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In the only opportunity voters will have to watch California’s top gubernatorial candidates talk face to face, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his Democratic opponent, State Treasurer Phil Angelides, are scheduled to debate Saturday evening.

Meeting at California State University, Sacramento, the debate will be televised at 6 p.m.

Among the issues that have pressed Californian voters’ buttons this year are immigration, prison reform and health care.

College students have examined the candidates’ opposing educational stances. While Schwarzenegger’s decision to “buy out” student fees meant that University of California students did not see an increase in tuition this year, Angelides has said he will roll fees back to the levels they were at in 2002, which would be a substantial reduction.

This will be the first debate of Schwarzenegger’s political career in which he has not received debate questions beforehand, leading some to believe – or hope – that he will trip up Saturday. In the 2003 recall debate, candidates were given questions beforehand by the California Broadcasters Association.

“Arnold Schwarzenegger is a trained actor, and he’s been reading from scripts his entire life – both as an actor and as governor,” said Brian Brokaw, spokesman for the Angelides campaign.

But Gregory Moeck, president of Bruin Republicans, said he doubts it is likely that Schwarzenegger’s experience as an actor will work against him.

“My guess is that Schwarzenegger is, as an actor, an experienced public speaker,” Moeck said. “I’m sure both are great at public speaking and we’ll see an interesting debate.”

Schwarzenegger has consistently been ahead of Angelides in the last months, with polls showing that the current governor has 44 percent voter approval while Angelides has 34 percent.

Some have attributed this advantage to Schwarzenegger’s more successful fundraising campaign, and others have said his status as a movie star has helped him.

But Saturday night both candidates will be confronted with questions and asked for immediate responses.

From thousands of questions suggested by the public, the CBA will choose six or seven to ask during the debate, and then allow a brief question and answer session with the media afterward.

In light of recent actions by the governor, some issues that may come up include prison overcrowding, problems with immigration and funding for education.

Earlier this week, Schwarzenegger announced that California prisons were so overcrowded that some inmates needed to be transferred to jails out of state.

Immigration has also been a prominent and controversial issue in California, indicating that questions regarding immigration may come up as well.

Angelides’ campaign managers had trouble settling with the conditions of the debate, but finally agreed to them in early September. One concern from Angelides’ office was that Schwarzenegger expressed an interest in participating in one debate, while Angelides wanted to hold a series of debates.

In Los Angeles, the debate will air on CBS and on public broadcast television in both English and Spanish. FOX will stream it on its Web site because Major League Baseball playoffs are airing during the debate, said CBA spokesman Joe Berry.

But that is not the only sporting event distracting students from the debate.

“I’ll be at the football game,” said Vicki Lin, a fourth-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics education student. “If it’s on the news later I might see part of it.”

With reports from Bruin wire services.