THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 10, 1995 TAG: 9503090187
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY PAM STARR, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 141 lines
JADED ONLOOKERS could assume that Del. Robert McDonnell's Student Leadership Forum is a blatant attempt to lure teenagers into the Republican party net.
They would be wrong, although it does look a little fishy.
After all, McDonnell, a Republican, got 40 high school students from his 84th District to play hooky one day last month.
They visited him and Sen. Ken Stolle, another Republican, in Richmond, catching a glimpse of the fascinating grind of state politics during the monthlong General Assembly meeting.
The bus trip was just one of a few politically oriented events McDonnell has hosted this year for the teenagers in the Student Leadership Forum. They meet once a month to discuss politics with different elected officials and will participate in a mock trial later this spring.
McDonnell modeled the forum, which is not funded by taxpayer dollars, after the one started in Chesapeake by Del. J. Randy Forbes five years ago.
It is, simply, an effort to get teenagers more interested in how politics work and how it affects them.
No matter what party they lean toward.
``Kids either don't understand government or don't respect it,'' said the boyish-looking McDonnell. ``I thought if high school students could get a chance to get involved and understand what we do, it would break that cycle.
``Maybe it will make government come alive for them.''
One of the stipulations in creating the forum was that it be nonpartisan. Ken Geroe, vice chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia, had some initial doubts when McDonnell asked him and Democratic Sen. Clancy Holland to attend a discussion group with the students. But those fears were quickly doused at the meeting in January.
``It's a really good program - he's doing it in an evenhanded, nonpartisan way,'' said Geroe. ``He's exposing high school students while they're still young so they can understand the process of government. I was very pleased to find the session straightforward.''
McDonnell's aide, Sal Iaquinto, and his treasurer, Stephanie Tomlinson, both law students at Regent University, coordinate the forum. One hundred juniors and seniors from Cox, Green Run, Kellam, First Colonial, Salem and Princess Anne public high schools and Cape Henry Collegiate School submitted essays on why they wanted to be a part of the forum. Sixty were chosen from those essays.
``These students want to get involved in their community,'' said Iaquinto, a clean-cut 27-year-old. ``It's not a forum for political ideas. Not once is it ever mentioned that Republicans are better than Democrats. In fact, we've had more Democrats speak at our meetings than Republicans.''
Lt. Gov. Don Beyer stood at the front of the General Assembly chambers in Richmond and quickly ran through the bills in the uncontested calendar. The 40 visiting students from Virginia Beach sat in the plush red seats in the balcony, looking at each other in bewilderment.
``All in favor, please say aye,'' Beyer said. ``All opposed, say nay.''
Within 30 minutes all of the bills had been voted on and the students exited the balcony, some still shaking their heads.
``What was the point in even voting?'' asked one.
They trudged down the stairs and waited in the hallway for Stolle's aide, Susan Goldsticker, so they could go to lunch. A long bus ride that started at 6:30 a.m., a tour of the capitol and a meeting with Kay Coles James, secretary of health and human services, had left them ravenous.
The afternoon promised even more excitement - meetings with Catherine Giordano, commissioner of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board; James Gilmore, attorney general; Liz Lacey, a Virginia Supreme Court justice; and a chat with a lobbyist.
When Goldsticker arrived, she led the students on a long jaunt through the hilly streets of Richmond to the Sixth Street Deli.
Austin Bonderer of Cox and John Fruit and Tripp Taylor of Kellam discussed the morning General Assembly session over hamburgers and fries.
``It seems very confusing, all this `yea, nay' stuff,'' said Bonderer, a senior who is vice president of his Student Council Association. ``It's kind of scary. They aren't even listening to what's going on. It seemed like they didn't care.''
Most of the students in the forum are active in their school's student government or are at least concerned with politics. Salem junior April Johnson submitted an essay because she thought it would be ``interesting.''
``It's a chance to learn about politics,'' she said. ``It's interesting, but I wouldn't do it as a career.''
Torri Jones, a Salem senior, is the niece of Norfolk delegate Jerrauld Jones and worked as the head page in the Virginia legislature last year. She joined the forum because of her fondness for government.
``I want to become a politician to help people,'' she said. ``I want to do it all.''
After lunch the students walked back to the General Assembly building and listened to John W. MacIlroy, president of Virginia Manufacturers Association and a lobbyist. ``I'm here to educate, to advocate, and to persuade them what to do,'' he said. ``Politics is the art of the possible - the buck stops right here.''
Torri Jones asked where the money comes from, and MacIlroy answered that 565 companies pay dues every year.
The Student Leadership Forum has proven to be very popular in Chesapeake, where it was founded by Forbes in 1990. The first year, 100 students joined the forum there but this year 300 students belong, representing five public and two private high schools.
Forbes said that the forum was one of the first things he started when elected.
``We as a country spend millions of dollars on athletes but very little on developing leadership skills,'' he said. ``We saw this forum as an opportunity to develop those skills.''
The result of involvement in the forum, he added, is ``phenomenal.''
``Seniors in college write us letters and say that they're involved in government because of the forum,'' he said. ``It whets their appetites for politics.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Cover]
GOVERNMENT FOR THE (YOUNG) PEOPLE
[Color Photo]
Staff photos by MORT FRYMAN
Susan Goldsticker, left, aide to state Sen. Ken Stolle, escorts a
group of Virginia Beach students to lunch during a tour of the
capitol and meetings with government officials.
First Colonial's Michael Christopher and Elaine Lee, right, and Ike
Tucker of Cox were among the students listening to the proceedings
of the state senate from the gallery.
Salem High's Torri Jones, center, a niece of Norfolk delegate
Jerrauld Jones, worked as head page in Virginia legislature last
year. She joined the forum because of her fondness for government.
``I want to become a politician to help people,'' she said. ``I
want to do it all.''
Gigi Meyer of Green Run and Cape Henry's Richard Bone and Elizabeth
Tiesenga take a back seat while listening in on a senate session.
Staff photos by MORT FRYMAN
ABOVE: Sen. Ken Stolle and Del. Bob McDonnell, both Republicans from
Virginia Beach, arranged bipartisan meetings for the students.
RIGHT: Catherine Giordano, commissioner of the Alcoholic Beverage
Control Board and a Virginia Beach resident, was among the group of
officials who also spoke to the students.
by CNB