Students at the College of the Sequoias cast votes on Tuesday for one of four presidential candidates: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain or Ron Paul.

The mock election took place in the quad on a perfect spring day. For some students, it was a class requirement.

Instructor Robin McGehee assigned her "small group communications" class to choose four presidential candidates, set up booths and answer questions from fellow students as they stopped by. The students voted on the best booth. Students marked their votes on paper ballots.

Teams supporting the four candidates set up tables with bunting, literature, signs and freebies — snow cones at the Clinton table and hot dogs at the McCain table, for instance.

Those working the tables got got a crash course in public perceptions of their candidates.

“I heard a lot of people say Hillary’s not running anymore,” said Heather Orona, 18, one of five students at the Clinton booth. “We tell them, no, she’s still running.”

“It’s a lot harder to run a campaign than I thought it would be,” said Richard Schoenfeld at the Paul table. “They either don’t know who he is, or really support him.”

“We’ve heard both positive and negative,” said Dominique Diaz, 22, working the Obama table. “We’ve had some loud people against him.” She said one student expressed opposition with a hearty “Hell no!”

Over at the McCain table, M.K. Kilgore, 19, said the questions some students asked made it clear to her that “he’s not everyone’s favorite.”

About 275 students voted over four hours.

“I voted for Hillary,” said student Devanique Martin, 22, of Hanford. “They gave more information.” Still, she said she’d vote for Obama in a real election.

Rheana Kendall, 21, of Visalia, went for Obama.

“I feel like he can really change things. We’re in a recession. He can pull us out,” Kendall said.

Maria Flores, 22, of Tulare, chose Clinton.

“She’s going to help bring home the troops,” Flores said. “I have a couple of friends in Iraq, and that’s what I want.”

Brianna Scroggins, 18, of Hanford, cast her vote for Ron Paul, who ran in the Republican primary but suspended his campaign when McCain moved far ahead.

“I think he’s the most informed,” she said. “He’d bring people home [from Iraq.] We shouldn’t be at war, and I’ve got military for family.”

The class project, which lasted all semester and involved research and class debates, helps students learn first-hand about the dynamics of interpersonal communication when working on a group project, said McGehee, the professor. She assigned a political campaign because “it makes the outside world more applicable,” McGehee said.

Students learned a thing or two about politics, too.

“People already have their loyalties,” said Kevin Harper, 21, from the McCain table.

“This is the first time I’ve paid attention to politics,” said Fernando Llamas, 22, who worked the voting table. “I’ve earned where they stand on certain policies, and everything they go through to campaign.”

Re-entry student Julie Cates, who wouldn’t give her age but said that she has children in college, noted that her fellow students were quick to find amusing labels for the candidates: “the old guy, the African-American, Bill Clinton’s wife and RuPaul.”

Obama won.

The breakdown: Obama 91, McCain 77, Paul 58 and Clinton 53.