if statement problem

ok, to illustrate how frustrating this has been, examine these code segments.

      If CInt(rst("Completed")) = 0 Then
             Response.Write "<font color=""#FF0000"">Open</font>"
        Else
             Response.Write "<font color=""#009900"">Completed</font>"

      End If
     ***********************************

strStart = CInt(rst("status"))

if strStart = 0 then
  strFinal = " <font color=""#FF0000"">Open</font>"
else
  strFinal = " <font color=""#009900"">Complete</font>"
end if
Response.Write "<font color=""#000000"">" & strFinal& "</font>"

The first one works great.

I can't see any difference beween the two, can anyone?