Students taking an NIU political science class were paid a visit yesterday by Larry Quick, the Democratic candidate running for Congress in the 14th District.

Quick came to talk about issues important to him and life on the campaign trial.

Barbara Burrell, the instructor of the class, said she invited him after a recent survey the class had conducted, which indicated 8 percent of the class knew about Quick.

“We were curious to see who this person was, who was running against the Speaker of the House [Dennis Hastert],” Burrell said.

Quick decided to run for office in May when he realized no one was running against the Republican incumbent Hastert in the 14th Congressional District.

“If you spoke to me in February, I would’ve had no idea I’d be here,” Quick said. “I think it’s really important for voters to have a choice.”

Burrell said Quick wasn’t really surprised that few people had heard about him, because he decided to run late.

“He never ran for office before,” Burrell said.

One issue Quick talked about during a lunch with faculty members was the pending war against Iraq.

“I am very much against it,” Quick said. “It’s opening up hell’s gates.”

Also, Quick said the war has very little to do with terrorism and a lot to do with President Bush’s father, former President George Bush.

He discussed his stance on issues concerning the environment, particularly global warming.

“A lot of places are hammered by droughts,” Quick said.

Zarine Hussain, a senior political science major and student in the class, asked Quick about what actual experience he has working with the environment.

“I guess I lived in it,” Quick said.

He thinks one solution is to have farmers get into organic farming.

“I also want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Quick said.

Another point, Quick said the federal government should help pay for education through financial aid. He said when he went to college, much more financial aid was available.

“When [former President Ronald] Reagan went into office in ‘81, he started taking money out of education and putting it into defense,” Quick said.

He commented on ways to do that: Have large corporations pay their fair share and reduce corporate welfare.

Quick said one characteristic making him different from Hastert is that he is thinking about the future.

“I’m running for you, I’m running for your children, I’m running for your grandchildren,” Quick said.

Quick believes it’s important to get elected as a way for the Democratic party to gain more control of the House.

“It’s like a check ‘n’ balance,” Quick said.

Quick also is confident about his campaign.

“I really believe in my heart that I’m gonna win,” he said.

Police and Fire Reporter Nick Swedberg contributed to this report.