Warren Beatty, star of the movies "Dick Tracy" and "Bulworth," took the ARCO Forum platform last night to voice his political views, while dispelling rumors about a run for the presidency in the upcoming election.

After fueling expectations for a more active role in politics in an opinion piece he wrote for the New York Times in September, Beatty drew attention to issues important to him during the speech, which was sponsored by the Institute of Politics.

Beatty, who last week received the Eleanor Roosevelt Award from the Southern California chapter of Americans for Democratic Action, opened his speech by disputing the general feeling that America is thriving economically.

He pointed to statistics to dispel that idea, saying that one out of every three children born in L.A. live beneath the poverty line and homicide is still the leading cause of death among children under 18.

The actor bemoaned the increase in the disparity of wealth, targeting the astronomical rise of salaries of CEOs.

Heather A. Woodruff '03 opened the question-and-answer session by pointing to the incredibly high salaries of actors, leaving Beatty speechless.

Beatty expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of activism around these problems from the Democratic Party and asked, "Do we belong to a party that sweeps this stuff under the rug?"

He criticized the current Democratic front runners--Al Gore Jr. '69 and Bill Bradley--for drifting too far towards the center and not offering the American people a real choice in the elections.