YGMedia

By Karxyriah Ashley

At the 2019 Youth and Government State Conference, many students of many different backgrounds came together on the commonality of being a #Lifesaver.

Even under all the stress and pressure to perform well and deliver good bills, cases, and proposals, many delegates still found a way to help out other people who were in need.

Delegate, Sofia Albini, said, “Being in legislative has given me the voice and the ability put my thoughts into concise words so that they can have a stronger impact.”

With this, she is able to have a voice and the ability to be a voice for other people.

“I can see the perspective of all different sides and respect other people’s beliefs even if they come from different cultural backgrounds socio-economic statuses. I’ve realized that we are not as different as we think, Albini said.

Delegate, Tanya Shiramagond, said, “Veing in Youtth and Government legislative has helped me become more open minded with my own political views. I’ve been exposed to other peoples views and I understand that it’s not all one party you can have believes from the right and the left. You don’t necessarily have to obey one side. I think having healthy conversation is also an important part of the legislative process. It’s not just about supporting your own argument, but learning from other people‘s experiences as well.”

At the end of the day, Youth and Govenrment students hold respect and giving back to people at the highest importance. Whether it’s helping someone’s bill by speaking proponent, getting coffee for your friends to help wake them up, or helping your friend by carrying their luggage for them, every single student at the 2019 State Conference proves that they are a #Lifesaver.

By: Noor Mohamed

Day two of the Texas Youth and Government (TXYG) conference and State of Affairs (SAF) has moved to debate their most pressing proposals.

Proposal 5 entitled Spread information, awareness, and funds to make genetically engineered babies a viable and available option to the general public authored by Emma Brunk has become one of the most debatable proposals to arise due to the extreme difference in opinion about the way America will handle human life.

Brunk proposed to implement clinical trials of in-vitro fertilization for willing patients through avenues such as Planned Parenthood to increase accessibility to Texas residents so that Mendelian diseases may decrease and its delegates may follow healthier lifestyles.

Brunk introduced her proposal by reiterating the focus on the implementation of this fertilization to combat and cure mendelian diseases. She noted that “70% of us die this way either way. It is not a death sentence, but rather a life sentence the second you become diagnosed.” She continued to allude that this process in the simplest of terms is like a switch. The fertilization detects the Mendelian disease in the DNA of the egg and only needs to combat 1 cell to reverse the detected disease.

Brunk made compelling arguments that had every ear listening as she emphasized that through the use of Planned Parenthood this would, in turn, be accessible to all woman, especially those from low-income communities.

Despite the positives Brunk highlighted, Delegate Hanes strongly urged the SAF delegation to vote negation as “It is all good and well to want to cure diseases. However, children indeed are born differently, but they are still full-fledged 100 percent legitimate members of our society and should, therefore, be treated as such, not as a glitch in genetic makeup.” Delegate Hanes appealed to the ethical morality of the room causing many to reconsider their support of this proposal.

In contrast Delegates Harris and Taylor both made final arguments in support of this proposal during their Pro Final Preliminary discourse. Delegate Harris tied it back to the expected outcome of this proposal to implement a change for a healthier lifestyle amongst Texas residents by mentioning “This gentic modification is like therapy. It’s curing diseases so our people can live better lives.” Delegate Taylor’s final comments were in response to a question that arised earlier. Taylor states that “This fertilization is not abortion. It is the removal of Mendelian diseases in unborn fetus’ DNA so they can enter this world to live better lives. Abortion is illegal and this is not abortion.”

Stern looks on everyone’s faces makes it hard for Brunk to read the judgment of the room. In hopes that her fellow delegates have been swayed, she makes three final points to close this proposal: this is economically feasible, it will be accessible to all, and this cures disabilities.

The chair moves to an immediate vote and the delegation has been swayed, this proposal passes.

By Katherine Funderburg

Sitting in wait is a possibly life saving bill that will not come up today, this bill is covering an issue plaguing Texas households, a silent killer of Texans: Radon poisoning. “Radon poisoning is a serious problem. There are over 20,000 deaths that occur annually due to radon poisoning. Some symptoms are cancers, pneumonia, bronchitis, and coughing. If this bill is passed, the residents of Texas will not be exposed to radon poisoning in their homes.”  Nickhil Dimri, of Midland Lee High School of the Midland YMCA delegation, said. According to Dimri, he is nowhere close to the docket, but yesterday passed in committee.

Radon is a radioactive, colorless, odorless and tasteless gas. Radon poisoning can lead to the development of lung cancer if the concentration is above 2.0 pCi/L. This bill will help prevent radon poisoning by requiring home inspectors to inform the owner of the Radon level.

The owners will have to bring down the home to the required level if it exceeds 4.0 to ensure the buyer’s health is not harmed. When the home inspection occurs when selling a house, the inspector must inform the owner of a radon level that exceeds 2.0 pCi/L.

If a home seller fails to address a radon problem before the new residents occupy the house, then the seller will be issued a 90-day warning before they are issued a $500 fine. If another 90 days (180 days in total) passes without the problem being resolved, the second fine of $1,000 will be issued. If the seller does not meet the required radon level for the home by 270 days (the third offense), a fine of $1,500 will be issued and repeat every 90 days until the seller corrects the house’s radon level.

By Ivan Kipp

During the Hyde Senate hearings on Saturday, 26th at the 2019 Youth and Government State Conference, a bill was presented that seeks to permit the sale of birth control for women at all pharmacies. Delegate Jacqueline Rogers wrote and presented the bill.

Delegate Rogers, as well as those who supported the bill, stressed the importance that while children can be seen as right or wrong if they engage sexual activity, the “most important thing is safety”. Delegate Rogers continued to say during her speech that birth control “should be available for all women”,  and that the denial of it “is an invasion of women’s..lives. Women should be able to explore [their] sexuality”.

The over-the-counter birth control is also available for young women over the age of 15, with a few specific rules for the younger women who aren’t legal adults yet. In the provisions of Section II, it is stated that they are required to provide a valid birth document or another form of valid identification, such as a license. This is also an effort to reduce the amount of unprotected sex, diminished the rate of kids in the foster care system, and grievous abortions, as stated in Section II. Delegate Rogers also said that “15 out of 100 people who use condoms will get pregnant each year,” so birth control should be more available than it currently is.

While three amendments were presented to alter the bill, only one amendment was adopted which was a change of wording for clarity, so no great changes were made to the bill.

The period set aside for the speeches for and against the bill was quite extensive but held some tension. There were a large number of slips placed in opposition and support of the bill, and the chair continued to not recognize the motion proposed to limit the number of speeches that were being made, which pushed the vote to after lunch. A fellow delegate stated again during their allotted time that truly “the most important thing is safety” for those who were having intercourse. A fellow delegate assisting the opposition responded that actually, the intercourse being had “makes them more predisposed to getting STD’s,”.

In the end, the bill for over the counter birth control failed to pass in the Hyde Senate during the second hearing period despite a very well received support for the access of birth control at pharmacies for adults and younger women.

By Simone Lee

 The morning of the 5th round of county court, two teams from International Leadership and the Perry YMCA both questioned, and fought to win the Cameron Shepard v. Texas State case.

  On one side, we have the prosecution, Wyatt and Kate Kimble. When asked about the case and how difficult and or easy it was to put forth a good prosecution case Kate stated, “Since we did do prosecution this round, it wasn’t that hard to come up with questions that contradicted the witnesses.”

The defense gave an opposite response. “It was extremely hard to come up with good questions because being on defense is really hard. Evidence contradicts itself and we had to come up with argument after argument that didn’t hurt us in the long run” Matthew Robertson of International Leadership High School said.

Perry YMCA delegates found that cross-questioning was extremely hard, as did International Leadership. They both gave very similar statements.

“You have to be extremely quick-witted and know what you’re going to say before you say it. It’s fun and I believe the Judicial branch is a branch anyone can learn and learn to do well.” said Kate Kimble of Perry YMCA stated.

Both teams seemed to be extremely passionate about Youth and Government, they have the aspirations to inspire younger teens joining the organization. The more controversial cases, or as both teams put “the more fun ones” seem to pull more younger individuals into the program.

“I see an extremely bright future for this program, I see younger people wanting to join this organization and grow our so-called family,” Wyatt of Perry YMCA said.

Both teams are mostly filled with first-time witnesses and attorneys. Linda from International Leadership is a first-year attorney as were both attorneys from Perry YMCA.

“It was hard being a freshman and joining as an attorney, I was a witness at district. However, I’ve met so many great people and I love every bit of it,” Matthew Robertson said. “I want people to join and experience it, I would probably tell people about how the murder cases are so fun to try and figure out.”

By Filip Ivanis

A senior, Supreet Kaur, from Rockwall-Heath High School, submitted a bill. If it were approved, it would require public schools to make Anatomy and Physiology mandatory to graduate from high school.

“Everybody should know Anatomy and Physiology. Anatomy and Physiology teach us how our bodies work, what happens in our bodies, and I feel like we should all have this knowledge. It would help in emergencies as well,” Kaur said.

“Let’s say that someone has a stroke,” Kaur said.  “Would you know how to help them? By making Anatomy and Physiology mandatory, we can not only get higher education but an education that will save someone’s life.”

A couple dozen delegates stood in a line with questions and concerns, 12 amendments were submitted. The delegates were not satisfied with the original wording of the bill.

The most debated topics were the consequences for the schools who disobeyed. Delegates noted the ever-increasing cuts in the budget were too harsh, some wanted the cut to be increased, some wanted a set amount.

After a motion, to save time, amendments were skipped and the proponent and opponent speakers were called.

Proponent, Aaron Adair said, “I think it should be a mandatory class because the skills might be important in life. You never know what might happen.”

Opponent speaker, Zach Wilburn said, “Depending on what you want to do in life, what you want to make a living from, you should be able to take the according classes and not be forced to take the ones that you will not need.”

The second proponent, Grace Thompson said, “I think it would be a great idea to include Anatomy and Physiology in mandatory classes, since it’s mandatory knowledge. By that I mean that everybody should know how their bodies work, and by passing this bill we will be doing a huge favor to this state.”

An opponent, Charis Thompson said, “I agree that a higher science class should be added, I think that we should not limit it to Anatomy and Physiology.”

After the final vote, the chair was in doubt, and a standing vote was taken. With a small difference, the nay’s had the winning count and the bill was not passed.

By Ivan Kipp

After the Hyde House passing of HH010, the Hyde Senate held an additional hearing on Saturday the 26th at the Capitol Building during the 2019 Youth and Government State Conference. This bill states that new mothers will be charged with child endangerment and even face jail time if they consume substances such as drugs and/or alcohol. Since the bill was presented in the Senate, a sponsor of Delegate Sanjana Dandu’s bill presented the legislation.

During the hearing, the Hyde Senate only proposed half of what the House mentioned the day before, but also passed only one of them. However, the passed amendment was more lenient on the penalties given to the mother if they are found consuming these substances. The amendment proposed instead of the mother losing her parental rights instantaneously during the second offense, she should instead be investigated by the authorities. Previously during the first day of the Hyde House hearings, the original author was against a change in the penalties as well as the House delegates, but the Senate proved to be more divided and was lenient to the mother’s punishments and adopted the amendment to the bill. The division amongst the delegates of the Hyde Senate was prominent through the whole hearing with strong speeches for the denial and passing of the bill, as well as the amendments barely being denied and a division/standing vote being called.

The bill sponsor in the Senate urged the delegates to vote for the bill to ensure children are born “as healthy as possible,” as well as the mother during the pregnancy. He continued to say that “the concept of life is something we have cherished,” and that “we cannot stand this threat of life”. While he was confident that the bill was necessary for the pregnant mothers and children, there was also a sizeable opposition to the passing of this bill. Many delegates in the room didn’t think the bill was efficient after the amendment period. A fellow delegate stated that the “logistics do not make any sense” and that the  “mother has wiggle room to prepare for the [spontaneous] drug tests despite the efforts made to avoid loopholes. Another delegate in opposition stated that we shouldn’t “force them to take drug tests” because it was a way of infringing the mother’s rights. The supporters of the bill then retorted that the ultimate goal of the bill was to preserve the life of both the mother and the child.

Despite a considerably strong force for the passing of the legislation, the bill was denied due passage. The vote, to difficult to tell whether the I’s or nay’s had it, was called that the nay’s had succeeded. The division that was called was not recognized by the chair of the Hyde Senate.

After hours of debate and speeches, the bill of child endangerment failed to pass in the Hyde Senate.

By Qandeel Suleman

The State Affairs General Assembly consisted of many proposals that were debated and voted on to either pass or fail. An important proposal of an app for human trafficking was one that was strongly discussed and debated on.

Delegate Garza created a proposal that made an app in which a person may ask for help in dangerous situations and even view a map that provides information about locations with that have been reported with large amounts of human trafficking.

Delegate Garza believes that “Texas needs a solution [to its human trafficking problem], one to protect its citizens.”

Throughout the question period, Delegate Garza was asked about the benefits of the proposal and questioned about the details. Some delegates wondered the differenec between the app and calling 911, seeing as both were to call were help in dangerous situations. To which delegate Garza explained how “the app provides a location as to where the one in danger is, unlike 911.”

Afterward, a pro/con debate took place where Garza’s fellow delegates can voice their opinion of support or not the proposal. Delegate Ali, who was strongly in favor of the proposal, showed his passionate favor of the proposal during his intense pro-speech not only by the tone of his voice but also by the amount of information he stated about the issue.

“313,000 Texans citizens just like us that we as state affairs representatives swore to protect are currently facing the nightmares of human trafficking,” Ali said.

In the end, Delegate Garza did not receive enough “aye’s” for her proposal to pass. However, it was made known at the end of her closing that she was from Houston, a city with a stronghold of human trafficking, only showing how much the proposal meant to her.