Center researches Congress

An e-learning activity on the Center of Congress' Web site at IU is now allowing students to be in charge of allocating the United States' annual budget -- but only in virtual reality at http://congress.indiana.edu/.\nIn the Federal Budget Allocation Activity, the general public, high school or college students can engage in the allocation of money to different agencies and learn the implications of their decisions for the entire budget. \n"This gives people a sense that when you are trying to increase expenditures in one area, you have to decrease them in another area," said Edward Carmines, IU professor of political science and Director of Research at the Center on Congress. "Otherwise you have to deal with a budget deficit and its negative implications for the economy."\nAfter creating a budget, people can compare their results with how Congress actually does allocate money. \nThe mission of IU's Center on Congress is to counter misconceptions about Congress and to provide unbiased educational information that helps people understand and participate in representative government. \nThe center was established in January 1999 after Lee Hamilton, the director of the center, recognized a need to improve the public's understanding of Congress during his 34 years as an Indiana congressman. \nWayne Vance, the assistant to Carmines, said Congress' importance is generally underestimated. He said people are usually too busy and have priorities other than following news on Congress.\n"Congress is something which takes place in Washington. It is not their hometown," Vance said. "So people don't focus on what Congress does. And when the law starts to affect them, they wonder how it has happened."\nTo improve public awareness, the center runs two-minute advertisements on National Public Radio commenting on important pieces of legislation that Congress has passed in recent years, such as child labor laws or social security. \nThe center also hosts civic education conferences in Washington, D.C. These conferences bring together top education policy makers, legislators and students to work toward strengthening civic education. \n"Future meetings will focus on how to regenerate the interest of adults in politics and their participation in political activities," Carmines said.\nIn 2005, the center will hold a conference about democratization on the Bloomington campus. The event will focus on the challenges of creating democracy in war-torn societies.\nBrian Swink, an IU business student, said he thinks the media exposure Congress gets is not something that usually engages younger people. \n"It's not decorative, it's not neat," Swink said. "Whatever it is, it just feels out of reach for me."\nAnother student, Jeff Turner, a telecommunications major, said it is often easier for people to pay attention to the coverage of the president rather than Congress. \n"The president is just one man and the Congress is a lot of them," Turner said. "People think that the president controls everything." \nCarmines said Congress is much more difficult to cover for the media than the presidency. \n"It is often easier to cover a single branch with a single head. In Congress you have two branches, two arenas to begin with," Carmines said. "The Congress is not covered terribly well by the national media."\nTo increase knowledge of Congress in history and civic classes at high schools throughout the country, the Center on Congress has established the Outstanding Teacher Award. Every year the center selects up to five teachers for the $ 5,000 award, which honors teachers who promote understanding of Congress among students.\nThe Federal Budget Allocation Activity module on the center's Web site has its advocates and detractors among students.\nTurner said it is like a game because the congressmen are the ones who actually get to allocate the money. \n"You can only mess around with stuff," he said. "A normal person would think, 'Oh, we need money for education,' and (the congressmen) are like, 'We need more money for oil and the military.'"\nSwink said the budget allocation activity on the Internet is a step toward reaching young people. "Anything to get more people involved in Congress is great," he said. "Making the information for people more easy to look at is a good idea."\n-- Contact staff writer Thomas Bender at tbender@indiana.edu.