Inside the Halls of Power

Inside the Halls of Power

Rice Junior Gains Political Experience Working in British House of Lords,
U.S. Senate

BY DAVID KAPLAN
Rice News Staff
Oct. 8, 1998

Robert Lundin, the co-captain of the national champion George R. Brown Forensics
Society, may have something on his fellow Parliamentary debaters.

This summer, Lundin not only stood on the floor of Parliament, he also hobnobbed
with British Lords and worked side by side with the former Speaker of the House
of Commons.

And that was just the first part of his summer. The Wiess College junior later
served as a research assistant for U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Lundin says his intense and unforgettable summer was the perfect complement
to his life at Rice: "I’ve had the best of both worlds–great experiences
inside and outside the hedges."

He landed his summer internship with the British House of Lords by way of the
nonpartisan Hansard Scholars Program and was hired by Hutchison after applying
directly to her office.

Lundin was one of 14 American college students to intern in the House of Lords.
His was a plum assignment: to be the research assistant of the esteemed former
speaker of the House of Commons, Lord Bernard Weatherill, and share the same
office space. Lundin was the first intern Weatherill ever had.

Weatherill, who currently holds the high position of Convenor of the Cross-Bench
Peers, gave his intern an "up-front look at how politics there worked and
treated me like an equal," says Lundin, who found Weatherill to be very
charming and proper. "I wrote down all the British phrases he used. He
called me ‘chap’ and ‘bloke’ and said ‘cheerio.’" Weatherill, who is in
his late 70s, is "the friendliest and most energetic person I’ve ever met,"
Lundin says.

Once, Weatherill invited Lundin to a reception at which the other guests were
Lords and members of the House of Commons. "And here I am, this 20-year-old
American college student," Lundin says, still amazed.

Inside the "incredibly ornate" House of Parliament, Lundin would often
walk by the room where Winston Churchill practiced his speeches. Lundin worked
down the hall from Margaret Thatcher, who is currently a member of the House
of Lords.

Lundin says that during his stay in London, he enjoyed picking up on subtle
differences between British and American cultures. In public, Londoners could
tell that he and his fellow interns were American because, Lundin says, he and
his pals were more outgoing and wore baggier clothing.

From London he went straight to Washington, D.C. As an intern in Hutchison’s
office, Lundin helped edit statements she would give on the Senate floor. He
also did research on future legislation. Lundin says it was an unbelievable
feeling to actually be working on legislation that he might later be arguing
about in debate tournaments.

Lundin describes Hutchison as "incredibly friendly," while noting
that she had a large staff of assistants, which meant that he didn’t work as
closely with her as he did with Weatherill.

The Orinda, Calif., native found Washington to be "such an exciting city
if you’re into politics. There’s a constant buzz about what’s going on."

Lundin’s previous summer was also unforgettable. In the California Bay Area,
he worked three jobs in three cities each day. In the morning, he taught speech
and debate to high school students. In the afternoon, he was a bank teller,
and, in the evening, a tennis shop manager in a country club.

The teaching job was the most memorable. Many of his students were from the
inner city and "some of the most motivated and talented kids I’ve ever
seen." He still trades e-mail with a few of his former students.

Lundin’s enthusiasm for speech and debate more than likely rubbed off on his
former students. He is a very dedicated member of the Forensics Society. Last
year the Rice group took home many major trophies, including a national championship
at the National Parliamentary Debate Association tournament. He qualified nationally
in five different speech events and Parliamentary debate.

After he graduates, Lundin would like to attend law school, then pursue a career
in politics.

Lundin says he has loved "every second" at Rice. "I always tell
people that I sound like a cheesy advertisement." Rice, he says, is a place
where he and his professors know each other on a first-name basis and chat over
lunch. He admires the residential college system. Along with forensics, he’s
been active in drama and student government.

Lundin is also a volunteer student tour guide, which gives him a chance to "tell
everybody why I love this place," he says. After meeting with a reporter,
he will give a family a campus tour. Lundin is wearing a polo shirt, shorts
and sandals and says he isn’t going to change clothes for the tour. He says
of himself and his fellow Rice students: "We’re not on display here. We
do what we do and enjoy it."