On the morning of October 20, students in suits, ties, dresses, and blazers arrived at the University Center of the beautiful campus of University of California-Santa Barbara. The Junior Statesmen Foundation’s Vice President Rachel Kaganoff Stern brought her son and his chapter of the Mirman School to attend this One Day and teach the younger students more about debate in the JSA setting. JSA students from not only the Channel Islands Region but from all three regions eagerly chatted with their old friends and also reached out to those who were new to this organization as they waited for Opening Session to commence.
CIR Mayor Forbes Bainou addressed the crowd in the State Street Room, with encouraging words for all of the students and explained the process of the region’s Mock Election. During lunch, the students could request a ballot at the registration desk, fill it out in one of the two voting booths, and return it to the box on the desk, where CIR cabinet members compiled the results. After the Mayor’s address, Professor John Woolley commanded the attention of the room as he explained his work on the extensive and award-winning website, The American Presidency Project (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu). He elucidated his work as a resource for those who wanted easy access to documents and facts regarding any presidency or any election for the presidency.
After Opening Session, JSA members decided to participate between the heated debates on either assault rifles or Proposition 30 for the first block. Two students from Camarillo High voiced their opinions on the issue of Proposition 30 as the main speakers while the main speakers of the debate on assault rifles hailed from Newbury Park and Santa Barbara High School. The ending of the first block signaled the beginning of lunch, and students found time between eating and making new friends to go to the voting booths and fill out their voter ballots.
The second block had students focused on the thought talk on the Death Penalty and the debate on Voter Identification. Students voiced strong opinions in both rooms and brought important information to light for those that were undecided.
Heavy debate topics of austerity and Middle Eastern affairs directed the students to consider controversial issues prevalent in this year’s presidential election. Different approaches were taken in each room, as the austerity debate morphed into a speed chess style debate and the other adapted to the climate of the arguments by becoming a thought talk on the presidential candidates themselves.
Closing session began with Mayor Forbes opening the floor to the students’ thoughts on the day to which he transitioned to the results of all the debates and of the Mock Election. Best Speaker Gavels were awarded, and an additional gavel was awarded to a 12 year old boy as the youngest attendee to show the importance of the younger generation’s involvement in JSA. The event brought students together and compelled them to think not only about what their opinion was concerning a certain topic, but why and how they formed it. Liz Huber
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On Sunday October 21, 2012, the Southern Empire Regional One-Day, “Beyond the Ballot Box”, took place at University of California Irvine. The Southern Empire Region opened it arms to welcome students from all across Southern California: Palm Springs, Beverly Hills, Santa Barbara, Irvine, Fullerton, Newport Beach, and Corona.
After reacquainting with friends and meeting new people, opening session commenced. Monica Barry, mayor of the Southern Empire Region, began the festivities of the day with a brief address. The statesmen then had the opportunity to hear an informative keynote speech by Dr. Dave Peters about the origins and history of the United States Constitution. Dr. Dave Peters is a professor at Biola University in La Mirada. Dr. Peters specializes in Political Science and Public Administration with emphasis in the public sector. He has taught for 42 years at Biola. He has been elected to six four year terms on the La Mirada City Council and served as Mayor six times.
Some of the highlights of the day included an Empowering Voices Discussion, a Beginning Speaker Seminar, and thought-provoking and informative debates.
Empowering Voices is a panel of politically active teenagers from our local community that came to talk about their experiences and give advice to people that are interested in getting more involved in the “real-world” of politics. JSA’s very own Speaker of the Assembly, Nicole Michelson, spoke about her experience in Congressman John Campbell’s district office as well as the newly established Youth Advisory Boards. Jessica Chitkeur, also a member of JSA, discussed her involvement with the OC GOP as a Youth Associate as well as her internship with Congressman Ed Royce. Lastly, the statesmen heard from 19 year old, Bryan J Tice, who is running for the mayor of Fountain Valley.
On another note, the Beginning Speaker Seminar was a huge success amongst the newest members of the Junior State of America. Lead by the Southern Empire Region’s Director of Debate, Shaun Flood taught the new statesmen the ins and outs of forming a gavel winning debate!
The debates offered a platform for teenagers from across Southern California to share their thoughts topics relating to the upcoming election. Some of these topics include electing vice-presidents separately, lowering the voting age, and abolishing the Electoral College. Though not everyone agreed with each other, everyone left the debate more informed about the topic at hand.
Overall, it was a very successful day as debaters entertained many forms of discussion in the spirit of diversifying our political opinions. The Southern Empire Region welcomes in the new year of JSA with gavels and intellect. We look forward to seeing you at the Spring Southern Empire Region One Day! Monica Barry