No support for Condit

Representative Gary Condit (D) hasn't been faring well of late in the public relations battle. And he's losing big time at Hopkins.

In a general survey conducted by the News-Letter of 50, randomly-selected students, 82 percent said they believe Condit is not telling the truth in matters relating to Chandra Levy's disappearance. Only 18 percent said they believe Condit is being truthful.

Levy, a 24-year-old former intern at the Bureau of Prisons, has been missing since April 28. Police have questioned Condit thoroughly and many suspect that Condit had an affair with Levy and may have been involved in her disappearance. D.C. Metro police, however, have maintained that Condit is not a suspect.

The Hopkins student body would say otherwise. Of the randomly-questioned students, 68 percent said they believe Condit is involved in Levy's disappearance. Only 42 percent believe Condit is not involved in any way.

Condit recently sat down for an interview with ABC's Connnie Chung in an attempt to win back public confidence. However, Condit continually evaded the question of his relationship with Levy. As demonstrated by the News-Letter , an impressive majority of students believe Condit is untruthful and involved in the Levy disappearance. Students were also generally unimpressed by Condit's performance in the ABC interview.

"I think it was a bad move by his advisers," said junior Daniel Spiegel. "They should've known that his evasiveness wouldn't be perceived well."

For now, D.C. police continue the search for Levy. But if you ask students, the searching is all for naught. Only 22 percent of randomly-sampled students believe the missing intern will be found alive, as opposed to 78 percent who think she will never be found alive.

Still other students remain uninfluenced by the media attention of the Levy case and follow the latest developments very little, if at all.

"There are more important things going on in the world," said junior Emily Wentzell. "When the media starts focusing more coverage on numerous international conflicts, as opposed to missing interns, I'll start paying attention.