[media-credit name=’Derek Montgomery’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]University of Wisconsin students, excited to hear presidential hopeful John Kerry speak in their own backyard on Capitol Square, instead had to make due with late buses hauling them to a changed venue miles away. If — that is — they decided to make the trip at all.

“It would have been more convenient at the Capitol,” UW freshman Samantha Ziesemer said. “It was nice they bused us over, but it’s still a pain.”

Ziesemer was told to wait nearly two hours before getting a ride back to campus after the speech ended at 2 p.m. The Kerry campaign organized bus pickups to transport students to and from the Alliant Energy Center.

Yet despite the wait, Ziesemer said seeing Kerry speak was still worth the trouble — though even catching a glimpse of the Massachusetts senator proved difficult at times.

“If you stood on your tippy toes, you could see him,” Ziesemer, resigned to standing towards the back of the immense exhibition hall, said.

Although Kerry campaign staff claim several thousand students attended the rally, those estimates fall far short from the number of students originally expected to attend the Capitol Square speech.

Many students had planned to stop by the rally at the Capitol in between classes, but chose not to take the extra effort and make the trek out to the Alliant Energy Center.

“I had lab all day, so if it was on Capitol Square, I could have stopped by,” said UW junior Katie Pofahl, adding the change of venue made it impossible for her to attend classes and also go to the speech. “The buses weren’t coming back until 4.”

Matt Barber, a fifth year UW senior previously planning to attend the rally, said driving out to the Alliant Energy Center in the rain seemed like more trouble than it was worth.

“I was interested. I thought it would be a cool thing to go to hear about [Kerry’s] policies,” he said. “But I wasn’t that interested.”

Barber said he knew of 10 other people who also changed their plans due to the location switch, opting on Wednesday not to go see Kerry after all.

However, many students who did not hear the Democratic nominee speak this time around said they would make an extra effort to see Kerry if he returns to Madison.

Kerry said he hopes to pay the city another visit this October, possibly planning a rally for Capitol Square again or even speaking at a location right here on campus.

“When he comes back, there is going to be a big emphasis on the student outreach because of what happened this time around,” said College Democrats Chair Liz Sanger, adding that despite Wednesday’s difficulties, students who attended the speech were still by and large pleased with the whole affair.

“I think [students] were disappointed … but [they] were just so energized to see Kerry, it didn’t matter where it was or how they went.”