Tuesday, October 7, 2008
The revamped KU Model United Nations team is pushing harder than ever to spread awareness of global issues on campus in the wake of last week’s closing of the 63rd United Nations conference in New York City.
This year the club has adopted a new point system, has positions open to take competitors to national conferences and plans to host a high school conference for area students.
Stephanie Goings, Cerritos, Calif., senior and president of KU Model UN, said she hoped to put an end to the team’s roller-coaster participation in national conferences. “I want to bring awareness about global issues and how to solve them back on campus,” Goings said. “This should be a program that will be sustained throughout the years because of the huge role the United Nations plays in international relations.”
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Stephanie Goings, second from left, president of KU Model UN, was one of nine U.S. students to participate in the Asia Pacific Model United Nations Conference in South Korea.
Goings was one of nine U.S. college students to participate in the Asia Pacific Model UN Conference this summer. She said she hoped to bring some of that experience to the University’s team.
Goings’ trip to the Republic of South Korea was her first time outside the United States, but not her first Model UN competition. She has competed in conferences in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. More than half of the participants of these conferences are international students, according to the Model UN Web site.
Simulations similar to Model UN began in the 1920s to imitate the League of Nations and open dialogue and debate on international issues. When the League of Nations dissolved and the United Nations formed in 1945, collegiate teams began calling these simulations and competitions the Model United Nations.
Conferences occur several times a year in different regions of the U.S. and all over the world, attracting bright college students to engage in open debate. Each competitor represents a designated country, and students must work together propose solutions to an ongoing international crisis.
While in South Korea, Goings said she made friends with students from all over Asia as well as from Russia, Australia and New Zealand.
“The one thing that inspired me about the students I met was that they all desired to make a global impact with their careers after they graduated, regardless of what their major was,” Goings said.
Brian White, Lenexa freshman and vice president of KU Model UN, said the Model UN experiences were priceless for students who planned to be involved in global issues after college.
“You’re put in a better position to get a job in an increasingly globalizing world,” he said. “Anyone planning on an international career, like international business or political science, will benefit from the knowledge they gain about the issues facing the world.”
Goings said that it was an especially crucial time for students to understand the issues in the world, especially in light of widespread ignorance of certain current events.
“The other day I was talking to a professor about the crisis in Georgia, and he laughed and told me most of his students were confused because they thought everyone was talking about the state,” she said.
Goings said she hoped the team’s new adviser, Leonard Krishtalka, professor of geology, and new student leaders could help the KU team step up in the national competition. Topics this year focus on the economic situation, human rights issues in African countries and the issue of nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea. The team will represent the Republic of South Korea in an annual conference sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia from Nov. 13 to Nov. 16.
— — Edited by Becka Cremer
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