Dems Trek Downtown to State House

“Sacred cod up there, everybody!” Massachusetts State Rep. Alice K. Wolf, D-Middlesex, said to the small group of Harvard students, gesturing to the carved fish hanging in the center of the House Chamber of the Massachusetts State House.

The group of around 20 undergraduates, organized by the Harvard College Democrats, passed under the five-foot pine codfish sculpture as they paid visit State Sen. Jarrett T. Barrios ’90-’91, D-Middlesex, Suffolk, and Essex, and Wolf to discuss progressive policy concerns and receive a grand tour of the State House.

In the hour-long discussion that took place in a basement hearing room of the State House, Barrios and Wolf described the inner legislative workings of controversial issues such as stem cell research and gay marriage.

“You want to talk policy and not politics?” Barrios said with surprise when the College Dems presented the legislators with their topics of interest.

Much of the discussion between the students and the two legislators was centered on state policies, including issues that affect students, such as the possibility of extended T hours.

Ari S. Ruben ’08, one of the two organizers of the event, said the visit was “more educational than lobbying.”

“We’re never going to get confrontation with them because our agendas are so similar,” Ruben said.

Eric P. Lesser ’07, project director for the College Dems, said the visit was a part of the an effort “to keep people excited after the election,” combining a social event with a more substantive political agenda.

“It’s a challenge to make sure people aren’t disheartened,” Lesser said.

After the discussion, Barrios led the students upstairs for a tour of the House and Senate chambers and his own office.

Inside the Senate chamber the students got an inside glimpse of the sweet life senators can enjoy, even on the job—one of the students opened a random drawer of a senator’s desk, to find it filled with Christmas-colored candy.

In his office, Barrios pointed out a fuse box in the corner which, he explained, he shares with Minority Leader Brian P. Lees, R-Hampden and Hampshire, in the neighboring office, saying: “I have never taken the opportunity to turn the lights off in [Senator Lees’] office, but one day...”

While students did not get to meet Barrios’ immediate neighbor, they had a surprise encounter with Majority Leader Frederick E. Berry, D-Essex, in the State House hallway.

As he introduced the undergraduates to the senator, Barrios said, “Hey, they’re 18, they’re registered!”

Commemorating their chance to experience a bit of the life of a lawmaker, the College Dems posed for photos on the marble staircase of the State House.

Barrios, himself a former Harvard College Democrat, expressed surprise at the Dems’ top-notch manual camera.

“In my day, the Harvard Dems had no budget,” he remarked.

Another member of the Massachusetts Senate, running up the staircase past the group, shouted a piece of advice: “Don’t do drugs!”

John T.T. Dey ’08 said it was an opportunity for him to “put a face to” the legislators behind the social issues that have thrust Massachusetts into the spotlight.

“It was interesting to hear what the legislators themselves think about it,” Dey said, referring to the group’s discussion on gay marriage, in which Barrios gave a personal account of his marriage to his partner last November in the First Church in Harvard Square.

Sarah T. Selim ’07 said she was impressed to find how accessible the legislators were, urging other students to give them a call.

“It was a de-mystifying experience,” she said.

Indeed, the College Dems group showed no hesitation in expressing their political leanings, in line with 34 of the 40 state senators in a state long known for its predominantly Democratic representation.

When a fire alarm went off, interrupting the discussion, and the building had to be evacuated, one student quipped, “It’s those Republicans!”

—Staff writer Victoria Kim can be reached at vkim@fas.harvard.edu.