Jerry Moran surprised his friend - professor Jerry Flinchbaugh - Tuesday afternoon after sitting through the beginning of Flinchbaugh's Agriculture Policy class as a student.

Moran, who represents the "Big 1st" Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, talked about the difference between politics and policy during the Agriculture Policy class.

Moran discussed students' relationship with politics.

What is the role of K-State students in Kansas and the Midwest? Obviously, K-State is a premiere institution. Many Kansans - certainly from our state of Kansas - but from surrounding states come here to school, and in my opinion, have the opportunity to receive a broad education that is very valuable to them.

In my particular circumstance, many of the people who work for me as a member of Congress are former K-State students. Most of our interns that we've had over my 12 years in Congress have been K-State students, so we have a very close tie to students who are here in our internship program, and the graduates are a very important component in me developing good policy for the country.

For what reasons is it important for K-State students to care about politics? The decisions that are made by Congress, by our national leaders, by the next administration, will affect the students much more than they will affect somebody my age. The things that we are deciding today have consequences throughout the lives of people who are 18-22 years old.

So it's very important that their input is obtained, that they pay attention. I know how difficult that is. It's easy to be cynical about elected officials. It's easy to get busy with studies and social life. So, it's not an easy thing, necessarily, for students to be engaged in politics, but I think it's very important for them to do so because they need to have input on decisions that are made today, as it will affect them and their families in the future. What do you do to reach out for students' votes? For what reasons do you value the 18-to-22-year-old demographic? I live in a university town, and so I'm very closely associated with Fort Hays State University. I'm an adjunct professor of political science at Fort Hays, and so I'm in the classroom there from time-to-time. But I also look for opportunities to be in high-school government classes, as well as college political science classes, in which I hope to reach out to students.

It's not necessarily political or garnering their votes, but I think I have a lot to learn. I enjoy being around students. I enjoy being around people who are 18-22 years old. I think that the goal is that we connect, so that I learn from them and maybe they learn something from me. But it's usually an inspiration. It's a reminder that the job I have in Washington is important because it affects the future of these folks I know and care about.