#ginadenny

[capitolchronicle-blog]

New Delegations

Youth and Government is constantly growing with more members joining each year. There are currently over 700 students involved in this year’s Model convention.  While this rise in numbers can be due to recruitment from individual clubs, the growth is also attributed to the addition of new delegations.  This year, the program welcomes four new delegations; Erie YMCA, Garnet Valley High School, Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, and the YMCA of Indiana County.  One of the new delegations, Erie, was reintroduced by Chris Gotsch, an advisor of the delegation. He explained, “I am an alumni of the program, and when I moved back to the area I wanted to get the program started again.” The club was pitched to students already involved in leadership skill classes so they would have an idea of what to expect and how to deal with it. This year, they are focusing on getting used to the program, but hope to have more student leaders in the future. The encouraging growth of YAG in recent years is very promising for the club. New members are discovering what sparks their interest and old members are reigniting the flame that drives them. All in all, the integration of new delegations into YAG has proven to be successful.

Youth and Government is constantly growing with more members joining each year. There are currently over 700 students involved in this year’s model convention.  While this rise in numbers can be due to recruitment from individual clubs, the growth is also attributed to the addition of new delegations.  This year, the program welcomes four new delegations; Erie YMCA, Garnet Valley High School, Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, and the YMCA of Indiana County.  

One of the new delegations, Erie, was reintroduced by Chris Gotsch, an advisor of the delegation. He explained, “I am an alumni of the program, and when I moved back to the area I wanted to get the program started again.” The club was pitched to students already involved in leadership skill classes so they would have an idea of what to expect and how to deal with it. This year, they are focusing on getting used to the program, but hope to have more student leaders in the future.

Coming to model for the first time can be an intimidating experience, especially when the delegation as a whole is new. Erie delegates found that they were experiencing many of same problems younger members face. It can be hard to find the confidence to speak up in a room full of people or not let the constant work overwhelm them. It can also be difficult to learn skills such as bill and brief writing, even more so without the assistance of experienced students. But as the convention progresses, it becomes easier to build up the confidence and skills and handle the responsibility. Looking forward to the growth of the delegation, Gotsch stated, “hopefully we continue to grow. I know we have a lot of strong students and we just want to keep them motivated and getting out and recruiting more people.” By the end, Erie and younger delegates alike will be seasoned YAG members with a model convention under their belt.

The encouraging growth of YAG in recent years is very promising for the club. New members are discovering what sparks their interest and old members are reigniting the flame that drives them. All in all, the integration of new delegations into YAG has proven to be successful.

[capitolchronicle-blog]

Reinstating the Electoral College

The Youth and Government program is constantly evolving, with new delegates and new ideas being introduced each year. Last year, the program adopted a popular vote system for Elections Convention. This system allows each delegate attending the convention to cast votes towards whomever they wish. Returning delegates may remember the electoral college system, a system that is criticized for taking power away from the delegates. Yet, with similar flaws existing in the popular vote system, the electoral college may give delegates more power after all. The program’s voting system started off as a straight popular vote. However, the issue quickly became that the larger delegations began dominating and winning the elections, as they had much more individual votes. David John, an East Shore advisor, claimed: “there were a few smaller clubs that finally figured out how to work together to build coalitions and that was able to work, but there were still people that felt that larger clubs still had the advantage.” They consulted the Student Advisory Committee, which consisted of two groups of three students and three advisors, one being from the east and the other from the west. “They came together between the early-mid ’90s and created a system that helped to allocate the electoral votes based on the number of people brought to the election convention,” John stated. People argued that the Delegation Leaders took control of the elections because many deals were made to ensure votes. The program then decided to combine both popular and electoral votes. Due to the complicated procedure, it took ages to count all of the votes, which resulted in dropping the electoral college system as a whole and returning to the popular vote. The electoral college voting method is comprised of various different parts meant to give smaller delegations a bigger role in elections without entirely taking away the advantage of having a larger delegation. Each delegation is given a number of votes based upon the number of students present at EC. “There were tier systems,” Max Myers, alumni of the Somerset Delegation explains, “for the amount of votes you could delegate as a club, and the DL was more or less in charge of these votes.” In this tier system, larger delegations had fewer votes per person but still more votes as a whole. The DL was in charge of allocating votes to the candidates and would often time make deals with other delegations to gain support for their candidates. This tactic was especially useful to smaller delegations, as they typically do not have candidates running for each position. They could make a deal asking for support for one candidate in return for support towards another.  This allowed each delegation to have more votes on their side and could combat the power of the larger delegations.  

By reviving the electoral college system, candidates from smaller delegations have a greater chance of being elected. Forming coalitions with other delegations give these delegations altogether a larger say in the election. The system itself also adds an interesting aspect to the program. Each election brings a new problem to solve and a window for creative solutions between delegations. When delegations work together to get their candidates elected, they can form bonds that surpass the boundaries between different schools. The current popular vote system has the right intentions. YAG is about giving power to individuals, and that is exactly what popular vote system is meant to do. However, its intentions have not succeeded because the larger delegations still dominate EC. Delegates will still vote for candidates from their delegation because they are familiar. It is impossible to break this habit, so the current voting system cannot fix our problem. By reinstating the electoral college, it is possible for smaller delegations to have a larger role in the program.  

[capitolchronicle-blog]

BH #708: Death Row Organ Donors (Editorial)

Blue House Bill #708, written by Cailee Cheski of the Rose E. Schneider YMCA delegation, relates to public health and welfare in Pennsylvania. This bill, titled “Death Row Organ Donors Act”, is aimed at increasing the amount of donated organs by permitting death row inmates to donate organs. Cheski believes that organs are currently going to waste.  By allowing inmates to donate organs, many lives could be saved.  

According to the terms of the bill, any prison in Pennsylvania that does not allow an inmate to donate organs will receive a $1,500 fine. Funding for the lethal injection would be provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. Furthermore, their family must be able to cover the cost of the procedure, whether that is through insurance, Medicare or Medicaid, or by other means of meeting the expenses.  

The bill does not force inmates to donate organs.  Rather, it gives them the option to donate their organs, as long as they meet the requirements proposed by the bill.  Inmates should be medically well to be able to donate their organs.  

While the bill is meant to help save lives, it still faces opposition relating to the specifics. Some delegates point out that the lethal injection drug which is used to execute the inmates could cause damage the organs and ultimately cause more harm than help. To counter this, Cheski cites a study that was conducted through the examination of post mortem inmates.  

“Looking at sodium thiopental (the drug used to execute the inmates), the percentage of the drug is lower than is required for the surgery,” Cheski said. This means that the organs are not damaged in the process, therefore it is safe to donate these organs.  

Cheski was inspired to write this bill based on her interest in the medical field. She also felt that this topic was something that needed to be considered.  

“It seemed like one of those things that just made sense, because we could be saving lives,” Cheski said.  

Cheski hopes that delegates will understand the importance of her bill.  She believes that by allowing inmates on death row to donate organs, the amount of donated organs would increase and more people would receive life-saving treatments.

[capitolchronicle-blog]

The Harrisburg Hilton Hotel

This year, delegates attending the Model Convention will be staying at the Harrisburg Hilton Hotel.  The hotel is located on 1 N Second Street in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  As well as accommodating for the size of the program, the Hilton provides various conveniences to enhance the stay in Harrisburg.   

Over the past few years, delegates have stayed at several different hotels during Model Convention.  Directors of Youth and Government are challenged with the task of finding a hotel that can accommodate the event.  The hotel must be able to hold the population of students and adults attending, not just by the number of hotel rooms, but also by providing rooms for the various training sessions required by the different branches of Youth and Government.  In regards to the choices that directors must make when planning for the convention, “we research all the hotels in the Harrisburg area, and based on the anticipated size of the conference, we pick a hotel that will fit,” said Director Greg Rudder.  As the size of the program grows from year to year, it becomes necessary for directors to make changes to accommodate the delegates.  

The Hilton Hotel in Harrisburg is approximately 0.4 miles walking distance from the Capitol Building, which translates to about a nine minute walk, and is connected to Strawberry Square.  Various meeting rooms and other centers are provided by the Hilton, to be used for activities such as the Thursday mixer and the Saturday dance in the Harrisburg Ballroom, training sessions on Thursday in the Metro Rooms, and other activities in rooms like the Penn Harris, Harrisburger, and Leland Board Rooms. The guest rooms contain appliances such as flat screen televisions, refrigerators, and coffee makers.  Guests at the hotel can also enjoy access to wireless internet.   

A lot of thought has been put into the hotel where Model will take place, and the staff at the Hilton have put in significant effort to prepare the facilities and meet the needs the convention requires.  The delegates of Youth and Government thank the directors and Hilton staff who have made the conference possible. 


[kathrynlacey-blog]

 Every time there is a heavily publicized act of violence against women just for being women, there is an inevitable backlash of "Hey, come on. Not all men..."

"Not all men are jerks."

"Not all men treat women that way."

"Not all men are violent psychopaths."

And the resounding answer is always: DUH. 

We all know that NOT ALL MEN ARE ______________. We know. But the reason we need to talk about violence against is women is because even though not all men are violent psychopaths, all women have to learn the difference between a violent psychopath and a regular guy. 

That's how the #YesAllWomen hashtag started. It tells the story of how every woman has been subjected to the actions of this small, minority group of men. Those who are jerks, those who do treat women that way, and those who are violent psychopaths. 

Hashtag Slacktivism rarely accomplishes anything. In fact, it almost always accomplishes nothing. But in this particular case, it accomplished exactly the thing it set out to accomplish. 

It shared our stories. 

Because every woman has a story about being a victim. Every woman has a story of a time when she needed to decide between fight and flight. The statistics on sexual violence are disturbing, but the biggest problem is that (to some people) they are still shocking. 

There are still people who DON'T BELIEVE THIS IS TRUE. 

There are still people who don't believe that one out of six women 

ONE OUT OF SIX WOMEN 

will be victims of a rape or rape attempt in their lifetime. 

This doesn't take into account any of the other forms of sexual assault. Cat calling is sexual assault. Following a woman, shouting sexual advances at her is sexual assault. Uninvited sexting is sexual assault. Groping is sexual assault. Forced kissing is sexual assault. Sexual intimidation is sexual assault. Sex by coercion is sexual assault.

Most women and girls who experience these attacks never tell anyone. 

In addition to the countless (literally, I cannot count high enough) times I've been cat-called, followed, and groped, I was physically assaulted at the age of nineteen. I was lucky. It wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, and I felt grateful for my "escape" from my "date" even then. Do you know how many people I've told before now?

Three. 

My husband knows my life, but before I ever told him, I told my parents. I downplayed it to them the night it happened, the night I came home disheveled, crying, and my face covered in angry red marks. "It's not a big deal," I told them. "I don't need to talk about it. I'm fine."

Look at that sentence: 

"It's not a big deal."

And frankly, it isn't. Not technically. It's so common, it's so normal, it's boring. Nobody cares, nobody wants to hear. When I sit in my book club, and there are twenty women in the room, odds are that there are at least two or three others in the room who have experienced worse than what I experienced. That's how not-a-big-deal-it-is. 

But even though these events are so common and normal, there are still people who think they don't even happen. There are people who think women are blowing things out of proportion, or that our fear is unfounded, that it can't possibly happen to anybody in this neighborhood or on this campus. 

BUT IT DOES. 

It happens all the time, and it happens in every city, every town, every college campus, every bar in this country. Nothing protects us from sexual violence. Nothing makes us exempt. 

But something can give us a voice. 

The #YesAllWomen hashtag showed all women everywhere that they are not crazy. They are not alone. They are not "dirty" or "broken" for experiencing these things. Women are not wrong for thinking of their own safety and they are not wrong for trying to protect themselves in mundane situations. 

The #YesAllWomen hashtag showed all men everywhere that this stuff does happen. If you're one of the men who doesn't perpetrate the violence, great. Wonderful. Superb. I'm not being sarcastic when I say: THANK YOU. 

But being not guilty isn't enough. You need to know that this is true. You need to know, when a woman confides in you, tells you the terrible thing that happened in her past, that she's not lying. You need to know that when your girlfriend comes home, trembling with fear because she was followed, her fear is rational. You need to know that this happens, it happens a lot, and we have every reason to be afraid. 

Not All Men are jerks. Not All Men treat women that way. Not All Men are violent psychopaths. 

But all women have lived their lives in fear of sexual violence, or retribution for not being interested. 

#YesAllWomen have dealt with the repercussions of sexual violence. All of us.