YGMedia

By Gloria Ogunlade

With an estimated 500 Legislative delegates at the State conference this weekend, any YG participant is bound to come across an interesting, disputable, or even confusing bill topic. But what happens when two controversial bills crossing each other are put in the same room?

Delegates Lance Kyle and Robert King each presented bills relating to the discipline of criminals who committed crimes punishable by death. While King’s bill aimed to eliminate death row sentences completely, Kyle’s bill was almost the complete opposite intending to legalize public hangings. Both delegates presented their bills in the same committee room. Including the questioning period, pro/con speeches, and amendments almost every delegate in the room had something to contribute to both bills.

While Robert King’s bill was unanimously passed by his fellow delegates, Lance Kyle’s bill was rejected by the majority of the room. Both bills questioned the inhumanity of the regular death sentence but sought out different ways to combat it.

“I believe that public hangings are a more humane form of executions as well as a cheaper alternative to lethal injections,” delegate Lance Kyle said. “I chose to do this bill because I learned how inhumane and how high of a botch rate lethal injections have. I chose public hangings because they have the second lowest botch rate.”

The two delegates were not the only ones to do bills on the death penalty, but King’s passion for his bill set his it apart from other similar topics that were spoken on.

“I argued in there that we shouldn’t have to live in fear of death and we shouldn’t maintain order by that fear. I don’t think its right that our Texas government lawfully murders people,” delegate Robert King said. “Since last year, I couldn’t get capital punishment off my mind. It’s why I joined Youth and Government.”

Both students questioned the other during the questioning period when presenting their bill, but remained respectful and professional.

“I believe that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If those who are on death row were aware of the lethal injection botch rate, I feel they would find it more humane to have a guaranteed instantaneous death than a slight chance of being burned alive,” Kyle said.

The similar goals of the bills made them debatable and distinctive, but both boys had a very different way of looking at the situation.

“I’m not necessarily angry by it,” King said. “I admire the intention. I just think it should have gone a step farther and stopped capital punishment altogether.”

Although only delegate King’s bill was passed, both delegates went a step further in challenging our actual American protocol.

“We are the only major country in the world that still has the death penalty,” Kyle said. “I would ask our government why we haven’t joined with the rest of the world and outlawed it.”

By: Willow Dalehite

Candidates are mentioned in order of appearance.

Laurel Hanson: Attorney General Candidate

“Everyone who’s made it here to state must have one thing in common – Youth and government is important to us.”

“I want to focus on clarity in the Youth & Government program by making sure that important competition information is available for everyone. We need equity of access… and this means posting all registration dates, case release dates, competition dates, and payment dates on the website.”

Grayson Winchester: Attorney General Candidate

“I believe each one of us in this room has the opportunity to positively influence each other, through our knowledge that we gain in our own government.”

“As attorney general, I will make it my goal to increase technologies and networks with which delegates from different schools will be able to better collaborate with one another, in order to be more effectively prepared for the District and State conferences.”

Mia Nguyen: Attorney General Candidate

“Every single participant in Youth and Government matters … Any organization, especially Texas Youth & Government, works best when all opinions are heard, and I will make sure that will happen if I get elected.”

“I would like to seek sponsors for Texas Youth & Government scholarships, because I do believe that what we do here is very amazing; we are full of hard-working, ambitious, and inspiring people.”

Jadarius Jones: Attorney General Candidate

“After hearing the concerns of my fellow judicial participants, the first thing I aim for this delegation is to solve the major issue of scores… In office, I will modify the score forms so it will allow groups to garner their results discreetly and in a timely fashion.”

Equal is everyone getting the same thing. Fair is getting what everyone needs in order to be successful. Help me make our judicial section equal and fair.”

Amena Tep Chief Justice Candidate

“I would like to improve

By Christina van Waasbergen

Yesterday’s opening ceremony began with a invocation in which Noelle Mitchell, the Youth Chief Justice, asked God to watch over the conference and make sure everyone has an enjoyable time. The convocation did not mention a specific religion and simply referenced “God,” but it was explicitly religious.

Many people found it to be an appropriate way to open the ceremony. “

Bri Branscomb explains her journey to YG State Conference

By: Kyle Gehman

The class stands up, starts to recite with “I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the United States of America”, however, a sophomore from Leander High School stays seated.

She Bri Branscomb from the Leander High School delegation and is here for her first year debating on the House of Representatives floor. She comes from a multi-racial parent background and has strong, firm view on certain issues that she hopes she can respectfully share with other delegates.

“I think it is important for kids to be participating in democracy because we are given a right that not a lot of other countries have, and that’s a role in our government and a role in how our country will be run,” Branscomb said. “So I think if you have an opportunity to have your voice heard and open about your opinions and what you believe then you should take every chance you can take.”

For the past few months she has made the decision to not stand during the Pledge of Allegiance because of how she feels the words are not being represented.

“I’m not comfortable swearing my allegiance by saying that there is liberty and justice for every American citizen when that is a lie,” Branscomb said. “I don’t believe that everyone should sit for the pledge, and I don’t expect them to. Everyone has their own form of speaking up, and by no means does it have to be the same as mine. However, by sitting down I am taking a stand for what I believe in, and that is not something I will apologize for.”

This is her first year in the Youth and Government Program and already she has won Best Bill during the Austin District Conference. It discusses the mental health of police officers so that they may be reevaluated for duty.

“With all of these instances of police brutality in the past couple years there has been a very big rift between police and minority communities and I think that evaluating if officers are fit for duty could minimize these instances of brutality and help mend this division,” Branscomb said.

Outside of Youth and Government she is involved in her school’s newspaper as well as the theatre department. She hopes that one day she can be an actor and bring the skills that she has learned from YG into that profession.

“I think a lot of the celebrities are role models,” Branscomb said. “However, they’re not always educated so I hope that Youth and Government will help me teach people more on how our political system works and how to be more involved with not just basing your opinions off the media.”

By: Chloe Opelt

Bill presentations in the House started at 9 a.m. on January 28, 2017. During bill presentations, delegates can develop a sense of urgency to question bill authors, turn in pro/con slips, and present amendments. One complication is time, most actions in the House are timed due to the lack thereof. Additionally, there is a large amount of delegates participating in the 2016-2017 State Conference, all of which are eager to take part in the events of the day, thus proving it to be more difficult to find time to speak individually. These obstacles are a possible cause of tension between delegates.

Richard Philip from Leander High School Delegation was constantly taking initiative in the house, as well as asserting his opinions for the house to hear in multiple different forms. When asked about his stance on the tension in the house, Philip stated that “we will go and point out factual inaccuracies, and it tends to be very vicious at times, but the moment the meeting is adjourned, we’re all friends.” Philip expressed that “this is all for the sake of debate, as well as improvement of our familiarity of the government and legislative branch.” When asked about instances of verbal altercations, Philip commented by saying “there have been a few ad homonym arguments, but that’s about it, nothing serious.” Philip considers the conference “a totally friendly competition,” and has enjoyed “making friends throughout.”

The house consists of periods where different events take place, and depending on the period, tensions can rise. Bill authors get questions thrown at them like a baseball on a field. Amendment appeals come in high numbers, with not a lot of time to cycle through all of the propositions. In order to speak in front of the house, all delegates are given a chance to rise and proclaim “Mr. Chair” in order to get the chair’s attention, so they may be called upon to speak. Most events in the house require quick thinking and alertness.  These characteristics are found often within the delegates positioned in the house, causing a whirlwind of tension to fly around while in session. Regardless of the competition, the Youth and Government program delegates tend to stay calm and keep it classy.

By Heather Costello

The Hyde Senate debated intensely on Brent Baldwin’s, a delegate from the Christian Life Preparatory School delegation, bill that if passed would change the legal drinking age in Texas to 16.  Although, the bill didn’t pass with a 20-16 vote at the end of the secession. Proponent speaker used statistical evidence to support their bill while opponent speaker took to emotional stories to state their chase.

“I got into school one day and a friend of mine loss consciousness followed by choking on his own vomit later to be found out he had extreme alcohol poisoning,”  Emily Baker, Keller High School delegation, said.

Baldwin originally planned on writing a bill that proposed to raise the drinking age to 25. To get a true debate with his other delegates, Baldwin chose to lower the age to the controversial age to 16.

“At first I was not for the age being lowered to 16, but after doing research my opinion changed for the age limit being lower after I conducted more research,” Baldwin said.

In his opening argument, Baldwin urged people to vote for his bill because currently teens who drink that are underage do it to rebel against their parents or to break that law to be considered cool. If it was not illegal to do so, the amount of kids drinking would go down. Baldwin used a 2014 New York Time article written by Jack Healy that stated “Criminal marijuana cases in Colorado plunged by 65 percent in 2013, the first full year of legalization for personal recreational use.” Baldwin hopes the same will happen with DUI’s

“In countries that have a low drink age, majority of their DUI’s are from the ages of 35-40, because they learn how to drink responsibly” Baldwin said. 60-70%

It was not just drinking the alcohol that was being questioned, amendments were added to teach alcohol safety in all high schools instead of the highly-adopted rule of teaching alcohol abstinence. Also, opponent speakers started to connect the age of 16 with driving

Proponent speakers argued that in European countries that have a lower drinking age do not have any serious replication due to the lower drinking age. It was over 30 minutes of back and forth of debating on this issue, with good arguments from both sides. It was in the specifics of the bill that had the most effect of whether it was going to be passed or not.

“This bill prohibits people under the age of 16; 13, 14, or, 15 are completely off limits of alcohol. Some people for some reason like to have alcohol that is related to their religion and, since that violates the first amendment to the constitution, that violated the freedom of religion, and because they don’t have freedom of religion and can’t express themselves even if there is alcohol involved, in a small amounts,” Jonathan Wallace , delegate from the -Rockwall-Heath High School delegation said.

By: Chloe Opelt

Vegetarians, vegans, pescatarians, and gluten-free dieters are often unaccounted for in today’s society because of their unique eating habits. The diets these groups of people follow can be “expensive, and hard to acquire, much more so than what would be considered a ‘normal meal’,” according to Katie Horton.

Briana Taylor from the Hays High School delegation is a pescatarian, who had something to say about the situations she sometimes find herself in because of her specific diet. When asked about her diet choices, she stated that “it can be difficult to find the right things at times, but usually if I go out to eat, I can manage.” Taylor stated that she usually brings her lunch from home because she “can’t depend on other people or places” to have what she needs in a meal. When asked why she is a pescatarian, Taylor stated that “it’s much healthier, and it breaks my heart to kill animals for our consumption when there are alternatives that do not involve hurting animals.” Taylor minimizes the amount of animals sacrificed for her diet, and she has been a pescatarian for multiple years.

Katie Horton, also being from the Hays High School delegation, has no diet specifics, but was a vegetarian for about a year. Horton claimed that “it is very difficult to keep up with a diet like this in general.” Horton did not continue with the diet because it “got expensive” and her “family doesn’t support it.” Horton said “I like the idea that I wasn’t personally hurting any animals, but the facts are, that no matter what I do, animal products will be made regardless.” Horton didn’t plan on going back to a limitless diet, but managed to do so somehow. Horton believes that recently, “society has become more aware of the diet specifications of some people.” Progress has been made, as well as the exposure and attention the subject gets, but “it still isn’t enough to make sure everyone is accounted for in every situation. 

The diets found in the general public aren’t unheard of, but commonly misinterpreted. Public knowledge of all the various eating habits of the common people could prove to be beneficial in the future. Vegetarians, vegans, pescatarians, and gluten-free dieters are often unaccounted for, which then in turn can exclude this group of people from various situations such as eating out in social settings, and deprivation of variety.

By: Karxyriah Ashley

Duncanville High School

Oak Cliff Delegation

Tonight was a special night for the delegates who attended the Friday Night Social. All over the lobby students got to hang out, sing, dance, and play board games. They even got to do themed photoshoots. One theme was the 70s-era themed in honor of the 70th anniversary of Youth and Government. But in addition to all the fun and entertainment, there was a note of poignant seriousness in the evening.

An open mic night was held in the Grand Ballroom where students got the opportunity to showcase their talent and passion with everyone. Delegates went up to sing their favorite songs, do stand-up comedy, or go up with their delegation and perform. Some people even got to go up and wish their friends “happy birthday.”

One act caught the hearts of everyone in the room. Niara Pelton, a sophomore delegate, went up and voiced her thoughts on what’s going on in America in a poem titled “My America” that she had just written on the spot.

This poem was inspired by recent political events happening in America and how they affect her life. Considering she has a little brother, she was shocked by pictures on the police brutality of black males.

In Pelton’s poem she states, “every time my brother leaves the house, I’m slightly confronted with worry”.

When Pelton learned that it wasn’t only black males being killed, and it was African-American females too, she strongly felt the need to help resolve this issue.

Although she loves reading and writing poetry, she also uses Youth and Government as a way to learn more about the legislative process, so she could go into the political field as a career. The Youth and Government program has given her a lot of experience and knowledge on how to write bills, so she can be able to write a bill on police brutality if she wanted to one day. When she grows up she “wants to be one of the people leading the change”.

When she grows up she “wants to be one of the people leading the change.”

One thing everyone can take from this young leader, is “never

By: Kathryn Horton

The students within Youth and Government are clearly passionate about what they do. Where is all this motivation coming from? There are a variety of places this drive comes from, but one thing stands out throughout that truly motivates delegates, making sure the future is bright.

The delegates here have big aspirations and YG is a way to aid them in the process of reaching these goals. Not only do they want to reach these goals for themselves, but also for the future of politics and YG members. Sharif Long, campaigning for governor and a part of the Dallas delegation, said that the future is a major part of his motivation and is why he incorporates a legacy into his campaign, because he “wants to make sure I leave the program better than I found it.”

Not only is the future the main motivation for delegates, but the future will be greatly impacted by them. YG teaches delegates how to promote change in the world and how to fight for what they believe in. “A lot of famous political figures in the future will have sprouted from this program,” said Hays delegate Chloe Opelt. The incoming politicians will use what they learned and experienced in YG and create a better tomorrow with this knowledge.

There are many motivations besides the future for delegates. The students attending the state conference are generally passionate about many things other than solely YG. For some people, this strong motivation  “comes from religion,”said Long and for others, their main motivation is to “make new experiences and get out of tight comfort zones,” said Keely Smith, first time attendee. 

Here at the Youth and Government state conference, every glance you take catches a glimpse of the hard work that YG entails. This work ethic is different from what some people are used to and can often change the way they work at school, extracurricular activities, or jobs. Opelt said that because of YG she has “become less of a procrastinator because of all of the strict deadlines I’ve had to meet for media.” These improved work ethics will help the delegates future as well as the future of those impacted by them.