On Tuesday afternoon, she sat at a small table tucked away in a corner of the student center dining room at Central Texas College, grasping a microphone as she goaded students to take on the issues of the day.

“Does anyone have any thoughts on the bail out? . . . Do you think paying $10 for a gallon of gas is going to be OK? . . . What do you think of Sarah Palin?” Swann asked as she worked to entice anyone from the crowd to take part in the first-ever CTC Soapbox.

The event, which will continue through Thursday, allows anyone to get on their “soapbox” to share their opinions on topics such as politics, the economy, global warming and ecology, or community concerns.

“I keep provoking them a little bit,” Swann said.

However, the small college campus yielded very few takers.

Ashley Wearing, a 23-year-old single mother and CTC student, was among those who decided to challenge students.

“This bailout affects everybody,” Wearing said into the microphone. “Everyone of you should be concerned. This is not a funny issue. This is worse than the Great Depression.”

George Claiborn, a fellow CTC student, shouted questions at Wearing from across the dining area, as others either watched with a degree of amusement or ignored the exchange altogether.

Nearby, students listened as they worked at getting some of their peers registered to vote in the Nov. 4 general election.

“Sarah Palin is dumb,” said Curtis Mouton as he handed out voter registration cards. “She said she was happy because Alaskans could walk out every morning and see if any Russians had crossed over.”

Mouton, 30, said he’d seen the Alaska governor on a late night talk show making the comment, and while many Americans have expressed some degree of acceptance of her, Mouton said she hardly impressed him.

“She went on national television and made that statement,” he said.

Amber Dean, 20, who was working with Mouton to register students, laughed at his comments on Palin.

“For that you think she’s dumb?”

While the topics of the failed bailout package to Wall Street and politics in general seemed to light a fire in some, students didn’t see a need to jump to the microphone and express their views.

That won’t stop some students from speaking their minds.

“I will be up here everyday and I will find something to talk about,” Claiborn said.