NYRA Berkeley made history when it helped launch a campaign to lower the voting age in California. The chapter’s efforts coincided with a bill proposed by State Senator John Vasconcellos to lower the state’s voting age to 16. While the bill was eventually abandoned, many of its key supporters are still members of the California…
On December 31st, former NYRA media director Brad White appeared on Fox News to discuss the drinking age. The appearance, which came out of nowhere and was arranged at the last minute, was wildly successful. The show, “Your World with Cavuto” is very popular, and Fox is the most watched cable news network. Brad’s appearance…
NYRA member Patrick Ward founded a chapter in Santa Fe. The chapter paid its charter and has been approved. NYRA members in New Mexico should send an email to patrick@youthsantafe.org if they wish to become involved. The NYRA-Santa Fe website can be seen at: http://www.youthsantafe.org. Chapters are being started also in Vermont, Houston, and Chicago. Members in…
NYRA has begun work on a comprehensive resource site for the youth rights movement. Using the same wiki technology that powers Wikipedia.org, NYRA has created the Youth Rights Network, and needs your help in making it an important, useful stop in the youth rights galaxy. The page is entirely community edited, meaning that everyone, yes…
On November 22nd PBS filmed an hour long program about underage drinking and the drinking age. The latter portion of the program is a panel discussion featuring among others, NYRA President Alex Koroknay-Palicz. Alex presented our case well, arguing that the drinking age is an issue of liberty more so than an issue of health…
With no comprehensive, widely recognized bill of rights for students, NYRA has decided to draft a true student centered one. Existing bill of rights are crafted by high school and university administrators themselves and list off as many responsibilities (i.e. rules & regulations) as real rights students enjoy. With the rise of restrictive policies such…
NYRA member Garrett Levenbrook of New Jersey recently took the initiative to organize a NYRA chapter in his high school. NYRA-SSDS of Essex and Union has paid its charter and been approved. The chapter already has 17 members and a web page. They have elected officers, and will surely accomplish a lot this year. The…
In its continued efforts to keep the public informed about youth rights issues, thus gaining support and effective change, NYRA was an integral part of the voting age protests that took place throughout the country on the days preceding the election. NYRA organized successful events in New York City and Sacramento, California. NYRA-NYC sponsored a…
NYRA President Alex Koroknay-Palicz appeared on Fox News on October 23rd. While Alex only had around five minutes to articulate NYRA’s complex set of reasons to lower the voting age, he did a great job and most agree that he came off better than the opposition. The host, Greg Jarrett, seemed very sympathetic and was…
One of NYRA’s most stunning accomplishments is its comprehensive and informative website. A while ago NYRA decided that its server, American Hosting, didn’t provide the kinds of features we wanted, so the switch was made to Milescape. While Milescape provided the necessary features, the service was deplorable, and many people said they were having trouble…
