MODEL UN

What is the UN? A diplomatic conglomerate of nearly every nation in the world founded in Primary goal is to promote and preserve peace throughout the world. It was pre-dated by the League of nations (formed in 1919 out of W. Wilson’s 14 pts.) Condemns war in all forms (this is important to know for conferences—never call for war in any working paper you write, it will get shot down immediately.)

Our schedule -Our practices will be here, every Wednesday (unless you are informed otherwise), and we will take role (by your country’s name, not yours) and begin as soon as everyone is here (please let me know if you aren’t going to be able to attend prior to the meeting.) -Later in the year (once everyone is comfortable with parliamentary procedure and legislative process) we will do some research on local conferences and make an effort to attend.

How it works You will be assigned a country to represent at our practices for the rest of the year (when we go to conferences at other schools they give us a choice of countries that our group can represent and we divvy it up by preference.) Every meeting will have a pre-determined topic (e.g. nuclear proliferation, spread of infectious diseases, or something more specific like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) and will be run by a chair person with a gavel. The chair person will call a vote to begin the debate, recognize countries to speak, read over working papers to make sure they are legitimately written (in proper format, which isn’t too complicated), determine whether or not motions are dilatory (pointless), entertain other things such as points of personal privilege, rights of reply, points of parliamentary inquiry, and maintain order and decorum throughout the debate (make sure people are being and not acting rude or obnoxious.) A vice chair will also be put in place in case the chair needs to consult someone or he becomes unfit to keep on chairing. Pages will be assigned before the conference begins to carry notes between delegates (legitimate notes, not “do you like me, check yes, no, or maybe”.) When you and some other countries think that you have a good idea of how to solve the problem at hand then you can begin to write a working paper (it becomes known as a resolution of it passes.) The paper needs to be in proper format and it requires at least 2 sponsors (people who actual agree with what it says and will defend it in debate) and at least 8 signatories (people who just want to see it debated and don’t necessarily support it.) By the end of debate multiple resolutions can be passed but they should not contradict each other.

Terms to know (points) Parliamentary inquiry Personal privilege Order

Terms to know (motions) For an un-moderated caucus (requires no stated purpose) For a moderated caucus (requires stated purpose To close debate To suspend debate To enter voting procedure To submit working paper x To open debate To create a speaker’s list

What to do in debate Address points brought up by other countries and either support or refute them. Participate as much as possible. Make your positions clear. Make sure that your opinions are that of your country – not your own. Always speak in a respectful tone (no shouting and don’t use the words stupid, dumb, idiotic, etc. to describe another country or their opinion – it just looks bad.)

What not to do in debate Tick off the chair. Talk when you haven’t been recognized by the chair (if you want to say something to a nation right next to you then whispering is O.K., but for everything else send a note through a page) Act like a jerk in general. Engage in “back and forth” Promote war in any way shape or form as a solution to a current issue (N.B. the UN has peacekeepers which it dispatches to areas in case of an absolutely un-avoidable crisis) Stray from the current issue and start talking about how oppressed your people are or how there’s a much greater problem happening in your country (this includes having earmarks in your working papers that make it so the paper, while providing a solution to the current issue, also provides a solution to an irrelevant one) Infringe on the sovereignty of any nation (even if you’re trying to give food to starving Ugandan children you can’t do it w/o that nations say-so.)

So why do I want to do this? Colleges love it. It’s a great way to express your opinions in a serious and enjoyable environment. It’s a great way to meet new people. It builds teamwork and leadership skills. It’s really just a lot of fun.

Officer Positions President (me for this year, but we’ll have elections at the end of this year for all offices in case you don’t like the way I do things) Vice president- does whatever the president needs him to do and serves as president in case the president is un-able to serve. Secretary- this is a very important position! This person will handle the B.B. page, send out flyers and notifications via , and handle recording points at meetings. Treasurer- handles money (won’t really be a concern until we start going to other conferences)

Positions you can volunteer for at practices Chairman Page Secretary pro-tempore (if the secretary is not present this person will count points for that meeting.)