C-SPAN's Campaign 2008 Bus stopped at Vanderbilt Tuesday on its "Road to the White House" tour to educate students about the political network and its presidential election coverage.

Visitors climbed aboard the bus, which was parked between Sarratt Student Center and Branscomb Quad from about 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., where they could view C-SPAN footage and ask representatives questions about the network, which provides live coverage of government and public affairs.

"A lot of people see C-SPAN when they are flipping through the channels, but they don't know what we do," said Stephanie Green, C-SPAN marketing representative.

"I'm very interested in politics, so I thought I'd give it a shot and come look," said freshman Charlie DiRienzo.

The 22-ton, 45-foot bus, which includes a mobile production studio, is an updated version of the C-SPAN School Bus, which began traveling the country in 1993 to promote the network and its educational resources.

It will travel to party conventions, candidate announcements and speeches where it will be used to cover key events of the 2008 campaign.

Green said the bus has traveled more than 330,000 miles and hosted numerous political figures, including Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. It has visited all 50 state capitols and all the presidential libraries, according to the C-SPAN School Bus Web site.

Vanderbilt is one of the first universities on the "Road to the White House" tour, named after C-SPAN's political program.

The bus visited Drake University last week and will visit Florida State University on Feb. 7.