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MARQUETTE -- Although invited guests were anxious to hear remarks from President Obama, the crowd was orderly and respectful of security procedures at N.M.U.

About 20 students were given tickets to an overflow room in the Superior Dome.  And while they weren't able to see the President first hand, they were still happy to be a part of his visit.

"It was kind of disappointing that we found out that they kind of forgot about us even though there were open seats in the room,” said N.M.U. sophomore, Madelyn Rowland.  “But it was still nice to be able to be with other people who were really excited to hear Obama speaking, to watch him on the screen."

There were many others who weren't invited at all.  When the information was released that the President’s speech was invitation only, one N.M.U. student created a Facebook page that got a lot of attention and close to 2,000 supporters.  But the creator stressed it wasn't a protest, more of an attempt to make it known some were unhappy a small venue was chosen for the visit. 

Although some students were upset they weren't invited to the President’s remarks, the overall mood on campus was one of excitement that the President was visiting.  There was also enthusiasm about the President’s message:  the importance of spreading WiMax technology across the nation.

"My parents live 20 miles out of town, and I can still pick up the Internet here, so it's great when I go to visit them that I can still access the Internet, access my network at Northern,"  said N.M.U. junior, Mollie Anderson.  "And it’s just a great, great technology."

"As a computer science major, that's the field I’m looking to go into is developing applications online, so it's pretty relevant to me as it basically directly creates opportunities for me," said N.M.U. senior, David Lyon.

And that's exactly the goal of broadening the technology:  creating more opportunities for shared information and economic growth in the future.