STUDENT ELECTION MIRRORS REAL RACE.Byline: Mary Beth Alexander Daily News Staff Writer With all the sniping and double talk, Saturday's Junior State of America The Junior State of America (formerly Junior Statesmen of America) (“JSA”) is an American non-partisan student-run youth organization. The purpose of the JSA is to help high school students acquire leadership skills and the knowledge necessary to be effective nominating convention debates could have been mistaken for the real thing. Hundreds of Los Angeles-area high school students gathered at the University of California, Los Angeles UCLA comprises the College of Letters and Science (the primary undergraduate college), seven professional schools, and five professional Health Science schools. Since 2001, UCLA has enrolled over 33,000 total students, and that number is steadily rising. , for the mock convention and presidential election. Many weren't even old enough to vote, but they campaigned as furiously as if they were. "As of now, we're all mostly minors, but whoever is elected president in this (November) election will ultimately affect us as adults," said Soon Jean Chi, a North Hollywood High School North Hollywood High School, originally called Lankershim High School when it opened in 1927, is a secondary school in North Hollywood in Los Angeles, California. The school mascot is the husky, and the school colors are blue, white, grey. junior. Other San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. schools represented at the convention were Granada Hills High School Granada Hills Charter High School (Granada Hills High School) is a public, charter, co-educational, secondary school consisting of students in grades 9-12. The school colors are green, black, and white. ; Monroe Law and Government Magnet School in North Hills; Grant High School in Van Nuys; Van Nuys High School Van Nuys High School (VNHS) established in 1914, is a high school in the Van Nuys area of Los Angeles, California, belonging to the Los Angeles Unified School District: District 2. ; Agoura High School Agoura High School is a four-year high school, freshman-senior, in Agoura Hills, California, United States. It is the largest high school in the Las Virgenes Unified School District, with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 students. ; Taft High School in Woodland Hills; and some private schools. By the end of the day, the youths had re-elected President Clinton over Republican front-runner Bob Dole by a vote of 71-29. Minor parties were excluded. The vote shouldn't be taken lightly, said Jeff Harris, Southern California program director for the Junior Statesman Foundation. "They've been a pretty good indicator of how the general populace votes," Harris said, noting that four years ago, students elected Clinton even though he was trailing in the polls. Saturday's American politics lesson crammed months of primaries, the disparate Republican and Democratic conventions, and the November election into one day. Candidates were absent, and were instead represented by campaign managers. The managers debated such issues as flat taxes and illegal immigration. As in the current political arena, there was no Democratic challenger to Clinton. But the Grand Old Party's convention featured heated debates between managers for seven of the Republican candidates, including Pat Buchanan and Dole. Bickering bick·er intr.v. bick·ered, bick·er·ing, bick·ers 1. To engage in a petty, bad-tempered quarrel; squabble. See Synonyms at argue. 2. was fierce at times, with one manager calling Steve Forbes a "spoiled brat trying to buy his way to the presidency." "None of it was personal. It was all done in good humor," said 17-year-old Agoura High senior James Walker, who campaigned for Lamar Alexander. "It's just the heat of the moment. Afterwards, we're all normal teen-agers." Still, the high school juniors and seniors knew their stuff. Several prepared detailed speeches and stacks of notes gathered from newspaper and magazine clippings. CAPTION(S): PHOTO Photo (1) Jackie Ramirez, left, Frances Angevine and Sondra Albert work on signs for President Clinton's campaign. (2) Sophomore Max Korten applauds a speech nominating Bob Dole. Evan Yee/Daily News |
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