The politically-charged town hall meetings on health care hit campus Tuesday.

Space was at a premium at the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics’ Simons Media Room, as U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.) heard from Douglas County constituents in her congressional recess “listening tour” series. People packed every seat, sat on the floor, crowded the walls and even watched from the main hall by closed circuit video as Jenkins spoke about her first days of her first term in Congress. Some in the room, after a few minutes, then started demanding a discussion health care.

Jenkins started by saying she was labeled as being a member of the party of “no.” She said she had chosen to embrace that.

“Folks, I’m going to vote no on every piece of legislation that comes before the House that I believe takes this nation and the people of the great state of Kansas in the wrong direction,” Jenkins said.

Half of the room applauded.

She said Republicans had overspent when they were in power earlier this decade.

“I’ll be the first to admit that this administration inherited a mess,” Jenkins said.

The other half of the room applauded.

The meeting then turned to a health care debate, where about a dozen people lined up to voice their opinions to Jenkins.

Kristin Maun, Lawrence first-year law student, told Jenkins she wondered what kind of health care there would be for young adults. She also asked Jenkins to make sure she read the legislation because politicians and the public listened to summaries and pundits’ remarks.

“They listen to somebody tell them what it says,” Maun said. “And then they latch on to something. That’s how you got the rumors like the death panels.”

Jenkins said she had pledged to read the health care bill, but said she had only a few hours on some legislation, such as the stimulus bill earlier this year.

“It came to us at 3 a.m., I think, and we were voting on it the next day,” Jenkins said.

Others asked Jenkins to support expanded universal health care. Jenkins said she wanted to join the health care debate, but could not because she was not in the majority party.

“I don’t know that I have made myself clear here,” Jenkins said. “Democrats have unfettered power in Washington. That means my vote is not needed on health care.”

After the meeting, Jenkins said the size of the crowd was about average for what she had seen across her district, which included the western part of Lawrence, Topeka and Manhattan.

“I appreciate them coming out and letting their voices be heard,” Jenkins said.

Mary Geiger, Jenkins’ spokeswoman, said the office didn’t know what to expect in the town hall events.

“Congresswoman wants to listen to the concerns of all constituents and that’s what she has spent this month doing,” Geiger said. “I think she’s heard a lot of concerns, from constituents across the board.”

Derek Martin, Prairie Village junior, said he was interested in what the congresswoman had to say because he was a political science major and wanted to hear from the people who were representing Kansas on a national level.

“I think it’s not only important that I know what they think, but also it’s interesting just to hear what they have to say, because they’re a national official,” Martin said.

Jon Seldin, Boca Raton, Fla. junior, said he liked the town hall atmosphere as long as it was civil and not disruptive. He said he favored a public option in health care.

“I think it’s beneficial to the country,” Seldin said.

Students such as Dylan Smith, Lawrence junior, who supported universal health care protested the event both inside and outside the Dole Institute.

“We are one of the only industrialized countries, probably the only one, without universal health care,” Smith said. “It just makes me sad to see with the great wealth of this nation, I don’t understand why we can’t extend a little bit of that money toward people who are less fortunate.”

Lawrence Bush, director of facilities and events for the Dole Institute, said the room was booked at the beginning of August, and should have been held at a larger venue given the overflow attendance.

“When this was originally planned, it was only supposed to be a very small gathering,” Bush said. “Only in the last few days had it turned to this.”

— — Edited by Tim Burgess