Local students to participate
in Model United Nations conference

March 6, 2006 -- The Arkansas State University Model United Nations will host its annual Spring High School Conference Friday and Saturday, March 9-10 in Wilson Hall on the Jonesboro campus.

The conference consists of three main bodies modeled on those of the real United Nations: the Security Council, the Model International Court of Justice and the International Press Delegation.

This year’s conference will include two Security Councils to allow more students to experience the workings of the elite body. The councils will work independently of each other but will work from the same topic list. Topics to be discussed include the situation between Georgia and Abkhazia, the situation between Ethiopia and Eritrea, and the Middle East situation, including the Palestinian question. 

Security Council countries are as follows: Belgium, China, Congo (Republic of), France, Ghana, Indonesia, Italy, Panama, Peru, Qatar, Russian Federation, Slovakia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. One delegate shall be assigned to each Security Council, for a total of two delegates from each country.  Fees are $10 per delegation and $7 per delegate.

Model International Court of Justice (ICJ) is a new event for the conference, co-sponsored by the ASU Pre-Law Club. The two cases being heard by the Model IJC are the application of the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro), being heard Friday night, and armed activities of the territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo v. Uganda), being heard Saturday morning. The Pre-Law Club will act as justices, and the high school students will present their respective countries’ cases. The cost is $10 per delegation.

A third aspect of this year’s conference will be the International Press Delegation, which will allow students with an interest in journalism and photojournalism to work with college students to cover the activities of the conference and produce two newsletters while in attendance. Openings are available for at least four journalists and one photojournalist. The cost will be $7 per journalist.

For further details, contact ASU-MUN Secretary General Cindy Grisham at cindy.grisham@smail.astate.edu or visit the ASU-MUN website at http://polsci.astate.edu/modelUN/index.htm.