems," Levy said.

He said Clinton should resign and spare the Democratic Party and the nation the "vicious political game" that will be played out over the next two years.

Vice President Al Gore then would be sworn into office. Gore immediately should pardon Clinton, Levy said.

Levy said Clinton has become the "poster child" for why Americans hate both lawyers and politicians.

He predicted Clinton could be impeached and survive a Senate trial.

More likely, Congress and the administration would strike a deal in which the president would be censured, Levy said. Clinton then would serve out the remainder of his term as a "lame-duck, dead-duck president," he said.

Smentkowski predicted the House Judiciary Committee may issue articles of impeachment, but Clinton will never be tried in the Senate.

Smentkowski said there aren't enough votes in the Senate to force Clinton from office.

"I would be hard pressed to say, sex, lies and videotape constitute perjury in anybody's definition," he said.

Smentkowski said liberal Democrats in Congress may hold a key to Clinton's future.

He said Congress should re-examine the 1978 law that set up the independent counsel process. The independent counsel has been compared to a legal Frankenstein who is accountable to no one, he said.

Smentkowski compared the independent counsel to an "Energizer bunny" who keeps going and going.

Schnell said Clinton has lied to the American people and appears to be guilty of "high crimes and misdemeanors." Clinton and his aides have taken refuge in "spongy" legal language, Schnell said.

He said Americans take a harsh view of lying under oath.

A recent poll shows that 30 percent of Americans believe the president should resign and 19 percent want him impeached, Schnell said.

"We have come from a president, George Washington, who can't tell a lie, to a president of this country who cannot do anything but lie," the history professor said.

Schnell said the Senate likely would acquit Clinton or not even try him on any impeachment charges. It would take a push from Democrats in Congress to get Clinton to resign, he said.

Bergerson said the scandal has frozen the political scene across America. It has doomed any chances the Democrats may have had to regain control of the House in the November election, he said.

Some Democratic incumbents in the Senate could be in trouble in this election, Bergerson said.

The House Judiciary Committee likely will pursue an impeachment inquiry, Bergerson and his colleagues said.

Bergerson predicted it would lead to a political dog fight in the Judiciary Committee. "The mood in Washington is very ugly," he said.

Bergerson said Clinton likely will remain in office because his public approval rating still remains high. Americans continue to judge Clinton by how well the economy is doing, he said.

Levy said the French and other Europeans don't understand America's uproar over Clinton's sexual affairs.

Schnell replied that Americans have a different moral standard than the French. "We don't put up with what the French will tolerate," he said.