news

Statement on Sullivan, IN "Straight Prom" Efforts

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 01:29:33 +0100

After learning about the bigotry taking place in Sullivan, IN where an alternate "straight prom" is being planned, Indiana High School Democrats felt the need to speak out against these hateful and discriminatory actions. A special education teacher is joining a group of students, parents and other Christians in the community to organize a prom that bans LGBT people. As if that wasn't enough, the teacher in question, Diana Medley, added that the reason for doing so was these students had no "purpose in life." We find it hard to fathom that a teacher of all people could be so hateful and discriminatory.
It is extremely unfortunate that such bigotry and intolerance exists in our society today, and worse still that the ones carrying out these hateful actions serve as role models to their community.
The Indiana High School Democrats completely condemn Medley's comments about homosexuality and her efforts to help create a rift between the LGBT and straight population in Sullivan, IN.

The IHSD Executive Board issued the following statement today:
"We find the hateful anti-LGBT actions of some teachers, students, and community members in Sullivan to be reprehensible. In promoting equality for our LGBT brothers and sisters, we thoroughly condemn their bigoted actions and encourage all others to do the same."

Election Night

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 17:59:08 +0100

The time is a few minutes after 7 p.m. I turn on the TV to check on the election results and start my night of watching the election returns.
Indiana and Kentucky has already gone for Romney. Not a surprise to say the least. I was just hoping that our state would take longer than 5 minutes to be called for Indiana.
Shortly after 7:30, the key states of Ohio and North Carolina have closed their poles. We (the Democratic Party) still believe we can pull out those two states. While the swing battles start to heat up Vermont goes for Obama and Romney picks up South Carolina, Georgia and later West Virginia.
I still have a calming feeling even as Obama starts to fall behind losing most of the red states.
Good news starts to arise for the Democrats around eight o’clock when Glenda Ritz, State Superintendent hopeful, starts to pull away from the Incumbent, Dr. Tony Bennett. At the same time us Dems, win a key Senate race in Florida to set up the rest of the night.
One of the first projected Democratic winners for Indiana is Andre Carson of district 7.

After Romney gained more electoral votes between 8pm and 9pm and received a large swing from some of the states that came in at nine including Louisiana, all of Kansas and Texas, the turning point in the election happened just after 9.

New Jersey, whose polls would be open till Friday due to the excruciating circumstances regarding the hurricane that passed through, became projected for Obama. This was definitely a large win for Obama and was followed by two blows to the GOP when the Tea Party candidates in Missouri and Indiana both lost to democrats.

Obama gained a lead around 9:15 pm and never let it go. We had to wait in agony for another hour and a half before the west coast state’s polls closed and their results came in.

Once the clock struck 11 the election was almost solidified for an Obama win. This year though, it wasn’t California that pushed Obama over the top, no this time the Democrats won the election behind the historic black turnout in the state of Ohio.

The misconception is that the auto-bailout won Obama Ohio but Politico.com points out the since the Voter I.D laws in Ohio were not passed through their congress, more African Americans went out to vote.
Ok, even if want to take Romney’s B.S and prolong the results of Ohio for a couple hours, the election was over when Colorado went for Obama around 11:30 pm.

Romney looked disrespectful as he denied the fact and postponed his concession speech until one in the morning.

Some other events that occurred on Election Day were the legalization of the recreational use of marijuana in Colorado and Washington State. Gay marriage was also legalized in three states.

The Republican Party took a giant hit from election night and will now look to regroup. They need to try to attract to more diverse population and the city resident. Will they continue to be the party of No.? We don’t know but what we do know is that Democrats will continue to stay true and help the common person.

Statement on the Indiana Democratic Party’s New Position Regarding Same-Sex Marriage

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 21:11:23 +0100

We applaud our friends at the Indiana Democratic Party for taking this substantial step forward and for affirming our party’s commitment to equality for all. We are pleased and excited by this development and believe that our fellow young Hoosiers across the state will feel similarly. Although not full marriage equality, we believe that the party’s new position is a significant step in the right direction. We look forward to working with the party and candidates throughout this election season to spread our party’s message of equality, fairness and freedom for all.

Indiana High School Democrats Opposes CISPA

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 02:07:32 +0100

The Indiana High School Democrats executive committee released the following statement regarding CISPA: On behalf of our generation, Indiana High School Democrats would like to vehemently oppose CISPA as a bill that changes the web for the worse. To allow companies and corporations to distribute personal information that we entrust to them, and them alone, for the smallest of actions, is a violation of our privacy.

The committee's reasoning is described below.

On January 18, 2012, the Internet was filled with protests about the Stop Online Piracy Act, commonly known as SOPA, and the Protect IP Act, known as PIPA. Thousands of websites "went dark"--censored all or some of their information--in a protest to show what the internet would be like if SOPA and PIPA passed. Websites like the encyclopedia giant Wikipedia, news-sharing source Reddit, browser-creator Mozilla, and the ubiquitous Google joined the protest. People everywhere were in outrage over this, and following the protest, the bill was stopped.

Now, however, a new bill has surfaced - the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act - CISPA. This bill allows governments to access information stored on company computers more easily in the event of a cyber threat. While this sounds acceptable--if national security is threatened, of course the government will do whatever it can to stop the threat--the problem with this bill is its overreaching scope in its definitions of various terms, such as cyber threats.

Cyber threats are defined as: "(A) efforts to degrade, disrupt, or destroy such [government] system or network; or (B) theft or misappropriation of private or government information, intellectual property, or personally identifiable information." (A) sounds reasonable; it gives the government more power in the event of a national threat. However, part (B) is what opens up the floodgates. It allows companies to share personal information without permission to alleviate whatever they see as a threat. The bill defines threats so that accidentally downloading a file illegally, unknowingly sharing a copyrighted image, using a proxy, or encrypting emails can all be considered threats.

CISPA overrides all other laws relating to cybersecurity. Existing laws such as the Wiretap Act and Electronic Communications Act (which prevent companies from distributing your personal information and monitoring private communications without reason) are all overridden.

And if a company decides to give out your information, there is little you can do. The bill requires you to show that the company gave information to the government "intentionally to achieve a wrongful purpose," "without legal or factual justification," AND "in disregard of a known or obvious risk that is so great as to make it highly probably that the harm of the act or omission will outweigh the benefit." These provisions make it essentially impossible for anyone to sue a company for distributing personal information.

To make it worse, supporters of the bill include AT&T, Verizon, Facebook, Microsoft, and Google. The chances of another blackout happening are close to zero, and even if one did happen, it would not have nearly as large of an effect as the first.

The implications of this bill are gigantic; passing it could be a step in the wrong direction for the Internet. The bill gives governments extreme power over the Internet. Regulations on cyber threats would be acceptable if they were reasonable and specific, but this bill is broad and gives the government an unprecedented amount of control.

CISPA is scheduled to be debated and voted on in the House this week, and we need to let lawmakers know that this is not okay.

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Footnotes:
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr3523ih/pdf/BILLS-112hr3523ih.pdf

http://intelligence.house.gov/sites/intelligence.house.gov/files/documents/ATT113011.pdf

http://intelligence.house.gov/sites/intelligence.house.gov/files/documents/Verizon113011.pdf

http://intelligence.house.gov/sites/intelligence.house.gov/files/documents/FacebookHR3523.pdf

http://intelligence.house.gov/sites/intelligence.house.gov/files/documents/Microsoft113011.pdf

https://plus.google.com/112352920206354603958/posts/Zp48oiuAYcC

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr3523ih/pdf/BILLS-112hr3523ih.pdf

Indiana High School Democrats Demands Marriage Equality

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:32:32 +0100

Press Release

For immediate release 4/4/2012

Contact: Nicholas Mitch, Chair

E-mail: nmitch@inhsdems.org

Indiana High School Democrats Demands Marriage Equality

Today, Indiana High School Democrats announced its public support of marriage equality and called on the Indiana Democratic Party to do the same. A motion, which was passed unanimously by the executive committee, asks that marriage equality, specifically for same-sex couples, be added to the state and national party platforms.

Nicholas Mitch, Chair of Indiana High School Democrats, says that it’s a matter of right and wrong. Stating the fact that an overwhelming majority of young people support marriage equality¹, the organization released the following statement:

“What we must consider is that this issue is about something more than politics; it’s about freedom, equality and love. To our generation, this issue is about right and wrong and, in the future, we have no doubt that it will be defined in that way. This is not an issue of differing opinion and equal sides; this is a matter of hate and bigotry versus love and progress. We choose to stand for love and progress.” The group went on to add, “It is very important that we recognize the importance and dignity of all of our citizens. By adding this measure to the party platform, we further cement the notion that the Democratic Party is the party that truly works for every American.”

The Indiana High School Democrats Executive Committee said that they hope that their message will be received positively by the Indiana Democratic Party and swiftly acted on. However, they also say that they have a grassroots action plan ready to go if things do not go as well as they hope.

Indiana High School Democrats is Indiana’s official state chapter of the Young Democrats of America-High School Caucus and they represent High School Democrats chapters across the state. You can find more information on this organization at http://www.inhsdems.org/, or on Twitter (@inhsdems) and Facebook.

¹ Newport, Frank. "For First Time, Majority of Americans Favor Legal Gay Marriage." Gallup. Gallup Inc., 4 May 2011. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. <http://www.gallup.com/poll/147662/first-time-majority-americans-favor-legal-gay-marriage.aspx>.

Indiana High School Democrats Endorses Shelli Yoder for Congress

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 01:56:59 +0100

Press Release

For immediate release 3/24/2012

Contact: Nicholas Mitch, Chair

E-mail: nmitch@inhsdems.org

Indiana High School Democrats Endorses Shelli Yoder for Congress

Bloomington resident Shelli Yoder, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Indiana’s 9th Congressional District seat, has received yet another endorsement, this most recent one from Indiana High School Democrats.

Indiana High School Democrats, which is Indiana’s official state chapter of the Young Democrats of America-High School Caucus and represents High School Democrats chapters across the state, said that the choice was clear.

“Though the field is crowded with five excellent candidates, one stands out as a visionary leader who will fight for all of us,” said Nicholas Mitch, chair of the organization, “That candidate is Shelli Yoder. With the approval of our executive committee, I’m very excited to announce this endorsement.”

The organization, which proudly supports all Democratic candidates in the general election, is able to make primary election endorsements of candidates who will be especially strong advocates for students and young Americans. The executive committee issued the following statement:

“Ms. Yoder’s candidacy represents a unique opportunity to elect a leader who will truly be our voice in Washington. Ms. Yoder won’t only work for students and her young constituents; she’ll work for all of us. This primary race is especially vital because we need to elect a leader who has the know-how and will to stand up for Hoosiers in the wake of the failed policies of Rep. Todd Young. Ms. Yoder stands out as the only candidate who will be able to do this from day one. For these reasons, and many more, we are proud to support and endorse Shelli Yoder.”

PR:Indiana High School Democrats Wins National Award

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 01:57:43 +0100

Press Release

For immediate release 3/17/2012

Contact: Nicholas Mitch, Chair

E-mail: nmitch@inhsdems.org

Indiana High School Democrats Wins National Award

Indiana High School Democrats proudly announced today that the organization was the 2012 winner of High School Democrats of America’s “Developed State Chapter” award. The national award, which was presented to them last weekend at the Young Democrats of America Winter Meeting in Chicago, is presented annually to a state chapter that has exhibited excellent outreach efforts and/or exceptional growth. It is part of the “Life of the Party” award series, which highlights the contributions of high school students to politics and government.

“This truly is a great honor,” said Nicholas Mitch, State Chair of Indiana High School Democrats, “We’ve been working tirelessly to grow our organization and spread our message, so it’s nice to receive national recognition for it, though that’s certainly not the reason we’re in this. We’re working hard because Hoosier students deserve better and because we need to get this state back on a track towards prosperity for everyone”

Indiana High School Democrats is Indiana’s official state chapter of the Young Democrats of America-High School Caucus and they represent High School Democrats chapters across the state. You can find more information on this student-led organization at http://www.inhsdems.org/, or on Twitter (@inhsdems) and Facebook.