 "Photo: Courtesy of David Engen")
Minnesota State honors students had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit the Minnesota Capitol and watch their government in action Thursday. The eight students, plus honors director Christopher Corley and honors professor David Engen, arrived at the Minnesota Capitol building in St. Paul around 10 a.m.
First, the students took a tour of the Capitol through the Minnesota Historical Society. Their guide, a fast-talking and even faster-walking young man, led them through all three stories of the building, from the Supreme Court to the Senate to the governor's office. Along the way, the guide shot out political questions and mentioned funny bits of trivia, such as how the huge, ornate pillars at the edge of the Capitol stairways hold up "absolutely nothing."
After the tour, the students ate at the Rathskeller café, the famous restaurant in the Capitol's basement, before meeting with senators and representatives. The first senator they were able to meet with was Kathy Sheran, with whom they discussed concerns over immigration and education. Unfortunately, Sheran had been called off the Senate floor to come talk with the students, so she could only spare a few minutes before she had to go back in.
Balancing out Sheran's Democratic views was Julie Rosen, a Republican senator. She, too, talked to the students about immigration and cultural awareness. She had a bit more time to sit down and talk, and students were able to ask her many questions.
After speaking with the senators, students had a chance to meet some representatives. First, they met Carlos Mariani, with whom they discussed their concerns over education, and then Kathy Brynaert, who spoke more about the Minnesota budget in general.
They also spoke with Rod Hamilton, who explained his support for offering in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants. He and students were able to have a sit-down debate over the pros and cons of such an idea, and, while everyone did not come to an agreement, Hamilton summed up the discussion and the students' feelings with the statement, "Don't hate people who disagree with you -respect them."
Aside from senators and representatives, students had the opportunity to meet with David Zander, from the Council on Asian-Pacific Minnesotans, and Rosa Tock, from the Chicano-Latino Affairs Council. Tock had another meeting so she could not talk to the students long, but Zander was able to stay for quite some time and talk about his council. In fact, several students commented afterwards that it seemed "more like a lecture" and less like an actual discussion. Still, valuable information was presented.
Natsua Asai, a Japanese exchange student in the honors program, was one of the students who went to the Capitol.
"It was a very good opportunity to know social problems here and core values of the U.S.," the freshman, business major said. "I was glad to have the opportunity to meet some of the representatives. I felt their passion to make the society better. The honors students are planning to use what they learned at the Capitol as part of a project in their Business Communication class later this semester.
Grace Webb is a Reporter staff writer
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