European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 7, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Politics Dodds Model senates Are the real thing almost Trudy de Angelis coordinator of the a Mediterranean. Model Senate confers with a senators Tamika Ruth Center and a Vicki Katsihtis during a break in the debates. A amps Dave Melancon a amps j. King cruet Scott Kleeb Back to camera briefs the Media during his daily press conference in Quot the Rose Garden. A amps j. King Cruger Scott Morgan from Heidelberg High portraying sen. George Mitchell addresses the Wurzburg Senate. By j. King Cruger Northern Italy Bureau Here were two glaring differences Between the recent Dodds Mediterranean s Model Senate and its Washington role Model at the depart Meint of defense dependents schools Affa i a a 11 be n a to is we re a i e it a and Atte Nti be. Other than that most things were alike. The four Day Senate session was attended by 135 High school students 60 from Host Aviano High school in Italy. The remainder Yho stayed at Homes in the Aviano Community came. From schools at Naples Brindisi Vicenza and Livorno in Italy Simonella Sicily and Lajes in the azores. The Model Senate has been conducted for the past 15 years in the m Edite Era n a n a Rea a n d Avi a no has hosted the the last five of the e a a chord i no to Trudy de an be i is Aviano High librarian and the Model Senate s. Coordinator. A. A a a a Quot i assign Senate roles to the schools. Advisers at the schools choose the kids to play the roles Quot de Angelis said. Quot most of the students attend a certain number of practice sessions at their own schools before attending the Senate  a a a Senate participants brought proposed Bills to Aviano. The Bills were on computer discs to streamline processing eight Senate committees thrashed out the Bills and then a amps Davo Meloncon members of the Wurzburg Senate cast votes during the debate on casting Sharon Stone in a film on sen. Robert Packwood s diaries. At left Erin Tedesco As sen. Herbert Kohl of Wisconsin has her say in the Packwood debate. A v is amps Dave Melancon a presented their versions at the plenary session on the Senate s third Day. Quot there has t been much debate this year even within the committees de Angelis said during the Senate which ran Aprim 8-21. Quot lots of new kids Are attend no this year. Some May be too shy to debate the  participants at the Model Senate played the role of an a Cut Al m Ember of the e u. S. Be n a the and a attempted to accurately portray the senator s political feelings and voting patterns. Aviano senior Tamika Ruth was sen. Paul s. Sarbanes d-md., in last year s Model Senate but this year was sen. George j. Mitchell a Maine the Senate majority Leader. Quot i wanted to Besen. Mitchell in order to have a More influential Senate position she said. Vicki Katsihtis another Aviano senior said Quot being Quot sen. Wendall h. Ford a Kyd a was a great experience. Quot you get to know what your Peers think about politics Quot she said. Not All participants were senators. Some acted As pages scurrying Between senators with messages. Others were members of the secret serv ice assigned to protect president Clinton a role smoothly handled by Scott Kleeb a Vicenza senior. Quot once students have had experience in the Model Senate they come Back year after year Quot Kleeb told a reporter following his daily press conference in Quot the Rose  a. The Model Senate s activities were closely scrutinized by 15 student news representatives. They published a. Lively daily newspaper modelled after the congressional /  s a Light sampling from one Issue Quot when asked what was the most memorable moment of the trip a six hour bus ride from Livorno to Aviano sen. Pete Domenici Elizabeth Alvarez replied nothing really happened except for the senator who threw up All Over the bus Quot. More than 75 Bills Many of them co sponsored by two or More senators were up for vote at this year s session. Quot we never get through presentation of the full list of Bills Quot de Angelis said. Quot for Many kids having their Bills pass committee is . Dodds Germany conducted its Model Senate at Wurzburg High school the week after the Mediterranean session a and debate there was both frivolous and heated. 1 discussions for the most part closely followed debates currently going on in the . Senate said student journalist Angel Kelly of Mannheim one of the mock Media members who kept an Eye on the goings on. Quot they senators Are not Here to express their views. They Are Here to vote according to How their senator will vote Quot she said. Quot these Bills Are not out of the  the 100 senators and presidential administration figures at Wurzburg were joined by about 50 assorted lobbyists Security people Senate staff Media and special interest groups she said. Issues debated by the Senate included gun control equal Opportunity welfare Reform driving under the influence of alcohol environmental Protection congressional salary cuts foreign Aid military deployments to Europe the fighting in the former Yugoslavia monitoring United nations spending veterans affairs economic stimulation mandatory death. Penalty and space exploration. However debate on the last Day of the Senate traditionally reserved for Quot silly Quot issues focused on the Senate s role in a proposed fund raising film based on the personal diaries of sen. Robert Packwood r-ore., senators discussed casting and on whom to spend their income. As the debate continued some student forgot that they were role playing and took off on lighthearted tangents that bore Little resemblance to the views of their senators. After an amendment calling for Sharon Stone to play a leading role in the Packwood film was Defeated the Bill s sponsors proposed the legalization of marijuana so they could console themselves. When All the fun and games were Over students evaluated what they had Learned in the experience. Quot i got a pretty Good idea of what the Senate is like and what they have to Deal with Quot said reporter Jennifer Wong of Heidelberg Quot it was a lot of fun to yell at each other and it was a lot of work with a lot of . Contributing to this report Start writer Dave Melancon in Wurzburg. Germany 18 the stars and stripes saturday May 7, 1994 the stars and stripes 19