Cap trains U.N. Ambassadors

A dozen Cap College students served as
delegates to this year’s North American Model
United Nations (NAMUN) — a model session
of the U.N. Although they didn’t solve all the
world’s problems during the February 18-21
mid-term break, NAMUN gave them an
understanding of the U.N.'s practical problems
and the conflicts that cause wars.

The conference was held in Toronto and
organized by students from York University and
the University of Toronto. It attracted about
1200 students from schools across North
America, and Cap students had a chance to see
how they stacked up against delegates from big
Eastern universities like McGill, and the
American Ivy League schools.

Students paid travelling costs out of their
own pockets, but the College spent $3,000
subsidizing their other costs.

Four days of discussion about world
disarmament, food aid, and how to cool-off
international hotspots may not be everyone’s
idea of a relaxing way to spend mid-term break,
but students enjoyed themselves.

Tanya Robinson, 19, is a second-year
political science student, and this was her
second time as an ambassador at a model U.N.
She plans a career in the diplomatic service and
says the conference is “a great way to learn
about international relations”.

“T got a job at the Commonwealth
Conference because of my experience (at
NAMUN) last year,” Robinson says.

Jim Rouse, also 19, is another candidate
for the diplomatic corps, who was looking for
some practical experience.

“It gives a hard edge in coming to terms
with real political procedure — and it looks
staggeringly good on your resume,” Rouse adds
with a laugh.

But delegates worked hard for that
credit. They were assigned countries — in this

case China and Spain — and they spent about
three hours a day studying issues and foreign
policy in addition to their regular course load.

“Ambassadors” who don’t do their
research can be expelled from the session —
embarrassing their delegations and themselves.
Robinson remembers an uninformed delegate
who represented Israel and was confused about
policy.

“She recognized the PLO and if she
knew Israel’s policy she would never have done
that. So we all stood up and cheered — she’d
made world peace — and she burst into tears
and spent the weekend crying.”

Political Science instructor Ed Lavalle
says in the three years that Capilano College
students have been involved in model UNs they
have always performed well.

“They have their positions researched
and they are able to advance their country’s
position and respond to questions or
emergencies — if somebody changes the order
on the agenda or introduces a snap resolution.”

Cap students get their first taste of
international relations with a model UN in the
college where they learn how to use the
language and terminology of the forum.

Lavalle says students from the college
have an advantage over delegates from larger
universities, because instructors have time to
help them prepare.

“A lot depends on the amount of
encouragement students get and (at Capilano
College) the AERERE is on teaching.”

In order that people may be
happy in their work, these three

things are needed: They must be fit
for it. They must not do too much
of it. And they must have a sense of
success in it.

John Ruskin (1851)