December 4-6, 2016

Session 3

The KYA Chronicle

An address from your editor

s Editor-in-Chief of KYA 3, it is
my honor to preside over the Media
Corps program during these past three
days.From my assistant editors, Abigail Condit, Grant Marcum and Belle
Townsend, to my broadcast anchors, my
photographers and my reporters. This
conference has been my most coveted,
including my five wardrobe changes
throughout. I appreciate the dedication
of my supervisor, Ryan Simpson, and
the opportunity to serve this conference,
granted to me in 2015 by the previous media corps participants.

Whenever I began my adventure
through debatable Y conferences, I was
in the seventh grade. My bill about foster
care children having counseling, we
passed House, Senate and was signed
into law. Eighth grade year, I ran for
Secretary General at KUNA didnt
even make it past the primaries. I drifted
from my yearly conferences at the start
of my high school career, starting high
school was stressful enough as it was. It
took until the thought of college looming over my head to get me back in the
game. And, besides, I missed my three
days out here every year.

Its going to be hard next year. I wont
have my guaranteed two days off school. I
have to live on my own, Im not supposed to
call my mom every night anymore But what
Im most worried about is how Im going to
find another experience like this. Where will
my passion for civic duty and political awareness take me? Where will I end up when I plan
to change the world? Because KYA has given
me those aspirations. Theyve held my hand
until now, but its time for me to launch my
own efforts. To give back to an organization
that has given so much to me.

So Id like to say thank you. Thank you
to the Crowne Plaza for hosting it and making
us feel like home, especially when we dont
repay you the way we should. Thank you to
Natalie Martin and Will Roberts for convincing me that I ought to do media corps. Thank
you to the bus drivers that get us to and from.
Thank you to workers of the capital for letting
us do our thing in the place where debating
is done. Thank you to my boss who was cool
with letting me off work for two days. And
thank you, Y-Staff, for making me feel welcomed in a place I thought I didnt belong. Im
not a hugger, really not a familY kind of girl,
but even so, youve let me live the dream Ive
had for a long time. Youve given me the freedom to morph this program into something
unbelievable, so I sincerely thank you.
-MJ Mayo
KYA Media Corps Editor-In-Chief
KYA Chronicle 1

December 4-6, 2016

Session 3

A letter to the Editor

Emilee McCubbins

It is the first year in seven Im not making my December pilgrimage to the Capitol
Building and I would be lying to say Im not
heartbroken. The Y has been the biggest
part of me since I was a Noe Middle School
student with big eyes and a scared demeanor. But KYA is the place that takes those
terrified eleven-year-olds and turns them into
something more. Whether this is your first
KYA or your seventh, take as many chances
as you can to stop and inventory. Inventory
the speeches youre making and how they
can be better; inventory the people you sit
with at dinner; inventory the calming words
or excited praise you dole out, and dole out
as much as you can.

As devastated as I am to be three
hundred miles away from the home the Y
has given me, I am glad to be a has-been. It
means that I have gotten something out of
all the speechmaking and anxious parliamentary procedure and harassing Y Staff that
has made me feel safe enough to do so in
exotic northern Ohio. Value your time here-there will never be another chance to be with
these people in this situation ever again.

Emilee MCCubbins at the US Capitol

FamilY
Sarah Norris
I am here to tell you that life will go on after
KYA, after these conferences. When the
bills are passed and the plaques handed out,
youll look at the countless name tags that fill
your room while you wear your democracy
sweatshirt. In this moment, you will realize
that its over. An old chapter is finished and a
new one is about to begin. Its okay to be sad
because youll miss the experiences, but darlings, there are many new experiences that
await your kind hearts and generous spirits.
Hold onto the values, friendships, and killer debate techniques the Y has blessed you
with and never forget that your motive is to
change the world. The point to remember
is this: you may feel most alive at a Y conference, but there is life beyond the y. You can
still take it everywhere with you.

Sarah Norris pictured right

KYA Chronicle 2

December 4-6, 2016

Session 3

Judicial
Jordan Conley-Endicott

The space is tense as a cold draft flows
through the open court room. Six justices
sit at a row of tables watching two opposing
forces going head to head. The two teams
are calm, collected, and speaking following
a guided outline to best tackle the case at
hand. This branch is one commonly looked
over at KYA, the judicial branch.

The three branches of government
all have a place in KYA, some are arguably
just better know than others. The majority
of students are involved with the legislative
branch, with hundreds of different bills and
thousands of students voting on them at
any given time, its the most talked about. A
select amount of schools have sent a team of
2-3 of their students into a more unknown
territory of the judicial branch to test their
personal debating skills.
Students have prepared for their cases by
working side by side among experienced
judges, the chief justice being Lydia Mason.

The case this year was a workers compensation case being debated right now in
the supreme court, and a major theme debated by multiple teams was about the wording
of the contract and the specific language
being used. The cases have varied from year
to year, with the case last year being about
if schools should be allowed to randomly
search the students on their campus.

The case was a workers compensation
case, which is a field that we havent done
before, remarked Cassie Drury, one of the
justices. Usually were debating more constitutional rights or amendments. This year its
a little more different, so were arguing more
on the laws that exist in the precedence.

All of the cases rely heavily on the
constitution and its interpretation, and the
way that Kentucky is different perhaps from
the court systems of other states. Other work
comp cases similar to the Family Dollar case
have been cited, but the statutes in which
the other states have ruled them has been
brought up to see if the rulings would be
compatible or relevant to the way our court
system in Kentucky primarily rules.

Professional diction is used throughout the courtroom, treating it like a case that
would be in a real court in Kentucky. The
structure is based primarily on time of opening speeches of both parties, then an option
for a final rebuttal. However, the judges dont
give their rule as would happen in a real
courtroom, just a comment on the way each
students presented themselves in personal
comments provided to the students. The final
ruling comes at the end, and the team with
the best all around is rewarded.

The judicial program has been around
for many years and will continue to prepare
students for a type of in depth work with
quick thinking skills and the ability to process
data in a collective manner. So the next time
you pass someone with a judicial badge, think
about the work that theyre doing. Maybe
even try it for yourself!

KYA Chronicle 3

Session 3

December 4-6, 2016

Kate Dunn, North Oldham Bluegrass Delegate

During bill hearings we spoke to bluegrass delegate Kate Dunn, a sophomore at North Oldham
High School. She has been apart of KYA conferences for 3 years since middle school.

Q: What has it been like to debate on and vote on bills?

A: Its surreal when you think about it, as kids we never really think about all the laws and restrictions that are placed upon everything we do like every single day with roads and everything. I dont
know, i just think its so cool to participate in it [debate] even if its just kind of mock.
Q: Is this your first KYA?
A: Its actually not. Its my third if you count middle school, but my second high school KYA conference.
Q: Is this your First Bluegrass Experience?
A: Ive always been in Bluegrass. But this is the first year i have really tried to speak, like actively.
Not just standing there and being afraid.
Q: Are the bills good this year? Any that particularly stick out, or any that overlap with each other?
A: One of the best bills I can remember right now is the one that takes away the luxury tax on womens hygiene products. Bills like ones on labeling GMOs seemed to be pretty common this year.
Q: You were saying you were trying to speak more this year; do you feel nervous when you stand
up to speak or ask a question?
A: I get a weird tingling in my hands but its not so much nervous. Its more of an im doing something you know?
Q: What is your favorite role at KYA?
A: I was in media core in middle school and i thought it was really fun so id do that again. Chairing
also might be fun.

KYA Chronicle 4

December 4-6, 2016

Session 3

United We Stand
Emily Hamilton
Unity is strength...When there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things
can be achieved.
~ Mattie Stepanek

Bill sponsors, Candidates, Officers,

Chairs, Advisors, Y-Staff and every cabinet
member in between have their own unique
jobs; whether its creating a bill or passing
it, participating in debates or monitoring
them, or asking questions or answering
them. Yes, these people are on opposite
ends of the KYA spectrum. However,
through the bills they pass or write and
the platforms they abide by, everyone has
worked towards one common goal: the
safety of the public. Each delegate has
seemed to fight and strive passionately
toward protecting their fellow citizens by
attacking problems mostly related to sexual assault prevention, gun control and our
states youth.
Sexual Assault Prevention
1 out of every 6 women has been a victim
of either committed or attempted rape.
This statistic means that if you dont experience a form of sexual assault, someone
that you care about will. I believe that this
statement shows why the bill sponsors and
delegates of KYA have came together to
promote prevention plans for sexual assault and help for its victims.

One such bill that was created to invoke

change in a society with a growing rape
culture is Commonwealth Bill #14: an act
to raise the age of consent to 18 in the state
of Kentucky by revising current law. In an
interview, bill author Lauren Ash said that
Janie Akers, a fellow author, had been watching Law and Order: SVU and started to get
interested in the issue of sex crimes and the
growing issue of them in our state and nation.
They also chose 18 as the age of consent due
to the maturity and development of the brain
from a more emotional judgement to a more
objective one. Although this statement was rebuttaled with the fact that brain is fully developed at age 25, voters in the Senate saw how
this bill would decrease the chance of grown
adults having predatory motivations toward
teenagers and passed the act on.
Gun Control
In the wake of so many mass shootings, gun
control has become an essential part of political discussion. People are terrified of what
our state is going to do about preventing
such tragedies since Kentucky is ranked #8
in the highest crime gun exporting states in
the U.S. So naturally, gun control is going to
be an upcoming topic throughout KYA bills.
Commonwealth Bill #50 that wants to instate
mandatory background checks that prevent
the mentally unstable from purchasing guns.

KYA Chronicle 5

Session 3

December 4-6, 2016

In opposition, it was claimed that criminals

would continue to avoid laws and turn to the
black-market to retrieve guns. Hannah Terry,
an author of the bill, is friends with a few people who were close to Trinity Gay, a teen girl
who was shot by a stray bullet from a shootout
nearby while she was in Lexington. So, this
bill is very personal to Terry and she believes
her bill is different from others by taking into
consideration the mental state and possible
mental disorders a gun-buyer may have other
than just past criminal offenses.
Childrens Protection
Kentuckys youth is the future of not just the
commonwealth or the nation, but the world.
They are our future politicians, professors,
and doctors. In order to reach their full potential, legislature has to ensure a quality life and
protection from the evil in the world for these
children. An example of a bill at KYA that
would help this cause is Commonwealth Bill
#41. This bill hopes to enforce a law that requires parents to report their children missing
within the first 24 hours of a disappearance.
Authors of this bill used the Casey Anthony
case where the child wasnt reported missing
for a month. Unfortunately, over that period
of time, any clear DNA evidence had decomposed. An opponent of the bill made the comment that sometimes, kids and teenagers just
take off as an act of rebellion or just to go out
with friends.
Safety and security dont just happen, they are
the result of collective consensus and public
investment. We owe our children, the most
vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of
violence and fear. ~ Nelson Mandela

KYA Chronicle 6

December 4-6, 2016

Session 3

YMCA KYA 3 Media Corps

KYA Chronicle