Student Introduced to World of Politics

Little did Payam Emrani realize that his C-SPAN watching would get him so far.

This week, he’s watching Congress from seats much closer than his living room couch as one of 120 participants nationwide in the Washington Workshops Foundation Congressional Seminar.

Emrani, 18, a 1997 graduate of Taft High School in Woodland Hills, was sponsored by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America. The patriotic organization, founded in 1891, awarded full scholarships to seven other California students. Twelve students statewide are attending this week’s workshops.

Since 1967, students from across the country have attended the weeklong sessions that include visits to congressional committees, lectures by members of Congress and a model congress, where students are put into groups to research, discuss and debate pieces of legislation.

Many of the students eventually choose careers in politics, said Tom Burkley, director for the congressional seminar program.

“A number of the students are interested in public affairs,” Burkley said. “They get to see things happen or attempt to happen and really understand how the different aspects of government work.”

Emrani, who will enter UCLA as a political science major this fall, said this week’s program has taught him about reality.

“Today in the Senate, Edward Kennedy was screaming a lot,” Emrani said by phone Tuesday. “You could hear him all the way up in the gallery. Something must have been bugging him.”

The students selected were judged on essays they submitted arguing whether English should be the official language of the United States, said Joanne Riddick, national consultant for the congressional seminar project and a member of the Colonial Dames of America.

The society, which has about 16,000 members in 44 states, works to restore old buildings and collect information concerning U.S. history.