War in Vietnam, communism in Puerto Rico and terrorist attacks in the Middle East topped the agenda at the Dartmouth's Model United Nations club's first conference last weekend.
More than 50 students from across the northeast and Canada met at the Rockefeller Center for the Social Sciences to debate world issues.
Model United Nations is a simulation of the United Nations. Students represent a nation and debate international problems and crisis situations. Delegates usually do extensive research to prepare for a conference.
The Dartmouth conference consisted of three Security Councils, each made up of the 15 nations currently represented on the U.N. Security Council.
Twenty-four Dartmouth students ran the conference and three Dartmouth students represented India in the conference.
Students from Wellesley, Columbia, McGill and Tufts Universities and the University of New Hampshire participated in the conference. Delegates stayed overnight in students' dormitory rooms.
Each Security Council debated the use of United Nations peacekeeping forces but did not discuss specific peacekeeping operations.
Alicia Jennings '96, the conference's secretary general, said the topic was kept broad "to give delegates a chance to make their own debate ... a lot of the debate was theoretical. This is unique to [a Model United Nations] conference -- the delegates seemed to really like it."
In addition to the preassigned topic, each council debated a fabricated but realistic crisis that evolved during the course of the conference. Delegates were given periodic updates on the status of the crisis as they attempted to negotiate a solution.
The first council dealt with a small group of communist rebels in Puerto Rico who were dissatisfied with the results of a Nov. 14 referendum that supported continuing commonwealth status with the United States. The rebels were supported by Fidel Castro, and North Korea and China were rumored to be involved.
The second council's crisis involved a Middle East terrorist group bombing oil wells in Saudi Arabia, causing a worldwide oil shortage. Iraq and Libya, rumored to be behind the attacks, asked for sanctions to be lifted so they could sell their oil and relieve the shortage.
The third crisis involved the Vietnamese government persecuting Buddhist Monks. The monks fled to the demilitarized zone between Vietnam and Cambodia, and Cambodia, Vietnam and China were brought led to the brink of war.
The conference's keynote speaker was Ed Luck '70, president of the United Nations Association of America. He is a renowned expert on the functioning of the United Nations, and he spoke on the use of peacekeeping troops by the United Nations.
Retired government professor Gene Lyons closed the conference by speaking about the debate that was held during the conference. Lyons sat in on many committees throughout the weekend.
The club hopes to make the conference an annual event.
"I really do see it expanding in the next couple of years," Jennings said. The conference will remain small because of its small staff, according to Jennings.
Staff members said the conference went well for the first year. Jeff Lieberthal '96, chairman of Security Council One, said, "The delegates learned about the issues. This was really the purpose of the conference."
"We're really pleased with how it went and we're really proud of how it turned out. It really has been rewarding to see how well it turned out," Jennings said.
Students attending the conference agreed.
"It was fantastic. It was really well run ... it was really efficient, especially for their first conference. I go to a lot [of conferences] on the circuit and this one was really well run," Jon Roberts said. Roberts, a senior at McGill, represented the United States on the first Security Council.
In each Security Council, a best delegate and two honorable mention awards were given to students who were the best and representing the nation effectively and accurately.
Delegation awards were given for nations that had outstanding delegates in each of the three councils.
The United States, represented by McGill, the Russian Federation, represented by Tufts, and France, represented by Columbia, were given outstanding delegation awards.
The Dartmouth Model United Nations Club has approximately 40 active members, and attends conferences at McGill, Harvard, Yale, Wellesley and the nationals in New York City.
The club is funded by the Dickey Endowment for International Understanding.
