President George W. Bush was inaugurated Saturday, and has already begun to tackle issues.

Bush declared one of his goals to be education during his campaign. True to his word, in his first few hours as president, Bush has put together a plan that includes giving another $8 billion over 10 years in college grants and scholarships.

Eight billion dollars is a rather large promise to make up front.

Bush has also promised to foster political unity and help calm sensitive Democrats who are upset about the close election. Bush then appointed a strongly conservative Cabinet — not a way to hand an olive branch to your liberal friends.

His plan also supports the controversial private school vouchers, which are strongly opposed by Democratic lawmakers.

With more than $103 million dollars being spent at Purdue in federal financial aid, and the cost of college only increasing, $8 billion dollars could mean for some students the difference between receiving a college education and having to settle for a high school diploma.

It will be interesting to see what President Bush can accomplish with a controversial voucher program that has such a high cost.

Was the soothing of wounds all talk?

It may seem unfair to doubt Bush's moves this early on, but in such a disputed victory, many are expecting early failures.

Bush needs latitude to make mistakes and to try new ideas.

That said, the first mistake had better not be failing Purdue students.

n Editorial Board: Keith W. Thomas, Tom W. McHenry, Melissa W. Davis, Laura W. Pelner.