Show L Serving Utah's Great Pahvant Valley Single students get look at United States ends government in action By Derin Phelps Millard High School teacher Frank Bramall Board President several Millard High to trip An era will end at noon Washington DC students on Nov 5 Bramall is the Director of the East knew Millard Close County Close Up Program Up is an organization that exposes high school juniors and seniors to the way the Durand Senators Representatives ing the trip students were able to see the Supreme Court in operation and visit sional many historical sites in and around WashDC They were not able to sec ington President Clinton has been around for mare than 20 years Bramall said any student with a Grade Point Average above 20 is eligible to go on a Close Up trip “It's usually the students who are terested in government and history" Bramall explained "Most years it's been our students that have been probably your top students in history If they want to go they’re welcome to go" Close Up is not afllliated with Millard High School or the Millard County School District No school or school district funds are used to send the students to Washington Fillmore City did donate some money to help with expenses “This is probably the best field trip that the students could take by far" Olson said Olson was invited to go with the stuHe dent! and found the trip rewarding went to the World War II Holocaust Museum Ford's Theater where President and Abraham Lincoln was assassinated Williamsburg Virginia Olson said there was too much to do and too little time to do it "We were always kind of in a hurry" Olson said "We never did get to the Smithsonian It's seven buildings You can't even go through one building in a day and do it justice" The Millard High School group was able to visit with Senators Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch They met with representatives from Congressman Jim Hansen's office but were not able to meet with him personally Bramall Olson and the students spent an entire day in colonial Williamsburg Virginia Town leaders work to keep the community just the way it was when it was a British colony Many of the students loved the Williamsburg trip especially eating in a restaurant of the period One student marveled at slave quartos she saw Eas t Millard Cbse Up students on the front steps of the US Supreme Court Building Back row L to R: Pauline Burgess Jennifer Barton Van Mitchell Kelli Adams Derek Beckstrand and Chen Dean Front row L to R: Jessica Alldredge Krista Jackson Cheryl Crosland Trish White Callie Kofoed and Katie Johnson (Not pictured Nathan Ashman Frank Bramall and Brent Olson) people and friends" Kofoed's outlook on the government has changed since the trip Before the trip she didn't know or care about the gov- ernment she learned “boring" have come to was a really good learning experireally fun” Kofoed said' Derek Beckstrand an MHS junior said his favorite the Holocaust part of the trip was visiting Museum and the Iwo Jima War Memorial Iwo Jima is a memorial to was Corps Beckstrand pressed with a statue of five Marines post- ing a flag during W WII the Marine The impeachment process was on the minds of most people in Washington durClose Up ing the East Millard County visit Beckstrand learned that of the Senate have to vote to remove the President from office if he is to be moved All of the students remembered three things that Senator Hatch said make a perHe said a person needs to son successful stand up for his or her values and reli- gion exercise and Students were read something the daily entire The Close behavioral rules No members of the opposite sex are allowed in any of the motel rooms Olson said there were no problems with the group from Millard High School but chaperoned time they were in Washington Up program has very strict there have been problems groups from other areas in the past with “There were no questions asked" Olson said “They just said ‘Pack your bags You’re going home' And they meant it" trip for Olson was a liberal and a conserva- Olson tive Callie Kofoed a junior at Millard High School said she had fun debating different political issues with ho motel room mates who were from New Hampshire The most moving experience for Olson was visiting the Korean and VietHe lived during she said all the “It ence She said she would not be able to nam War Memorials Now lessons history life they did The highlight of the between ho work about timation t Up live the way a debate career Jan 4 ar 4 1999 at the MEA record Credit Union Whicko worked for the credit union for 4 years as a secretary She also did posting Ten years lato Whicker ran for County ClerkAuditor when Robins retired in 1978 Through the years Whicko has found her job to be very I warding the in my office clerk’s “Actually government operates Through the program students get to meet their Congres- Close Jan when Millard County Clerk Marlene Whicko administers the oath of office to Millard County Clerk Elect Norma Brunson ending Whicko’s career in the clerk's office Whicko began ho career in 968 as a Deputy ClerkAuditor under County Clok Auditor Guy Robins Robins asked ho to join his staff no doubt because he History County Olson led Brent School 30-ye- Derin Phelps By and Millard School a US 31 1998 County Clerk Marlene Whicker Millard High first-han- d December Vol 88 No 25 USPS $75 Copy and Bramall encourage more dents to go on future Close Up trips to Washington They said the program is open to all high school juniors and niors with a 20 GPA from Millard and Delta High Schools the is the most interesting the most versatile job of all the county jobs” Whicko said When Whicko started ho duties were somewhat different than they are now because she also had to keep up with of the Interditing During construction mountain Powo Project (IPP) the two offices were separated The separation occurred around 980 or 1981 IPP asked the county to separate the offices and funded the separation During IPP con- to to bother Whicker would have ries liked memorable for her were a of murder trials in the early and There were four such trials in a The most have training sessions" to see the county maintain control over district court She believes since the courts are dealing with people if local control is taken away period “They were all held in Provo so I’ve about come to the conclusion that Millard on the from them the courts area being taken one step further from the people As an elected official and a court official Whicker sees County about bought the Excelsior Hotel because of the expenses" Whicker sands herself struction many more demands were made auditor's office because of the thouof people who moved in to Millard and County to work on the project cause of the many tax issues that had to be sorted out The courts were also IPP’s funding of the office sepapacted ration was done as an impact alleviation “They felt that the county could function better with more people and they didn't want to impact it without paying their way with Just prior to it" Whicker said the split Whicker' office to have trouble was beginning with the demands of the two keeping up offices The Commissioners at the time gave choice of whether to become the County Clerk or the County Auditor County her the Since Whicker never liked math the choice was easy for her The commissioners then appointed La Donna Hobbs as the firsi Millard County Audito be County Clerk tor Hobbs served resigned for health a few years before she John Hansen reasons was appointed to fill Hobbs' position He was later elected as County Auditor and in that position to this day has remained Whicker's current duties include overseeing the operation of Millard County Fourth District Court in Fillmore overissuing marriage licenses seeing elections and passports and keeping minutes of all Millard County Commission meetings She says her favorite part of her job is meeting people Whicker meets many teresting people from all over the state in both her role as County Clerk and as Court Clerk The past 30 years have seen district courts go from being county run to state run When Whicker first became County but Clerk the stale gave her guidelines she was in full control over how the court operated “I think what they decided was that everything wasn't being done uniformly all over the state" Whicker said “My personal feeling is if they had trained it would have been done the way they Russell Kennedy named White House intern Derin Phelps Russell Kennedy has always loved America His mother Sherida said when he was 3 instead of watching cartoons to but they never wanted wanted working reimburses the Deputy Clerks for the county The state county for the use of two and its share complex in Fillmore “If the state was of the court Whicker said “That's why have fought it so hard and as a matter of fact have been told in some counties where die stale has taken over that people have complained they don’t get the personal service They just don’t seem to care” Whicker still has some control over the operation of the court albeit limited She doesn't think the state will completely take over the Millard County Court Clerk’s Office unless the County Commission allows the state to do so She said the action On Jan would have to initiate the to merge the Clerk and Auditor's offices into one office again A group of voted Millard County the commission residents appeared trials Whicker will remem- include the Larry Harmon trial and of Bobbie and Travis Widdison earlier this year After sitting through the Widdison preliminary hearing Whicker decided to have Norma Brunson sit through the trial She knew Brunson planned to run for County Clerk and thought the trial experience would be good for her Whicker also ber the trial thought the Widdison case was draining and didn’t want through the trial “I was to the point that sit to felt like I could maybe pick and choose so opted not to put myself through that" Whicker explained state to take over County Commission and ask the 26 One case was a of the Hamiltons The Archuleta and Wood soon followed Whicker said they were very lengthy trials A couple of cases recent murder paying everything may not feel nearly as much responsibility as do (because of) the fact that they’ve elected me to watch over these things" the commissioners said before Feb 2 in opposition to merger so the commission reversed decision At the time Millard County Commissioner Tony Dearden said he thought the merger was a good idea cause the county might have been able to Had the merger decision not save money been reversed the state would have taken 1999 over full control of the court Jan “1 don’t think it will save the county Whicker said “The state any money" imburses us for their share of the expenses from my office divide the expenses up between the stale and the county” All four of Whicker’s deputies split their time up between county and state work Whicker sees this as the best of both worlds “I think the people are being served better this way" she said In her court duties over the years Whicker has seen many different trials the its Whicker's greatest challenge over the years has been keeping up with changes in state court procedures and in election laws Her favorite duty has been sitting in on adoptions in court “That’s really the frosting on the cake" she said “It sometimes makes up for all of the other bad things that go on when you get into the criminal calendar” There are no big retirement plans for Whicker and her husband Dean They do plan to take off when their grandchildren are involved in certain activities The Whickers have four children and 8 grandchildren None of them live in Millard County so there will likely be travel quite a bit of Whicker’s advice for Brunson as she takes over as County Clerk is to lighten should sit back Whicker thinks she up and enjoy the ride “If there’s a mistake made and the world doesn’t stop volving then it can be fixed" Whicker said “She’s good though She’s going to be fine” By he would events can Flags when he was in Kennedy elementary school long hours job ofhis internship at the White House in Washington DC Kennedy’s new job 1999 Affairs “It’s in the Intergovernmental Office which is the office that coordinates policy and meetings between the President of the United States with state governors and legislative leaders" Kennedy explained Kennedy will be stationed in the West Wing of the White House where he will also work on domestic policy He’s very excited about the position which )R COPY to get the chance to work on rural issues He also looks forward firstto seeing hand what the government docs and how the three branches of government work together After the internship is over he's looking at some other possible opportunities in Washington His mother's vice as he takes on the internship is to remember who he is and what he’s been taught all his life Delta from Kennedy who graduated will last for about six months Since he is still gocheck he ing through an FBI background doesn't know whether or not he will be allowed to work with the President He doesn't even know his exact job descripastion yet but thinks he will probably sist in coordinating White House events and prepare certain documents “Some people may call it secretarial but one thing I’ve learned is that everyone from the White House to a little tiny insurance company every person in that to earn the White House posi- tion Most interns according to Mrs Kennedy don’t get to work in the White House but are assigned to the Executive Office Building or somewhere in Virginia “There are literally thousands of plicants of these positions” she said “He's competing against kids that are in Harvard and Yale and Stanford and Princeton and all over the United States” Being from Utah Kennedy is excited will begin the most exciting Jan said willing to do whatever is asked of him no matter what it is Sherida Kennedy is very proud of her son She has watched him work many Kennedy has always been active in dent government in high school as well as Southern Utah University Now he starts person in that flow of important as the next” He went on to say he is building or every business is just as watch CNN to keep up on world He started a collection of Ameri- High School in 1993 will graduate from SUU in May with a degree in Political Science and History Some day he may run for public office if the current politi- changes He at least plans to a career in government Kennedy's in is to make a positive difference cal climate Russel Kennedy with his as a White House intern mother Shenda as he prepares for his new job pursue goal people’s lives Reflecting on the current state of affairs in Washington DC Kennedy said government officials have a real obligation to try to regain a sense of trust with the American people He thinks it's a tragedy that public being an elected official or serving in the government held is no longer something in respect People used to seek after a govservice ernment position and place elected or pointed government officials on pedestals “We used to think service in government was such an honorable thing" Kennedy said “1 think for the past years certainly s since the Watergate period in the there's been a real unfortunate degradation of how we view public service in this country" Kennedy wants to make a difference and show people that government service is still a good and respectable thing to do He pointed out that if all the turmoil of the past few weeks which has surrounded President Clinton's impeachment were taken away the US is still the greatest country on earth “This is still the greatest experiment in democracy that mankind has ever seen" Kennedy said “We have moral obligations and prerogatives to give back to to give back to society government" Kennedy brings a government experience to his SUU he served as a Senator and of student new post At and Governor The of the Utah Intercollegiate Assembly assembly is a collection of all the colleges and universities in Utah Kennedy also served as a state student lobbyist higher education for at the Utah Legislature His lobbying successes included his drive to keep tuition at a reasonable growth level for students Several legislative proposals would have increased college and university tuition to pay for unrelated projects like Interstate 5 construction Kennedy and his student leagues argued that students through their tuition shouldn't be funding or the Olympics on projects like the backs of students “That allows people to access higher education" Kennedy said “We talk a lot about improving buildings and using the Internet but sometimes we need to step back and realize that the most portant thing is being able to have an access to higher education There are people who been raised literally because tuition has $30 or $40 are unable to go college People just don’t understand but it’s a reality" Kennedy was born in Salt Lake City and spent the first part ofhis childhood in Tooele He moved with his family to Delta what he was 7 years old He has two older sisters and a younger brother mother has marveled at her Kennedy’s son’s patriotism and interest in history and government throughout his childhood and young adulthood “I don’t know" Shenda Kennedy said “1 might have brought the wrong baby home from the hospital I’m not a real political person" to that |