Hetuck Thursday 2023

Volume 84, Issue 4

Thursday, June 15th, 2023

Getting to Work: Legislators Discuss First Bills

By Jacob Baltes

Wednesday was a particularly hectic day for American Legion Buckeye Boys State (ALBBS) delegates, due in large part to the large amount of legislation. Many bills were proposed, including the Wee Woo Bill and the Tax Holiday Education Bill.

The Wee-Woo bill was proposed by Pont Shaw of Bishop City on Wednesday. Shaw said “[the bill] states that any state trooper that pulls any Buckeye Boys State citizen over for a citation, a fine or even just a warning will be obligated to disperse a high pitched ‘wee-woo’ sound to alarm the person or the citizen that they're being pulled over.”

Shaw explained that the goal of this bill is to make it clear to citizens when they are going to be confronted by an officer.

The Tax Holiday Education Bill, proposed by Drew Wilson of Strong City, is another bill in consideration.

Wilson described the bill, stating, “I am working on a bill that is designed to ease the access to education supplies… Ohio has a tax holiday for three days for school supplies. We wish to extend this tax bill, or tax holiday, from its current three day length to a full 14 days.” Wilson says the bill would also move the holiday to earlier in August.

He expanded on the details, explaining, “We hope this will allow easier access to educational sup-

plies for people who come from less financially secure means and hopefully allow all students to start on the first day of school with the supplies and the tools that they need to succeed.”

The Floating Minimum Wage Bill came back into the house for reconsideration on Thursday. The bill, introduced on Wednesday, is sponsored by Thomas Blaha of Jordan City and Charles Gill of Zulch City and would establish a floating minimum wage that changes every five years and is unable to be lowered.

Speaker of the House Micheal Doris of Pelter City, explained that “It is a floating minimum wage bill... we're going to have a basically fluctuating minimum wage based on inflation, and it is set to be adjusted every five years.”

Getting a bill through the House of Representatives is a complicated procedure. “I've said this in private, but I'll say this here, this is a very long process,” says Doris. Once a bill is drafted, the House sends it to the Legislative Service Commission (LSC).

After the LSC sends the bill back, it goes through first consideration. Once it is approved by the clerks then it is brought to the floor, where everyone will debate on which committee they will send it to. Finally, it will go to that committee where they will debate on it.

Senate in session, Credit: Colt Fyffe

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2 The Hetuck

Legion Legends

By Haddon Lockyer

As many delegates at the American Legion Buckeye Boys State (ALBBS) know, the names and labels that have been given to their cities and counties aren’t made up. In fact, the reality is quite the opposite.

Each location is named after a different member of the American Legion who has been recognized as a hero. Two of these “Legion Legends’' who have made an impact here at ALBBS are Legionnaire Paul Wiehe and Legionnaire Richard

Residents of Brandon Hall likely recognize the second part of Paul Wiehe’s name, as one city in their building is named in his honor. Wiehe is currently an ALBBS Trustee, having served in the United States Army as a battalion mail clerk from August 1963 to August of 1965 during the Vietnam War. Wiehe is a longtime Legionnaire, having joined the organization about 40 years ago. At ALBBS, cities are named after Legionnaires who have served a one-year term as the ALBBS President. Wiehe was elected to this prestigious position in 2014 and served until 2015. When asked to give a message to 2023 Buckeye Boys State delegates, Wiehe said, “Life’s a journey. Enjoy your journey.”

Meanwhile, across the campus in Withrow Hall, another name has renowned fame. The name is Richard Schuck, from whom the city of Schuck in Wagonseller county gets its name. Schuck served in the Vietnam War; “I baked bread he stated. After returning home from the war, a friend of Schuck’s told him about the American Legion and encouraged him to join. In 1975, Schuck became a member. Like Wiehe, Schuck was voted as the ALBBS President in the 2018 election. He is now a Boys State Truss message for the delegates was a call to encourage them to tell others about BuckI hope they're having a good We always want them to spread the word that they had a good time and get us del-

Wiehe and Schuck are not the only members of the American Legion who make Boys State possible, however. According to the ALBBS webThe staff of American Legion Buckeye Boys State is composed of over 100 highly motivated and qualified individuals who work with one goal in mind: to make the week at Buckeye Boys State one of the most rewarding, educational, and worthwhile weeks of a young man's life.”

Richard Schuck. Photo by Haddon Lockyer

New “Wee-Woo Bill” and Other Police Regulations

By Connor Campbell

Views on law enforcement are a constant source of contention. This remains true at American Legion Buckeye Boys State (ALBBS). The controversy began on Wednesday when the ALBBS Highway Patrol was formed. There are lots of tensions and fears because many delegates believe the police officers are abusing their powers.

The main source of outrage over the police is their ticketing during recreation time, where many delegates feel they should be free from their regulations

Because of the alleged corruption in the police force, many different houses of the government have made it a priority to put rules and regulations in place to prevent the police from abusing their power.

There are many ideas that are trying to be passed with one being the “Wee-woo” Bill. Mikey Jauchius of Zulch City made sure to fully explain that his goal is to not take away power from the police but to educate.

“We want more informed constituents and we want them to know that their rights are not being trampled upon,” Jauchius said. By requiring the officer to make sound, the bill intends to give the Boys State delegates a notification and allows them

to know that they are being pulled over.

In addition to the legislation over the issue, there are many delegates who want to lower the current fines so that no one has to worry about how they are going to pay for them. The Ways most important part of having a police force with power is that the citizens of ALBBS have a good relationship with them. “I think it’s better if we just obey the law enforcement and if we take off, it just leads to further problems. We want the law enforcement in the community to be close.”

If the bills become law, the police will have more rules and regulations to prevent them from potentially abusing their power and unjustly ticketing people.

David Olsen (in hat) patrolling local county HQ.

Photo by Corin Chao

Kate Strickland, Head of Mock Trial,Visits Boys State

By Haddon Lockyer

On Wednesday, the Executive Director of Ohio Center for Law

Strickland paid a visit to the American Legion Buckeye Boys State (ALBBS), encouraging delegates to keep working and learning as the week goes on.

Strickland is no stranger to working with young people. After graduating from Miami University in 1999, she began her career as a violence prevention and mediation specialist for the Alcohol and Chemical Abuse Council of Butler County. There, she helped juveniles charged with status offenses, serving as a path to conflict resolution for their families.

Next, Strickland joined the team at OCLRE, a program promoting “partnering with teachers to bring citizenship to life, cording to their official website.

In 2016, she was promoted to executive director of the program. In this position, Strickland collaborates with the OCLRE board of trustees and staff to ensure that the nonprofit is staying true to their mission by giving students opportunities to learn about government in authentic ways.

Strickland says that her position has had a meaningful effect on her life. “I’ve been able to learn and grow as I develop professionally,” Strickland said. “The team of us that works together… I always want to be learning from them.”

Although Strickland has long been aware t visited until this year. After just a few hours of witnessing the program in action, I think the

The organization is also known for its mock trials, which allow students to act and work through fictional court cases. These simulated trials give participants the opportunity to learn how the United States judicial process

Strickland noted the similarities between s programs and ALBBS, adding that both bring a level of authenticity to learning, which makes education about government much more memora-

In closing, Strickland shared a message for 2023 delegates, statI would just like to say, keep doing ’re doing. Keep challenging yourselves. Keep being curious. Keep researching. Keep listening to other peos perspectives, s a very different opinion. I think s the most hopeful answer I can give, and I'm

She believes that the delegates are “incredibly bright, capable and engaged young people,” and is confident that they will remain exemplary. Strickland shared that she hopes to collaborate with the ALBBS more in the future.

Kate Strickland, Director of OCLRE, Picture Taken by Corin Chao