Model UN

[Sonic#]

I'm mainly curious, does anyone else do this?

Model UN, if you don't know, is where you basically have a mock UN. Representing countries, you go into various committees and assemblies (the Security Council, Conference on Disarmament, General Assembly, EcoSoc, etc.) and debate issues given by those chairs. The trick is, you have to do it within your nation's position. So, you're diplomats. The chairs facilitate all of this and give the topic information and such.

The reason why I'm asking is because I'm going to be involved with it all weekend. This time, at the chairing level. We run it for high school students across the state at our school. I'm at once eager and nervous. I'm pretty good with parliamentary procedure and all that, but I might make a mistake.

But that's not the main focus. If anyone's done this, what do you think about it? If you haven't done this, the same question!

[Imperial Knight]

This topic reminds me of a Principal Skinner quote from The Simpsons:

"Do you kids want to be like the real UN, or do you just want to bicker and waste time?"

[phyco126]

I remember a post like this many years ago, can't remember who started it though (it was around the time I was intrested in the ideas of becoming an ambassador.)

Anyway, I think such a thing would be fun and easy to do.

Me: Okay, I'm the UN. Uh, we need to get rid of poverty!
Countries: HERE HERE! Get rid of poverty! *cheers ring out*
Me: GREAT! So who wants to donate money to for relief efforts?
Countries: *crickets chirping*

Yes, the UN is very easy to duplicate

[Roas Atrades]

I did Model OAS back in 97/98 when I was in high school, and I guess it's similar in functions with getting propisitions passed, mingling, making allies/friends.

I remember I got the Georgetown Prep guys to back my proposition during the mingling periods. When I told my team members they were astonished and said that was awesome. At the time, I did not know what a power house Georgetown Prep was and found out quickly the next day what it meant to have them backing your propisition.

Needless to say, I garnered the right support and my prop passed

The Models are fun things to do if you are into it. I had a good time, as did friends of mine who were there also.

[Kizyr]

The "crisis" situation you gotta pull is always a lot of fun.

The only Model UN I went to was in Argentina. But I know a lot of people in high school in the US who did it (high school and college level), and my cousin did some MUNning while she was in high school in Japan. KF

[Sonic#]

The crisis situation! Oh, I didn't follow it much this year (it involved Russia... I was too busy working on my own stuff), but last year, it was amazing! They had North Korea detonate a nuclear device in New York City! Because of there not being a DPRK present, an assistant chair did an awesome job as the North Korean delegate! And the most glorious part... right when they announced that the device had gone off (this was at 4 in the morning), the power went off. No planning involved, just a power failure. I forget how long it was off, but... that's what makes a conference, right there.

As for you, Roas, go you! In conferences I've been in, I've hardly ever known the schools associated with the delegations, but I've stricken it big by luck before. Being a country in the EU (Netherlands), I allied with Britian and Hungary and between our combined clout (and deftly handling Latin American and African nations), were able to strongarm it through the IAEA.

Ah, as for this weekend, it was good. There were a few things that delegates did that obviously irked me (like a country repeatedly claiming that they'd signed the Kyoto Protocol 5 years before it was even in existence), but they were mostly awesome, sometimes hilarious, sometimes making the most apt points. As for my chairing... I did well in committee. In General Assembly (where we all come together and debate the resolutions passed in committees), I messed up in a couple of ways, giving them one resolution that didn't pass and taking the wrong roll call. After that, it went more smoothly though. And I'm still alive, so that's something!

And the notes they passed were sometimes irrelevant, sometimes just... yes. One favorite, after a speech by the US, "The eagle has landed, but the egg is missing." Another, in a nifty semi-numerical code, "They're reading our notes."

[phyco126]

Heh, I'm intrested in how you and them handled North Korea.

[keele864]

I did Model UN in my later years of high school and went to two national conferences. I had a lot of fun, but I've elected not to do MUN now that I'm in college. It just seemed (to me at least) more a high school than a college activity. I had lots of fun while it lasted though and I made several friends through it.

[Agawa]

Hmm, my school's running it for the first time this year, but I don't think I'll be participating. I was in Model Parliament, and decided to drop out of it due to the teacher who was running it, and sadly, the same guy's doing Model UN.