For an independent candidate, Andrew Halcro isn't afraid to make his presence known.

Halcro spent a day touring the university Friday, visiting West Ridge, meeting with President Hamilton, and talking with students in the Alumni Lounge.

"Why am I running as an independent?" Halcro asked the students. "Because I couldn't figure out why the state couldn't get its act together."

Halcro is far behind in the polls, with most showing him around 4 percent.

Nevertheless, Halcro seems determined to give his campaign the best shot he can.

Halcro addressed various issues, from the natural gas pipeline to education.

Halcro said the University of Alaska is a "world-class" university. Yet, he told the students, the university has a greater role to play in the state, which it must grow in to.

"Higher education is where our future lies," he said. "The need for vocational and technical skills will only increase as time goes on."

A question was asked about his opinion on the gas line and production taxes. Halcro said he does not support an oil and gas production tax, because he believes it will give the oil companies an excuse to not deal on a gas line.

"I understand why legislators are frustrated, in part because Murkowski should have been more honest about the details," he said. He said he believes the contract negotiated by Gov. Frank Murkowski contract can be used as a starting point for continued negotiations.

"This is not a perfect contract, but it is still a contract. Around six or seven things need to be changed," he said. "The key is to hook [the oil companies] with provisions which require them to build a pipeline. That doesn't mean Alaska can just roll over; rather, we need to be competitive."

The other candidates not around on Thursday have their own plans if they get elected.

Republican candidate Sarah Palin's "committed to the university," said Curtis Smith, Palin's spokesman.

"She sees it as a massive resource to grow our economy," he said.

Smith explained how Palin wants to expand vocational and technical programs at the high school and the university level to replace Alaska's aging workforce.

"She doesn't see the University of Alaska as a liberal arts university," he said. "College should result in more than a piece of paper."

Skills such as petroleum engineering, nursing, physicians, need to be emphasized. Palin would like to increase the number of internships college students are able to participate in. She points to companies such as McKinley Capital Management, a financial firm that helps to invest the Permanent Fund Dividend.

"We recognize that tuition is increasing in this state," said Smith. "Yet the education offered by the University is still a bargain."

Democratic candidate Tony Knowles has placed the natural gas pipeline at the center of his campaign promises. He has four objectives for a gas line deal, including a no-taxes policy on the gas, a provision which requires oil companies to hire locally, benchmarks on times of construction and money spent, and Alaskan access to affordable gas.

"The key is a gas-line. It is a means to an end, but a very important means," said Knowles spokeswoman Patty Ginsburg.

Knowles has said that, if elected, contracts will be due on his desk by January 31, 2007, with the winning contract selected and signed by that summer.

Knowles wants to a 50 percent increase in the Alaska Scholars Program, a state-funded needs-based scholarship, and increased research.