Volume 78, Issue 4

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Attorney General Mike

DeWine at BBS
Michael Adelman
Kyle Cusick
Reporters

State Attorney General Mike

DeWine stopped by Buckeye
Boys State Wednesday afternoon
to answer questions for the aspiring Boys State delegates passionate in the fields of law and government. The Q&A was recommended to any member delegate
of the bar association, but was
also available to other delegates
interested in attending. Attorney
General Mike DeWine is an enthusiastic supporter of Buckeye
Boys State and has visited the
program annually for many years.
Mike DeWine was born in
Springfield, Ohio and presently
lives in Cedarville. He attended
Miami University obtaining his
Bachelor of Science degree and
then attended Ohio Northern University College of Law where he
earned a Juris Doctor. DeWine
has held office positions as a Assistant County Prosecuting Attorney, County Prosecuting Attorney, State Senator, Lieutenant
Governor, House Representative,
United States Senator, and finally
Attorney General.
My favorite job was County
Prosecutor because it was my first
elected job and it was near and

Photo courtesy of Dawson Lott

Mike DeWine has been in Ohio politics since 1976.

dear to my heart. Working in the
U.S. Senate wasnt too bad either
because there are only 100 people, so I knew everyone, Attorney General DeWine answered
when asked about his favorite
position ever held.
Attorney General DeWines
speech touched on a plethora of
subjects. The questions delegates
asked DeWine ranged from his
greatest accomplishment to his
most enjoyable job, and one delegate even asked what his greatest
failure was during his tenure in
political office. DeWine even
flipped sides by asking the delegates a few questions regarding
how they would handle different
policy issues.

It was an honor to be able to

answer a question from the Attorney General and see that he actually valued and cared about our
opinions, Alberts resident Zakaria Sharif said.
DeWine continues to make it a
priority to attend Buckeye Boys
State every year. He sees it as a
great opportunity to be able to
help the future leaders of our state
and country. According to
DeWine, the future is not very far
away and the delegates at Buckeye Boys State have the opportunity to get involved in politics
even this year.
Speaking with DeWine has revitalized political aspirations for
many delegates. (continue page 4)

2 The Hetuck

Flag Reward Instills Strong Work Ethic in Delegates

Phil Lally
Reporter

On Wednesday night, notable events at the

Stroh Center included the inauguration of
Governor David Helm and an address by
Ohio Supreme Court Justice Sharon Kennedy. However, the final portion of the
ceremony was arguably the most interesting to delegates: the awarding of flags to
cities and counties.
Flags are the true mark of accolade at
Buckeye Boys State. Like champions receive trophies, the finest cities receive
flags as a symbolic gesture of congratulation. The flags come with a tremendous
amount of prestige and honor, and they are
fiercely contested among cities.
Flags are awarded to cities and counties
daily. They are awarded to the cities that
did the best work of the day, at the discretion of counselors and Legionnaires. One

Photo courtesy of Dawson Lott

city in each of Boys States nine counties

obtained a yellow flag at the ceremony. The finest county of the day receives a
red flag.
The criteria for rewarding the flags is primarily based upon the quality of work, but
it is also based on the work ethic and determination of employees. If employees of a
city are observed to be off task or using
cell phones on the job, then their city is
immediately out of contention for the days
flag.
The flag reward system truly displays the
pride citizens have in their cities. As cities
were awarded flags at the Stroh Center on
Wednesday night, their citizens erupted in
exuberance and joy, proud of their achievements. Winning flags gives cities bragging
rights over the other cities in their county,
and counties that win flags obtain bragging rights over the
rest of the Boys State community.
Flags will be awarded to the
most deserving cities each remaining night of Boys State.
After realizing the prestige of
the flags, citizens are sure to be
working hard the rest of the
week, with a great desire to obtain a flag and make their mark
on Buckeye Boys State.

The Hetuck 3

Buckeye Boys State makes weekly celebrities

By Connor Dawson
Social Media Department

Sunday June 12, 2016 at Bowling Green State Uni- knowledge exactly who is in the center of the suits.
His constituents appear to buzz around him like
versity was the date that 1250 boys from high
bees around a hive, with Helm at the center. Some
schools across the state were thrust into a new
world. Ready-or-not, this week to shape a lifetime of the followers are just random citizens, encapsuwas sent underway. The majority of delegates have lated by words of instruction the leader has for his
employees on
never laid eyes
how to achieve
on each other
the political
before becoming
tasks at hand.
members of the
Helm walks
same Buckeye
with poise and
Boys communitalks in a manty. What was not
ner that radiates
made initially
belief. Two
apparent was
days earlier, he
that within forty
was an un-eight hours a
known like the
few of the namerest.
less, blank faces
Many try and
would become
few have sucicons in the
ceeded in the
minds of Boys
political spotState delegates.
light at Buckeye
Late Tuesday
Photo courtesy of Dawson Lott
Boys State. It is
evening, two
Governor David Helms cabinet consists of eleven delegates from rare to capture
companions
the attention of
could be found
various cities.
so many people
trudging across
in such a short period of time. Buckeye Boys State
campus in the direction of the city block-long line
of Buckeye Boys citizens waiting to buy pizza from is truly a week to shape a lifetime, yet no delegate
a camped-out Domino's pizza employee. One dele- will understand these words until a pivotal experience occurs. That experience could be sometime
gate stepped out of his path and greeted the newly
elected supreme court member, Jihad. It was rare to early in the week, upon graduation, in the proceedfind a delegate of importance like Jihad by himself ing months, during college or even fifteen years
in a place as central as the Towers Plaza. Earlier in down the road. Life lessons are learned at Boys
the evening he dominated his political debate which State that most will never have the opportunity to
receive. The phrase overnight celebrity could be
helped carry him to a landslide win of over 750
used for some attendees who attain lofty goals, but
votes. Saying hello to Jihad is opportunity that is
it could not be possible without the central demopassed by few.
cratic values of Buckeye Boys State.
Governor David Helm cannot physically be seen
walking to delegate meetings, but it is common

4 The Hetuck

City government at Buckeye Boys State

By Umar Shaikh
Reporter

Photo courtesy of Jake Chilson

Although most everyone is well

acquainted with the details of our
state government, few people are
aware of what goes on in our local city governments. Delegates
at Boys State have been elected to
city positions and are beginning
to settle into their new jobs and
responsibilities, but other attendees are still unaware of what
constitutes a regular day for our
city employees.
City employees meet in their respective offices in McDonald
Hall. Each city at Boys State has
an assigned floor upon which
their offices are. From these offices, city employees are faced with
a variety of tasks and responsibilities to help their cities thrive and
prosper here at Boys State. In the
hallways, makeshift roads are
constructed from masking tape,
and failure to follow proper traffic law will lead to fines.
Amongst city employees, city
councilmembers play a pivotal
role. Within city council, all employees are given problems to
solve over the course of the next
few days. Today, Bishop city was

given the responsibility of fixing

the rampant cockfighting that has
infiltrated its ranks. According to
Bishop City Council President
Avery Howard, councilmembers
are given three problems to solve
a day, which forms the bulk of
their work.
In addition to the three problems,
councilmembers must approve all
activities in the city. For example,
today city councilmembers in
Bishop rejected a proposal to
build a building due to the presence of an endangered species in
that area. Requests are rejected or
approved as the day goes on and
city counselors vote to pass resolutions brought by citizens.
Overall, city council is the legislative body of the city. The mayor
on the other hand, serves an executive position. According to Daniel Birdsall, the Mayor of Bishop,
mayors must oversee all appointees and make sure that the city is
running smoothly. Furthermore,
the mayor is the link in communication between city and county,
and city and state. All in all, the
mayor plays a key role in maintaining the city.
There are also a variety of supporting roles in the city. From
parks and recreation to city engineer, numerous positions are in
charge of facilitating the processes of the city. To put in simpler
terms, the city is the lowest de-

nominator of our government and

plays a key role in the functions
of Buckeye Boys State.

Attorney General Mike

DeWine at BBS
(continued)
Buckeye Boys State Attorney
General Nicholas Fish was humbled by the chance to be able to
meet the actual Attorney General
of Ohio. Fish was able to learn a
lot from the session and was
thankful for the opportunity he
was given.
What he does is extremely impressive. He was even able to
give my staff and me advice
about a question we had that dealt
with prioritizing work that needs
to be done,
For all other attendees it was still
a valuable experience. They appreciated his presence and still
learned a lot even if they have
other jobs at Buckeye Boys State.
It was very enjoyable to me because figures like him are often
distant and almost surreal since
we only hear about them in the
news and media, Supreme Court
Associate Justice Labeeb Ahmad
said, I saw that you can still be a
very nice and humble person as a
politician, so it pushed me to
think that becoming a politician
should be kept as an option as I
start thinking about what I would
like to pursue.