By Kellie Doyle/The Daily Iowan

Celebrities are swarming to Iowa City this weekend to speak in support of Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore -- appearances that UI senior Emily Hajek, the president of UI Students for Gore, hopes will sway some votes.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, former "Saturday Night Live" performer and political satirist Al Franken, actor/director Rob Reiner -- who directed Princess Bride and The Story of Us -- and West Wing actors Martin Sheen and Dulé Hill are all scheduled to speak to the public free of admission.

"This is unreal. I'm so excited," Hajek said. "Hopefully, people who come just for the entertainment of it will leave wanting to vote for Gore."

Each celebrity will speak about the election and its importance for students, said UI senior Hope Welander, the vice president of membership recruitment and outreach for the University Democrats.

"It's so perfect for the university to have these people come," she said. "We've seen Al Gore and Bill Bradley, but this is new and something we haven't been a part of before."

Franken and Jackson will be in the IMU Richey Ballroom today at noon with doors opening at 11:30 p.m. The event was previously scheduled to take place in the IMU Terrace Room, but the location was changed to the Richey Ballroom because it can accommodate more people, Hajek said.

"We're expecting an even bigger crowd now that Jesse Jackson is coming, too," she said.

Reiner, Sheen and Hill will make their appearances on Sunday, Oct. 29. The director and actors are tentatively scheduled to speak in the IMU at 1:30 p.m.

Some UI students said they are enthused about the celebrities' visits to the university.

UI freshman Tom Bianciotto, who says he supports Gore, heard Jackson speak at his high school once, and said if he weren't going out of town for the weekend, he would attend the event just to hear Jackson again.

"He was a very powerful speaker," he said.

Jackson is so influential that he has the ability to change the minds of people planning to vote for Republican candidate George W. Bush or Green Party candidate Ralph Nader, Bianciotto said.

UI graduate student Carolyn McConnell, a supporter of Nader, disagreed.

Nader is scheduled to speak in the IMU Main Lounge today at 6:30 p.m. After hearing about the celebrity appearances, she said her immediate reaction was to think that the Democrats are afraid of Nader.

"Sending celebrities is emblematic -- the Democrats are offering more style than substance," she said.

UI sophomore Christian Kurasek, the chairman for UI Students for Bush, said the Democrats are making a crazy, desperate effort to win Iowa although they have already lost it, he said.

"It's going to take more than celebrities," he said. "It's going to take a superior vision for America, something that Gore obviously can't deliver."