Texas Youth and Government

By Benjamin Cisneros

The Big Case at the Y&G Conference

Austin, TX – The big case this year that mock trial delegates will debate on is the case of “the confused cop”. On the night of November 25th, 2022 Officer Alex Greene responded to a high-priority call to the residence of Kamari Jenkins. He ended up shooting her and she ended up passing away, the prosecution looks to indict Officer Greene for the murder of Kamari Jenkins. The sequence of events on that night is as follows. The Mustang police department received a call about a possible burglary by a concerned neighbor.

Officer Alex Greene took the lead and responded to the call, he was joined by fellow officer Leighton Shields. They both scan the perimeter of the property and Officer Alex Greene ends up in a very dark backyard where he frantically spots Ms. Jenkins through a window and proceeds to fire his firearm in “self-defense” and she collapses on the ground. Officer Greene enters the home through the front door as he sees that it is cracked open. Once he enters the home he notices that the house is all out of sorts as if it had just been burglarized. He finds Ms. Jenkins on the ground with a firearm in her hand, officer Greene begins chest compressions but as it is too late she unfortunately passes away. The witnesses for the defense (Alex Greene) are as follows, Alex Greene, the defendant. Dr. Bellamy Frey, a police training expert.

A Need-to-Know Basis of the Youth and Government’s Media Section

At a typical Texas Youth and Government State Conference, one can find students in legislative, state affairs, judicial, and less commonly known media. This section only takes 50 students from all districts to the state conference. Despite being one of four sections, not many people know about the section or what it does. In the real world, however, the media plays a huge role in connecting people to the government. An aspect that the Youth and Government attempt to model.

According to Ishmael Behrhorst, the senior director for marketing at the YMCA, media was the last section to be added to YG after it was founded. He states in an interview that media “is the balance to be able to tell stories of everything that’s happening at the conference while also replicating what happens every day in real life.” Activities include writing news-report-like stories, creating social media posts, and photographing delegates. Students have the freedom to “use their creativity, art, video skills, and even their human to be able to tell the stories that really matter and affect us daily.”

The media section has transformed throughout the years. Assignments from the previous year’s state conference differ significantly from the current ones. Esmerelda Rios, a media co-editor-in-chief, says, “Social media used to be a newer concept that not everyone was sure about. But with time, we have come to see how integrated media is in our society and politics and how it can help inform audiences. This is definitely reflected in the changes made to the YG media section because it is now reflecting real-world media to actively engage and inform people.” As the world undergoes constant change, the Youth and Government media section stands ready to adapt.

This section has done a lot for its students. For Gracie Harding, a media co-editor-in-chief, media has “helped her photography skills tremendously.” For Rios, it is a “tool to help her reach her goals.” As much as media changes based on the world’s evolving trends, the section should also cater to the needs of its students. Harding expresses discontent on the section’s news articles, she says she “would like to make it more visual based and interactive. When the target audience is our generation and our participants, let’s be honest, after a long day of trials and submitting bills, students would rather skim an article than read it.” Every year, the media section enhances the YG experience, ensuring it stays informative and engaging for all generations. It’s always keeping on track to meet the evolving world and its student needs, offering a truly immersive journey.

By: Medha Rapuri

By Benjamin Wise

My name is Benjamin Wise and I will be writing about the bills that I heard about in court today. Today, I went to the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas. Inside the Capitol, there are many different places. The place I went to is in the Senate chamber where they pass bills. When I first got here, to the Senate chamber in the Capitol, they were talking about a bill they wanted to pass for people who work outside to keep them from overheating. One of the main things about this bill is that they wanted thermometers on the job site to measure the heat and also to have water on the site just to keep people from overheating and mandatory breaks for work to keep them from overheating and if workers don’t get this then the company will be fined with a class C misdemeanor. They also wanted small cups of water for the workers to drink whenever they got too hot. Also, they said that they could get water bottles but right now they get small cups for their mandatory break. The person passing the bill wanted a 20-minute break for the workers because that was enough time for them to cool down and drink some water. The author of the bill said that above 90 degrees is considered extreme heat and that that’s enough to take a break. However, someone countered him and said that they think 90 degrees isn’t too much and that workers can still overheat at around 80°. When they voted for the bill it did not pass the first time but Second vote when they did a recount the bill passed.

The second bill they talked about was about circumcision. The author of the bill said that Jewish babies should be allowed to be circumcised. Many people did not agree with him. They said that being circumcised can lead to many sexual diseases and normal diseases as well. However, the author said that being circumcised gives you benefits. Another argument they had is that babies can’t give consent to have circumcisions and they said that once you turn 18 you should be able to choose if you want to get circumcised. The bill did not pass.

For the third and final bill, the author proposed that all private and public school teachers must be first aid and CPR certified. One of their arguments was that when professionals arrive to try and save a student who has something wrong with them it could be too late for that child and a teacher who is first aid or CPR satisfied could save peoples lives. They said that it is a situation you would not want to be in but if it does happen it’s always good to be prepared. The bill didn’t pass.