April 29, 1998
Gilbert elected governor ... well, sort of
By Garret Leiva
Herald staff writer
Busy can't begin to describe the past week for Traverse City Central High School senior Lauren Gilbert.
First, there was all the hand shaking and speech making. Next came the onslaught of proposals and petitions, debates and discussion. All followed by intense meetings and round-the-clock committees.
But, hey, no one ever said being governor was easy.
If this does not sound like politics as usual in Lansing, that is because it's the annual YMCA Youth and Government conference. The conference is a four-day event that provides 700 ninth- through 12th-graders statewide an opportunity to experience firsthand both the electoral and legislative processes.
Forty-three teen-agers from the Grand Traverse region attended this year's spring conference, including students from Central, West and St. Francis high schools, said Sue Smith, associate executive director of the Grand Traverse Bay YMCA.
During their time at the capitol, students served as senators, representative, lobbyists, even pages in order to better understand legislation and the world of lawmakers. Students wrote bills and learned what it takes to pass legislation across the governor's desk.
"The process is a real hands-on experience," said Smith, who served as a student adviser down in Lansing. "It is the only program where students are allowed to use Senate and House chambers."
During the conference young politicians also learned another valuable lesson in politics: how to deal with the press. While in Lansing, students published a daily newspaper and broadcast a program on closed-circuit television.
One name that received press coverage was Gov. Lauren Gilbert, although the East Bay Township resident initially had trouble accepting his new title after Thursday's election results.
"It took a couple of times of them saying my name for it to sink in. It really took until later that night for it to really hit me," said Gilbert, who earlier campaigned in four "districts" and delivered a "big speech" in front of the entire youth conference.
While Gilbert did not have to attend party fund-raising dinners or shake hands on the county fair circuit, he found campaigning involved more than winning a popularity contest.
"I worked hard on knowing my issues because they asked all the biggies: capital punishment, abortion, assisted suicide, road conditions, welfare reform and affirmative action," Gilbert said.
Getting elected, as it turned out, was the easy part for Gilbert. He quickly realized that politicking did not end at the floor of the capitol building.
"I would be walking down the hallway of the hotel and someone would stop me and say, 'Bill 119 is about this and that,'" said Gilbert, who is considering a future in politics.
Noted conference adviser Smith: "Lauren learned what it's is like to have everyone wanting to bend your ear."
All in all, the short opportunity in Lansing proved an eye-opening experience in the political world, Gilbert said.
"You learn about how government works in the classroom and in textbooks," he said, "but this experience blows that out of the water."