SAN MARCOS -- Overflow crowds are expected Thursday night at Cal State San Marcos to hear peace activist and congressional candidate Cindy Sheehan speak, and so far all is quiet leading up to her appearance.

"So far we've had lots of interest and enthusiasm, but no negative feedback at this point," said professor Linda Pershing of the university's women's study program, the primary sponsor of Sheehan's appearance.

The university found itself in the center of a controversy in 2004 when it invited, then uninvited, filmmaker Michael Moore to speak. No such opposition has been heard on campus in anticipation of Sheehan, an outspoken critic of the Bush administration and of both political parties' handling of the war in Iraq.

"Our perspective is that a university is a place where people debate a whole range of ideas," Pershing said. "The marketplace of ideas comes up, and we encourage people with divergent viewpoints. It's not about asking everyone to agree with a speaker. It's about getting people to think about different points of view. I'm hoping people will come see Cindy Sheehan just to see what she has to say."

Matthew Dobler, president of the CSUSM College Republican Club, said he would like to see the university present a broader spectrum of voices.

"As a student there, I never hear about them bringing conservative speakers to campus," he said. "That's been my issue. If they were going to use my tuition money and fees, the least they can do is make it fair and balanced."

Dobler also said he doesn't think Sheehan is qualified to speak about the war.

"This is another stunt by the ASI (Associated Students Inc.) and the school to bring a big-name speaker who has a lot of opinions but not a lot of credentials to back her up," he said.

Sheehan's son, Casey, was killed in 2004 while serving in Iraq. The following year, Sheehan set up camp outside President Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch retreat, where she kept a vigil while demanding to meet with the president. The meeting did not materialize, and Sheehan became an icon for many families who had lost loved one in a war they did not support.

Among those who joined Sheehan in her vigil was Encinitas resident Jim Brown, a semiretired roofer and former Marine who earned a Purple Heart in Vietnam. Brown and other members of Veterans for Peace plan to attend Sheehan's talk Thursday.

"We believe in the same thing she does," he said.

Brown said he first met Sheehan at a Veterans for Peace convention, where she told him about her plan to demonstrate outside Bush's ranch. He agreed to help her with the demonstration, he said, and he was surprised at how the media attention grew.

"I feel like Forest Gump," he said. "I innocently go to a convention and end up being at Crawford with Cindy Sheehan."

Brown said he first became involved with Veterans for Peace after the 1991 Gulf War.

"I remember we were doing thousands of sorties, bombing Iraq," he said. "I could hear people screaming in my head and I thought, 'There's just got to be a better way.'"

Sheehan is an independent candidate for the 8th Congressional District, a seat held by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat whom Sheehan has criticized for being ineffective against Bush.

Sheehan is scheduled to speak from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday in Room 240 of the campus Arts Building. The 250 seats for the event were claimed in just four days, but Pershing said people are welcome to show up in case of no-shows or to watch Sheehan on a live-stream video in Room 220 of the same building.

Contact staff writer Gary Warth at (760) 740-5410 or gwarth@nctimes.com.