PRESIDENT'S SPEECH HITS HOME LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WONDER HOW IRAQ ISSUE WILL AFFECT THEM.

Byline: JUDY O'ROURKE Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- High school kids tuned in to the State of the Union address, noting Wednesday they were at the heart of it and could be called upon to build up the troops.

A Saugus High School 10th-grader plugged into his iPod and, encircled by friends at lunch, mulled over what the president did not say.

``I'd like to know what he's going to do with the troops, what strategic plan he has to fulfill America's goal,'' said Andrew Stropkai, 16, who is enrolled in the ROTC program. ``It sounded more like an overview of what is to come; all the details (need to be) worked out.''

Stropkai might enlist as an officer in the armed forces after finishing college, and he said he hopes to become a Navy SEAL or a nuclear engineer on an aircraft carrier. He would partake in the military's enlistment incentives, which include college tuition -- with eyes wide open.

``I have a feeling (the turmoil in Iraq) might still be going on,'' he said. ``I have a feeling I could get caught up in that. If my country needs me, I'm willing to serve.''

Valencia High School 12th-grader Robert Montenegro zeroed in on the written word in journalism class, but he was captivated by the audience's reaction to the speech.

``The body language of every single person in that room was stressed,'' he said.

``You could feel the Republicans cringe when he talked about illegal immigration and his guest-worker program, and at same time I could see the Democrats' foul looks on their faces when he brought up his strategies on the war ... more troops in the Middle East.''

Montenegro reads newspapers and watches news broadcasts but worries many teens rely on secondhand accounts.

``My generation gets all their information through the grapevine. Too few people actually go in-depth in these situations,'' he said. ``They pretty much take whatever the popular opinion is at the time and make it their own.''

The students were reacting to the State of the Union address delivered by President George W. Bush on Tuesday, in which domestic policy initiatives seemed overshadowed by uncertain prospects in Iraq.

Stropkai and Montenegro reflect a nationwide trend among college freshmen, who debated politics more often this year than any time in the past 40 years.

According to an annual survey by UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute, freshmen said they talked about politics more often as high school seniors -- 33.8percent in 2006, an increase from 25.5percent in 2004.

John Pryor, director of UCLA's comprehensive institutional research program, said some academics find the jump surprising because it arose not during a general election year but during a midterm election cycle -- though youth voter turnout was exceptionally high. More than 271,000 students at 393 colleges across the country participated.

Students were asked if federal military spending should be increased; only 32.3percent said yes, a decline from prior years.

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