91̽��

It’s one thing to learn how a bill becomes a law. It’s another thing entirely to step into the shoes of a lawmaker.

American Government and Politics students spent Tuesday morning at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in Boston, where they shed their student personas and became U.S. senators, poised to act on a comprehensive immigration reform bill.

“It’s helpful for them to have hands-on experience with the process,” said Perin Gokce, the history and social sciences faculty member who arranged the trip. “It gives them a better understanding of all of the competing demands that senators grapple with before they go into a vote: their party’s interests, their state’s interests, and their personal viewpoints.”

Poor air quality, asbestos dumping, and lack of green spaces are just a few of the environmental issues that residents in lower-income city neighborhoods face on a daily basis. Twenty-two students from the Activism for Justice in a Digital World class and two sections of Science in the Modern Age went on the Toxic Tour of Dudley Square in the Boston neighborhood of Roxbury to learn about environmental justice initiatives.

David Nolies, from Alternatives for Community and Environment (ACE), a nonprofit based in the square, was their guide. “We are the voice for the people that don’t have a voice,” he told students. David grew up nearby in a government housing project and has been involved with ACE for 22 years, since he was 15 years old.

As he walked students around to different spots, he explained how Roxbury’s childhood asthma hospitalization rate is nearly six times higher than the state average; how developers would raze buildings and leave behind toxic debris; and how the neighborhood train to downtown Boston was replaced by an inefficient and polluting bus system, making access to jobs more difficult.

Strings players from 91̽��’s Chamber Orchestra watched members of A Far Cry, the Grammy-nominated string ensemble, play a few measures of a Haydn minuet before a pause in the action. One musician suggested a slight change to the speed of the melody while others nodded in agreement. Another chimed in with a reminder about the dynamics of a section. They started again, the adjustments made.

“The unique thing about A Far Cry is that they don’t use a conductor,” said 91̽��’s music department chair, Adrian Anantawan. “They’re a fully democratic orchestra and they make decisions as a group. The leadership is shared.”