U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley stopped by the Schindler Education Center for a Q-and-A session with students on April 5. He visited with a Human Relations class taught by Kathy Oakland and answered questions on topics ranging from immigration to education to health care.
One student asked how important he thinks the three state universities are to Iowa.
Thats a pretty easy question, Grassley said. They are very, very important (because of) the decline of K-12 in America, in relation to the other (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries. We have to work very hard to improve that. The universities of our country, not only of Iowa, are very well respected throughout the world. We have to do everything we can to make sure that remains to be the case. That is how important our universities are.
Jeremey Hulshizer, a senior physics teaching major, asked Grassley how he, a blue-collar worker, became interested in politics.
My mother and father were always talking history and politics thats just the environment I grew up in, Grassley said. In high school I decided I wanted to go into political science. My blue-collar career really came from necessity rather than desire. I wanted to help provide for my family.
Chelsea Guyer, a senior elementary and middle education major, asked what Grassley thought about the recent trend of employers asking for Facebook passwords.
I guess I have a view that we have to promote as much privacy as we can without ruining the Internet, Grassley said. I sit on the judiciary committee, and in the future (this issue) will probably be seen by my committee fairly soon.
After the Q-and-A, on behalf of the class and the College of Education, David Greenfield, a senior social science teaching major, presented Grassley with a certificate of appreciation for his outstanding service.
