State of the Boys 2013 Tuesday
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Transcript of State of the Boys 2013 Tuesday
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State of the BoysVolume 65, Issue 2 Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Secretary of State Mark Ritchie
Secretary of State Ritchies Office a Busy Place
Shea, Faris: Everyone Makes Mistakes, So Own Up To Them
By Thomas Wanous, St. Cloud
Secretary of State Mark Ritchies
office does many things for Minne-
sotans. Boys Staters heard first-hand
a myriad of tasks assigned to his
office.He started off by giving a short
description of each of the jobs he
does for the state of Minnesota. The
first was the Safe at Home program,
where a small number of his workers
go and get mail and other items for
people who may feel threatened,
such as a police officer, a judge, or a
woman with a stalker ex-boyfriend,
so that their address does not have to
be posted. Although fewer than
1,000 people are enrolled in the pro-
gram, it is especially important to
making sure that all Minnesotans
have a chance to feel safe within
their own homes.
Next he talked about the work that
his office does to promote business
and trade within the state of Minne-
sota. All businesses that would like
to do trade within Minnesota must
register through his office, after
which his office can help those busi-
ness find opportunities for trading
with the state. Along with that pro-
Ritchie, continued on page 5
Many Boys Staters wanted to ask
Mark Ritchie a question.
By Elliot Jacobson, Austin
If there is one person out there
who can tell the world about the
importance of virtues such as hones-
ty, common sense, and keeping true
to ones values, it would be a safe
bet to say this would be Mark Faris.
On Monday morning Faris shared
his personal experience of his great-
est moment of weakness. The deci-
sion he made, back in 2001, eventu-ally resulted in a serious felony that
shattered his career and strained
several important relationships with
his family and friends, relationships
that he is still trying to mend to this day. He used this
story to teach Boys Staters the importance of qualities
such as the ones mentioned previously.
However, there was one more person in the equa-
tion during this presentation -- Hank Shea. Shea is a
former Assistant U.S. Attorney
and currently a law professor of at
the University of St. Thomas. He
guided Faris speech the whole
time. Shea has dedicated much of
his life to talking to people that
may be headed in the wrong direc-
tion in their life. He claims that
talking to people like this will not
only help them to get back on
track, but is also the best way tolearn about How did we get into
the problems we have? Shea
worked with Faris to deliver a mes-
sage that nobody will soon forget.
In 2001, Faris was the vice president for his family
business selling refurbished computer equipment. His
company closely worked with a large company called
White Collar, continued on page 5
Hank Shea, left, and Mark Faris
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Boys Staters were at attention during the flag retirement ceremony on Monday.
Flag Retirement Ceremony Shown to Appreciative Boys Staters
By Nick Carrigan, Winona
We would like to present a flag of our country for
inspection and disposal, said one of the Legionnaires
present at the flag retirement ceremony, during the
Flag Retirement Ritual.
While the flag was actually retired with its ritual
about halfway through the ceremony, it started with
one of the Legionnaires calling out the individual cit-
ies that were present. After each citys name was
called, the members of that city cheered.
After this part of the ceremony, the folding of the
flag was demonstrated. It is said each fold placed on
the flag stands for something. The first is for life. Thesecond, for the belief in eternal life. The third fold is
for the honor of the veterans that selflessly gave their
lives in the protection of freedom and securing of
peace. The fourth fold is for our weaker nature. The
fifth fold is a tribute to our country. The sixth is for
where our hearts lie. The seventh, a tribute to our
armed forces. The eighth, a tribute to the one who en-
tered through the valley of the shadow of death. The
ninth, a symbol for womanhood. The 10th is a symbol
of fatherhood. The 11th fold, in the eyes of the Jewish
citizens, represents God as the lower portion of the
Star of David. Finally, the 12th fold represents the
symbol of eternity for Christians.The flag retirement began with the dedication of
the ceremony to two men: Buster Skulerud and Mike
Flor. These two men were counselors at Boys State for
several years and were very active Legionnaires.TheLegionnaires present were Rick Oschleger, Morrie
Dahlimer, Bernie Chenowith, Bob Locker, BobTop: The flag is folded properly before being dis-
posed of; one of the ceremony members played TAPS.Flag Retirement, continued on page 6
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School of Instruction Sessions Prove Valuable to StatersBy Joe Mac Pearman, Rochester
On the second day of Boys State, boys are photo-
graphed by city (look forward to many humorless ClintEastwood squints pointed into the blinding sun) and
rotated through Schools of Instruction. These classes
explain the functions of various facets of Boys State,
such as political parties and local government.
Your correspondent went first to Political Party Or-
ganization, which lays out how the Federalists and Na-
tionalists of Boys State develop their platforms, starting
on the ground level (city caucuses) and arguing over
ideas all the way up to the state party convention, where
those ideas are forged into a unified party platform.
Next was Parliamentary Procedure --- the class for
teaching the ins and outs of the redoubtable Roberts
Rules of Order, which means that everybody shouldnow understand the political scenes in the Star Wars
prequel trilogy (and C-SPAN) that much better. Things
like motions, amendments, and tabling were all covered.
After that was a session on the Minnesota Legisla-
ture, which included ex-State Representative and Minor-
ity Leader Marty Seifert (R) as a guest speaker. His
remarks struck a happy balance between useful explana-
tions of Minnesota government and political anecdotes,
including the mixed legacy of the Jesse Ventura years.
At the end of the hour, Mr. Seifert asked for proposals
on bills. Improvements on infrastructure were suggest-
ed.
How are you going to pay for that? asked Mr. Sei-
fert.
Tax increases.
Well, at least youre honest, quipped the Republi-
can with a smile.
Last but certainly not least was Local Government,
presented by the able and energetic Drew Hood, an ob-
vious expert in the field. Mixing his rapid-fire delivery
with delicious groan-worthy jokes, Drew explained
town, township, and (most importantly) county govern-
Instruction, continued on page 6
Boys Staters learned a lot at the Schools of Instruction
sessions.
Mulso, Others Show How School Boards Work Through Role-play
By Kethan Dahlberg, Winona
Bill Mulso, Vice President for Advancement at
SMSU, addressed the 2013 Boys Staters at the end of
the first full day. His topic: The School Board. Mulso
is a graduate of SMSU and got his masters from Minne-
sota State Mankato. He has served in a number of lead-
ership positions in high school, college, and now.
Mulso opened by discussing the process of electing
board members and the general structure of the board.
Mulso talked about the school boards four main goals
(vision for the future of education, structure, accounta-bility and advocacy), and stressed advocacy as by far the
most important. He himself governs based on the idea
that the Lord gave us two ears and one mouth for a
reason.
Roughly halfway through his presentation, Mulso
shifted gears and, along with fellow school-board mem-
bers and Boys State alumni, performed a few skits, role-
playing how to and how not to run an efficient school
board meeting. Characters like Jim Jockey and Ivan
Impatient kept the Boys Staters entertained while also
educating them in the ways of dealing with unruly board
members and citizens during board meetings.
His presentation was educational and entertaining and
will undoubtedly will help during Thursdays much-
dreaded written test. The 2013 Boys Staters now have a
much clearer picture of how school boards function.
Several
individu-
als role-
played a
school
board
meeting.
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State of the Boys 2013 Page 4
Current Events: Are we Headed to a Modern-day Version of 1984?
By Matt Hejna, Hibbing
Often times we hear of the government overstepping
its bounds by crushing freedom of speech, and privacyrights, in order to maintain peace in a post 9/11 world.
Recently, repor
ts of Verizon giving information of its cell phone calls
to the National Security Agency have surfaced and are
creating controversy throughout the nation. The govern-
ment has refused to confess to these claims made by
various online sources, but the story still creates uncer-
tainty among the people.
Often we see books or movies, depicting a world
where the government is corrupt and in complete control
of the state it runs. While the Obama administration is
likely not that extreme, they still have created fear
among the masses of a near future (or present) wherethat world is a reality. Obviously the justification for
such a measure would be for national security, much
like the Patriot Act after 9/11. Perhaps immediately fol-
lowing 9/11 a step like this would be seen as positive
because of the fear that was struck throughout the na-tion, but even with the Boston Marathon Bombing on
April 15th, this step seems drastic and unnecessary. It
also leads to questions of whether some of the most pop-
ular websites in the world are doing the same thing.
Both Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Page each respond-
ed to the story on Verizon and were eager to clear the
name of Facebook and Google. Each respective CEO
denied the sharing of information to the federal govern-
ment. It does lead you to wonder what kind of power
each company has with the enormous amount of infor-
mation each one has. While they may deny it publicly,
no one can be certain the two companies dont do simi-
lar business as Verizon. A final thought leaves us won-dering is this the world of 1984? Was George Orwell
right?
Clockwise, from top: The basketball competition
has been fierce; State of the Boys writers work
hard to bring you this newspaper; Mankato Sta-
ters look a bit sleepy just before Tuesdays exer-
cise period; Brad Brandt directs the Boys State
choir.
Boys State Images
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State of the Boys 2013 Page 5
Ritchie, continued from
page 1gram, the Secretary of
State office also helps to
find people who would liketo be put on the open-
appointment committees
that are established by the
Legislature.
Most importantly, how-
ever, the Secretary of
States office does a lot of
work to make sure that the
elections in Minnesota run
smoothly. Their main job is
to audit state elections after
the votes have come in
from all over the state tofind any voter fraud. With
the help of two Minnesota
Supreme Court judges and
two district judges, they
count all the votes, and if
any of the elections are
within one percent, they
send out a message to the
voting center to initiate a
hand recount of the votes.
Minnesota is also the state
with the highest average
voter turnout, mainly due
to the fact that Minneso-tans take pride in partici-
pating in their civic duties.
At the State Fair, the
Secretary of States office
has a booth in the educa-
tion barn to promote civic
camps such as Boys State.
He also helps to bring his-
torical documents to Min-
nesota such as the Declara-
tion of Independence, the
Constitution and the Bill of
Rights.At the end of his great
speech, Secretary of State
Richie gave us all a very
good question to continue
asking ourselves each day:
Are we doing a good job of
being good stewards of the
gifts that have been handed
down to us?
Shea, continued from page 1
Cisco. However, when Cisco asked for them to start
selling new equipment, a very unprofitable alterna-
tive for his company, he refused. When a loophole in
their system provided an opportunity to get back atCisco arose, he was able to take advantage of it and
make some major profits.
On March 14 2007, the FBI entered Faris office
and arrested him and three other employees for mail
fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. Faris pled
guilty and was then asked to testify against the presi-
dent of his company his cousin. Faris spent 8 1/2
years behind bars before moving to a halfway house.
Faris experience hit Boys Staters hard when he
reminded all of them to own up to the mistakes that
everyone makes and become better people by learn-
ing from them. He offered some advice. First, you
must admit your mistake. Second, fully commit torebuilding. Finally, you must do it. However, like all
things, it takes integrity to get started. He challenged
everybody in the room to take the toughest first step.
Step up to the plate and admit you were wrong.
For more questions about Mr. Shea or Mr. Faris,
feel free to contact Mr. Shea: telephone: (651) 962-
4867; email: [email protected].
Johnson answers more questionsDean Johnson, University of Minnesota regent and past Minnesota Senate majori-
ty leader, spoke on Monday evening. He took questions at the end of his presenta-
tion, and several Boys Staters continued their conversation with him in the SMSU
Conference Center Green Room.
Monday
Athletic
Results
SoftballDuluth def. RochesterSt. Peter def. AnokaMoorhead def. Hibbing
Austin def. MankatoWinona def. St. CloudSt. Paul def. Minneapolis
VolleyballDuluth def. RochesterSt. Peter def. AnokaHibbing def. MoorheadAustin def. Mankato
Winona def. St. CloudMinneapolis def. St. Paul
BasketballDuluth def. Rochester
Anoka def. St. PeterMoorhead def. HibbingMankato def. AustinWinona def. St. Cloud
St. Paul def. Minneapolis
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State of the Boys 2013 Page 6
Boys State SnapshotsEditors Note: We asked our reporters to go out and ask
several questions of random Boys State participants.
Follow Us onSocial Media
Twitter: @BoysStateMN
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/
mnboysstate.
By Thomas Djerf, MoorheadName: Phillip Hanson, MoorheadHometown: RosemountBoys State city: AnokaWhy I am attending Boys State: It was a good leadership
opportunity and I thought it would be fun.Favorite Movie: The Hurt LockerWhats on my iPod: hip hop (Tyga, Lil Wayne), rock, The
BeatlesFavorite School Subject: Math
People would be surprised to know that I: Am from Ari-zona
Name: Thomas DjerfHometown: St. Louis Park
Boys State city: MoorheadWhy I am attending Boys State: I want to learn more
about the process of government, and meet new people Favorite Movie: Django: UnchainedWhats on my iPod: Macklemore, Sam Cooke, Bobby
DarinFavorite School Subject: HistoryPeople would be surprised to know that I: Can juggle
By Joe Mac Pearman, RochesterName: Dominic John ShovelainHometown:St. MichaelBoys State City: RochesterWhy I Am Attending Boys State: I wanted to be a better
citizen, both of my local community and of the U.S.
Favorite Movie: We Were Soldiers (a movie chroniclingthe Battle of la Drang, a 1965 engagement involving the 7 thAir Cavalry that was one of the first major battles in the Amer-ican phase of the Vietnam War. Stars Mel Gibson, directed byRandall Wallace).
Whats on My iPod: Alternative and Christian musicFavorite School Subject: U.S. History
People would be surprised to know that I: Became an
uncle one day after I turned seven.
Name: David Trout
Hometown: St. Paul
Boys State City: RochesterWhy I Am Attending Boys State: I want to get more infor-
mation on how government works and what it is like being ingovernment.
Favorite Movie: Scary Movie 3 (parody of the horror, sci-ence fiction, and mystery genres that skewers films like 8 Mile
and The Matrix).Whats on My iPod:Mid-Crisis by WyclefFavorite School Subject: Chemistry
People would be surprised to know that I: Am a member
of College Possible, which helps juniors and seniors to write
college applications, apply for scholarships, and prepare for
the ACT.
Flag Retirement, continued from patge 2
McNiel, and Ray Christianson.
The American Legion was started for men and
women that served their country honorably during a
time of crisis, said Rick Oschleger, one of the sixLegionnaires present for the ceremony.
Flags can become retired only after they have been
used for the correct service of tribute and love, and are
no longer in a condition to be displayed. Oschleger
said that the real value of the flags they retire are be-
yond price because they are a symbol that people have
fought and lived for.
The ritual then commenced as the flag was first
inspected by partaking members. One presented the
flag to two different people who inspected it as part of
the ceremony. The flag is then presented to a final per-
son by the other two.
This flag is faded and worn and has been over thegraves of our dead soldiers and sailors and has been
displayed in public places, said one of the two inspec-
tors in the ceremony.
A prayer was given for the flag that about to be
retired, and when the prayer finished the flag was lit on
fire and TAPS was played in honor of this retirement.
The legionnaires then thanked the members of Boys
State for attending the ceremony.
The flag, when it is in such a condition that it can
no longer be used or displayed, should be retired in an
honorable way, preferably by burning, Article 36
U.S.C. Chapter 10 as amended by P.L. 334 by the 94th
Congress. Approved on July 7 th, 1976 under paragraph176 titled Respect for Flag.
Instruction, continued from page 3
ment -- the sexy stuff.
The Schools of Instruction concluded with all mem-
bers well-equipped to take on the challenges of legisla-
tion, George Lucass desperate attempt to make taxa-
tion debates as interesting as lightsaber battles, and
government TV programming.
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Boys
StateImages:
Day 2
Clockwise from top: Moorhead hams it
up; a brisk 6 a.m. run; drum line prac-
tice; flag retirement ceremony on a gor-geous day; a little lunchtime piano enter-
tainment; Staters do a short video of the
Harlem Shake to send to Girls Staters at
Bethel.
Photos by
Emily Neperman
and Jim Tate
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Boys State Images Above: Whats going on here? Calisthenics on the CampusGreen; below right: Boys Start has seen an increase in partici-
pation of over 40 boys, and they fill the Conference Center;
below left: Boys Staters are always on the move during the day.
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Clockwise from above:
Volleyball action; Moor-
head softball players; I
Wear My Pink Pajamas
singers; filing in for the
flag retirement ceremony;
early-morning calesthetics.
Boys State Images
Photos by JimTate and
Emily Neperman