SOUTHEAST'S REPUBLICAN STUDENTS SET UP RUSH ROOM AT UNIVERSITY

About a dozen Southeast Missouri State University students dined on campus food and a heaping helping of Rush Limbaugh's radio show Tuesday at the opening of a Rush Room on the university campus.

With the volume on the radio turned way up, Theresa Haug munched on a turkey sandwich, grapes and cantaloupe as she listened to Rush Limbaugh talk about the "raw deal," a reference to the Clinton presidency.

"I really like what he has to say as far as abortion goes," said the 18-year-old Haug, a Southeast student from Bonne Terre and president of the Conservative Club on campus.

"I'm not a femi-Nazi," she laughingly said, using the word Limbaugh coined to refer to America's feminists.

"I just think a lot of people can really identify with him; what he says makes sense," she said.

The University Center's Program Lounge served as site of the lunchtime Rush Room Tuesday. In the future, the University Room will serve as the Rush Room, which will be open from 11 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Limbaugh's mother, Millie Limbaugh, attended Tuesday's opening, as did state Rep. Zane Yates, R-Oakville, chairman of the Missouri House Republican Campaign Committee.

Southeast's College Republicans and the Conservative Club, with a combined membership of more than 200, joined forces to set up the Rush Room.

Anyone may purchase their food at the Cafe Court in the University Center and then eat to the accompaniment of Limbaugh's radio show.

Nathan Cooper, a Southeast student and head of the Missouri College Republicans, said it only makes sense to have a Rush Room in Limbaugh's hometown of Cape Girardeau.

"I'm excited," said Cooper, dressed in shorts and a Rush Limbaugh T-shirt displaying a caricature of the nation's most-talked-about radio personality.

"We thought it would be good to have one at the university, the bastion of liberalism in Cape Girardeau," said Cooper.

Breaking into a smile, he said the Rush Room provides "some real food for thought."

Cooper and his cohorts tried to get on the air Tuesday, repeatedly dialing Limbaugh's show in New York. But all they received for their efforts was a busy signal.

Tom Shupe Jr., president of the College Republicans at Southeast, said Limbaugh is opinionated, but that is why he enjoys listening to him. "I like his wit and his humor and his partisanship toward Republicans," said Shupe.

Freshman Wes Spradling of De Soto is a College Republican and proud of it. Sporting an Arizona Wildcats cap, he ate a lunch of spaghetti and meat balls while listening to Limbaugh on the radio.

"He keeps it interesting," said Spradling, who started listening to Limbaugh in high school.

Yates, who grew up in Dexter, is a big Limbaugh fan. "I think Rush has become a very important component of American politics."

Limbaugh's commentary on both radio and television helps define the nation's political agenda, said Yates.

For Southeast students like Cooper, one thing is certain: Lunch with Rush is downright appetizing.