OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF BUCKEYE BOYS STATE, THE AMERICAN LEGION OF OHIO

Volume 77, Issue 5

Thursday, June 19, 2015

Exclusive Interview with Governor Carter

Michael Vince
Hetuck Reporter and Writer

Governor Isaiah Carter swept the

election at Buckeye Boys State.
Governor Carter is from Slovenia,
Ohio in Lucas County and lives in
Garrity City here at Buckeye Boys
State. Governor Carter states that the
meaning of being governor to him
is that, It means the opportunity to
direct this state onto a clear cut path.
Ultimately I believe when I was a
candidate I had a lot of support because I was direct, I was straightforward, I was to the point. Ultimately
in office, I plan to do the same thing
and take charge. I cant do everything
by myself, I have a strong staff If
we work together and all the pieces
come together, my job as governor
is to make sure we at Buckeye Boys
State continue smoothly.
Before Governor Carter decided he
would be running for governor, he
says he was going to sign up to be a
part of the Hetuck. I chose to run for
governor because I wanted the opportunity to meet people. Ultimately,
if politics is 100% the field I would
like to enter, the connections, the
network, everything that the office
of governor offers me, I would like
to give back in politics when that is
the field I go into. I had a lot of fun
campaigning. I actually went floor
to floor and I sat on every floor I
sat there and let them ask my questions, I answered every single one

Photo by: Liam Davis\

Governor Isaiah Carter

of them, I told them a little about

myself. I made sure they knew who
I was going into the election. That
way, in the real world, when I go into
an election, I have the history, the
experience, and the background of
everything I learned here at Buckeye
Boys State.
Here at Buckeye Boys State we
plan to keep the death penalty. When
Governor Carter was asked about
why we would keep the death penalty
he answered that it would hopefully
keep criminals from committing
crimes. He says that if the person that
committed the crime has a mental
disability he would send the case to
the Department of Mental Health.
When it comes to education, the
government wants to increase funding vouchers for private school so
that it will lower tuition for the students of the private school. Governor
Carter says that as a whole he would
like both public and private school
to be more affordable and wants the
students to be marketable on a global
scale but also locally.
The economy and taxes are always
a problem in the United States. Governor Carter says that in order to keep

everything funded equally but also

keep taxes down he is going to work
hand and hand with the Department
of Taxation and we may have a flat
income tax rate of 3%. He says that
as long as they balance the budget
and we as a state have no debt we can
keep the taxes lowered as a whole.
Governor Carter says that if your
mother is poor when youre growing
up then 9 times out of 10, you will
grow up poor, which is called generational poverty. Carter says that if
we partner with schools and give the
kids of the younger mothers a better
education, the generational poverty
will be broken.
Governor Carter won the election
by 806 votes with his campaign
slogan Work Harder, Work Smarter,
Vote for Carter. Carter believes
anyone will support you when you
are straightforward and give logical
statements. He believes that anything
he said to anyone represents him as a
person. He also believes the platform
as a whole is practical. He believes
when you combine those things
with a strong candidate and a strong
speaker. Anything is possible. He
says he doesnt want to let anything
get to his head even though he did
win by a large deficit. He wants to
stay humble and get his job done. At
the end of the day all 971 people that
voted for him would be disappointed
if he didnt do what everyone expects
him to do.

2 The Hetuck
Pineapple XVI: Genius
Marketing or Impassioned
Work?
Soren Gran
Hetuck Editor-in-Chief
Alonzo Spears
Hetuck Reporter and Writer
As I walked through the heatwave
that attacked us Tuesday afternoon,
I heard the familiar ring of an ice
cream truck. After extensive investigation of the situation, I realized
that we in fact did have an ice cream
truck right here at Boys State. As
I ordered my usual $1 sour cherry
Popsicle (which is delicious if you
havent tried it yet) I realized that
there was an advertisement for a
book on the freezer. I asked him a
few questions and it led to the ice
cream man telling me a little bit
about his story.
His name is Pineapple XVI, and
on the surface he just sells bomb
pops and fudge bars to over-heated

teenagers. Sometimes though, we

cant see the whole story, and if you
ask Pineapple XVI (his actual name)
you will understand the whole story
of Lessons from an Ice Cream Truck,
his new book. In the book (available
on Amazon) he talks about his adventures from Missouri to Iowa, Illinois
to Wisconsin, and Buckeye Boys
State to Buckeye Girls State.
While talking to Mr. XVI we were
pleasantly surprised when he broke
into song. He spoke in rhythm and
poetry, or as most Boys Staters would
say it, he rapped to us. In this song
he spoke about his road to becoming an ice cream truck driver, and
his ice cream dream. When asked
if his cross country ice cream truck
sales were simply just a marketing
scheme, he vigorously replied, Not
at all! I just love driving! To me
this sounds like a dream come true
for any of you ice cream enthusiasts
out there at Boys State. If so, stop by
and talk to Pineapple XVI in between
Falcon Heights and Tower East.

Photo by: Liam Davis

BBSs very own ice cream mogul: Pineapple XVI

Take Five
Ryan Oates
Hetuck Reporter and Writer
Between taking bar exams and campaigning for office, it's sometimes
nice to take a break and breathe a little fresh air. During their free time at
Buckeye Boys State, delegates can be
seen running around campus, snacking on ice cream and pizza from local vendors, and playing cards in their
lounges.
Throughout the day, lounges at BBS
are alive with music and conversation.
Its been great getting to know the
guys, says Gabel City Councilman
Garrett Shearer, everyone seems to
be pretty nice, wanting to talk to everyone and play card games. Delegates are quickly becoming comfortable with each other, and a certain
sense of loyalty is eminent.
Because of busy schedules and late
nights, delegates can often be found
taking naps in their dorms between
major events. During my free time,
Ive mainly been asking people if they
voted for me, says Gabel City Citizen Jacob Rosech, even though Im
now ineligible because I didnt pass
my bar exam. I also just like to eat
food and sleep.
While a lot of sleeping and snacking is happening around campus, its
also good to know that things are getting done. Delegates at BBS cram
approximately six months of real-life
campaigning into two days, and that
in itself is very impressive. State
primaries, general elections and the
state job fair have taken place already.
But for now, take a break. Go for a
walk. Meet someone new. Stop and
eat some ice cream in the sun. It just
might do you some good.

The Hetuck 3

BBS State Highway Patrol

Soren Gran
Hetuck Editor-in-Chief
On Monday, the first full day of
Buckeye Boys State, I was walking
back from the cafeteria to my dorm.
On the way back, I passed a group
of sweaty guys, presumably Boys
Staters, who seemingly had just finished a run. Who were these mysterious young men and who were they
running from? I later discovered that
these were tryouts for the State Highway Patrol, but I still didn't know
much about the program. Fortunately,
I interviewed someone who did.
I interviewed Logan Lacourt, the
colonel of the BBS Highway Patrol.
Logan is in the city Peltier and lives
in Massillon, Ohio. He is the colonel
of the BBS Highway State Patrol. He
wrestles for his school and is team
captain for next year, and his wrestling team is ranked in the top twenty
in the nation. Logan also participates
in a community service organization,
NHS, and Model UN. Logan's favorite thing to do is to be with other
people like his friends, since he's so
busy and spends so much time doing
schoolwork and other activities.
What does State Highway Patrol do?

Photo by: Liam Davis

The BBS State Highway Patrol

State Highway Patrol has many activities and roles. Logan told me that
in the morning, SHP has PT (physical training) and wakes up the other
dorms. The past couple of days, SHP
was learning how to march for proper
drill and ceremony. Logan also mentioned that SHP will be giving a special demonstration Thursday evening
at Stroh Arena to commemorate all
the state patrolmen who have died.
SHP is also learning how to enforce
the law, which is their main duty during BBS. Logan also said, "We will
help the parents get around on Saturday and we'll work with the police
chief. We will be representing Boys
State."
According to Logan, joining State
Highway Patrol was a difficult task.
Eighty guys tried out to be troopers
and only twenty were selected. The
candidates had to undergo both a written test and a physical test and their
collective score determined whether
or not they made the team, with only
the top twenty scorers being selected.
The physical test consisted of one
minute of push-ups, one minute of situps, and a 1.5 mile run.
After the State Highway Patrol was
selected, there are still various positions to be filled by members of

SHP. The positions, in descending

order, are: colonel, lieutenant colonel, major, captain, staff lieutenant,
lieutenant, and sergeant. Logan had
the honor of being chosen colonel,
the highest position. Logan said he
was chosen because he demonstrated
leadership by stepping up to lead the
march on the first day.
I asked Logan why he chose to try
out for State Highway Patrol. He responded, "I wanted to be more interactive in a position. I have respect for
all the other positions but I wanted to
be more interactive and be tired all
day. We wanted an active job. Also
we have an interest in state highway
patrol." When I asked Logan if he
planned to pursue a career in State
Highway Patrol, he said, "I do not see
myself doing this in the future. I'm
planning on going ROTC in college
and going into the army as a career.
I've always had an interest in law enforcement and being in the police but
the military has always drawn me in."
"I'm really happy with our group and
who we have," said Logan. "We work
really well together as a group." State
Highway Patrol is a prestigious role in
Boys State and Logan and his fellow
troopers have worked hard to attain
this position. As a side note, Logan's
favorite meal so far has been macaroni noodles with meat sauce and
breadsticks.

4 The Hetuck
The State of Democracy
Jack Warfield
Hetuck Reporter and Writer
At Wednesday nights assembly,
Ohio Supreme Court Justice Sharon
L. Kennedy spoke, with assertions
that, though running under the model
of a republic, the United States is
nevertheless a democracy, as persons
vote for the representatives by
whom they are represented. With
her speech, Justice Kennedy further
pushed a key Boys State message:
voting is an important right and
responsibility to exercise because
it allows people to give their voice
in the political process, but, shamefully, only a slim majority of persons
actually do.
However, according to Martin
Gilens and Benjamin I. Pages
2014 study Testing Theories of
American Politics: Elites, Interest
Groups, and Average Citizens, as
published in Perspectives on Politics
by the American Political Science
Association, the state of American
democracy may not be that simple. In
their study, Gilens and Page focused
on four political theories of rule:
traditional majoritarian electoral
democracy; majoritarian pluralism,
characterized by interests groups of
the electorate holding influence; the
domination of economic-elites; and
biased pluralism, which is chiefly
characterized by business interests
and trade groups dominating politics.
What Gilens and Page ultimately
found, after comparing existing
public policy, proposed policy, public
opinion, and business/economic-elite
interests, is that economic elites
and organized groups representing
business interests have substantial
independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens
and mass-based interest groups have
little or no independent influence.

Photo by: Liam Davis

Justice Sharon L. Kennedy speaks before the delegates of BBS at Stroh Center

Their study found that, when public

policy and public opinion did line up,
it seemed to be either because public
opinion matched economic-elite and
business interests or because the
particular matter of policy had no to
minimal effects against the specialized interests of economic-elites of
businesses.
In this case, it seems to be an
onerous task for the average person
to push their personal voice using
representative elections. In fact, even
if a person were to decide to do this,
their vote may be extraneous anyway,
as, according to The Rothenberg and
Gonzales Political Report from August of 2013, approaching the 2014
midterm elections, only 49 out of the
435 national House of Representative
seats were competitive, meaning that,
in 386 congressional districts, whether part of the majority or minority,
no individuals vote had a reasonable
chance to make a difference.
In the conclusion of their article,
Gilens and Page introduce that,
though there is some progress with

labor unions when it comes to

increasing the influence of public
opinion, business-interests groups
still hold practically all influence in
American politics, and, since net
alignments of the most influential,
business-oriented groups are negatively related to the average citizens
wishes, until the power of these
groups is somehow addressed, there
can be little to no progress in terms
of moving towards the goal of a majoritarian electoral system. The problem of uncompetitive districts can be
more easily addressed if, instead of
partisan commissions drawing district lines, all congressional districts
were to be redrawn by independent,
non-partisan commissions. Until
these problems are addressed, however, there is no reasonable path to
widespread public influence. Ending
with a line from Gilens and Pages
conclusion: All in all, we believe
that the public is likely to be a more
certain guardian of its own interests
than any feasible alternative.