MUNITY 2010 Volume 18 Issue IV

MUNITY XLIIThe Hague International Model United Nations

Friday, january 29, 2010 Volume 18, Issue IV

IN THIS ISSUE:To Censor or not to Censor:Both sides of a delicate and thorny issue ...page 2

Party Time:All the details of tonight’s dance ...page 13

Inside MUNITY:A look at exactly what happens in the Press Room all day ....page 6

Hammering Out A Perfect Chair“Sometimes I find my Chairs

are factually wrong.”

“My Chair doesn’t know the rules!”

“I raised my placard a million times, but my Chair still won’t recognize me!”

These are just some of the sentiments that delegates in various committees expressed when asked to offer construc-tive criticism about their Chairs. Perhaps not the re-sponse that the Chairs would have hoped for from the del-egates, but Ms Dubock was of a different opinion about the Chairs saying, “they get bet-ter and better every year” and that she was “pleased with the Chairs this year.”

Ms. Dubock further added that the workshop run by Mr. Ouriel Reshef from the Ameri-can School of Paris was “very successful.” The workshop, she said, doesn’t simply teach the Chairs about general pro-cedure, but also teaches them the importance of bonding as a team and about other quali-ties that make a good student officer. Delegates in different committees seemed to agree with the THIMUN Board’s list of qualities in good student officers.

Ms. Dubock said the first quality of a good Chair is im-partiality. A Chair should re-

main unbiased during debate and give all delegates an equal opportunity to speak. If a team of student officers works to-gether well and keeps a list of who has spoken and who has not, then every delegate can get a chance to speak when he or she raises his or her placard. The delegate of Syria in Human Rights Committee, Sagar Khe-mani, from the International School Manila, agrees that “there is absolutely no need for a Chair to constantly pick on the same delegate in the in-terest of debate, because even delegates who are not fully pertinent to the topic can often contribute to discussion.”

The second quality of a good Chair is knowing the proce-dures well. A Chair who is well informed about debating pro-cedures can quell the qualms

that the delegates in the com-mittee may have. Such a chair gives delegates confidence and helps make debate flow. Ms. Dubock added that “a Chair should show no arrogance and instead should encourage del-egates in their committees.” Speaking about making dele-gates comfortable, Ms. Dubock said that “the Chair should put non-native English speakers at ease during debate when they are nervous.”

The final quality of a good Chair is being flexible to the delegates’ needs, depending on the situation. Ms. Dubock termed this being “quietly au-thoritative.” Harriet Barham, delegate of Ecuador in GA 4 from École International Le Verseau, remarked that “a good chair needs to be firm and ul-timately also needs to have a

sense of humour so that the committee doesn’t get rest-less.” Ian Nightingale, delegate of UNCHR in Special Confer-ence 2 from John Burroughs School, agreed saying “laugh-ing is an important part of de-bating.”

With these three qualities, an average Chair can become a good Chair, perhaps even an excellent Chair. These charac-teristics are what the delegates look for in their Chairs. Per-haps, if Chairs are able to in-corporate these three qualities into the manner in which they conduct debate, the delegates too will respond by displaying only those qualities that Chairs look for in delegates. We will leave the final judgment on how the Chairs performed up to you.

By: Divya Sharan

Karina DukalskaTwo Chairs in Disarmament 2 hard at work

January 29, 2010Issue IV

http://sites.google.com/site/munityonline2010

CON

PRO

EDITORIAL

Opinions expressed by MUNITY are not necessarily those of the newspaper, The Hague International Model United Nations, its affilliates, sponsors, or participants, but rather those of the individual writers formed from their observation of the conference with research. Commentary and response referring to the articles are welcomed. MUNITY reserves the right to withhold or edit submissions.

Editors-in-ChiefKuan Yu Shen

Andria Varnavides

Text-EditorsMari-Ana Narbon

Jessia GaoAlejandra Paton

ReportersDivya Sharan

Victoria UwemedimoPatricia Kim

Bavo StevensAditya Naganath

Liske BruinsmaVera Bloemen

Genevieve SniderTugce Koseoglu

LayoutSeoHyun Sarah Bae

Spencer JacksonJennifer Sun

Mara Wendebourg

PhotographersEric Lawton

Sophia PalenbergKarina Dukalska

Intern Brianna Felegi

AdviserMr. Andrew Newman

Munity XLIIStaff

2E Van Blankenburgstraat 1192517HC Den Haag, The Netherlands

“The suppression of ideas and infor-mation that certain people find objec-tionable or dangerous.” The previous phrase written by the American Li-brary Association sounds like a com-mon notion from a communist regime or a wartime slogan. However, there is a certain degree of truth as suppression still exists all over the world in newspa-pers, books, politics, business, and the media.

This is called censorship. It’s a deadly method used against free-willed peo-ple that is even more dangerous than guns or knives. Censorship is espe-cially effective when applied to mass media since the public is most influ-enced by it. People have no choice but to believe what they see; what they see is what the media want them to.

Who controls the censorship? Who decides on what should be shown to the public? Usually it is the large cor-porations that hold powerful authority or governments that give themselves the right to filter information. Censor-ship would not be much of a problem if the authorities based their censoring standards on morals and human rights. Problems and issues pertaining to the expurgation of ideas arise because the standards are corrupted with power, money, and contracts.

Unfortunately, it is almost impos-sible to avoid editing in today’s society. For every liberal who declares freedom of speech and press, there will always be a conservative who argues against vulgar information or images thrown out into the public.

Yet as Potter Stewart, a former asso-ciate justice of the U.S. Supreme court, said, “Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence. It is a hallmark of authoritarian regime.”

If censorship is inevitable, it should be the people who censor certain con-tent themselves, rather than relying upon censorship abused by the govern-ment.

To Censor or Not to CensorBy: Patricia Kim

In an age where freedom of expres-sion has come to epitomize democracy, censorship has become a form of sacri-lege. It has become synonymous with the loss of our freedom, and we value nothing more than our freedom. Sadly, many of us have failed to recognize the positive role that censorship can play in our society, most importantly cen-sorship of the media.

Censorship does not mean that one’s freedom of expression is banned; it merely avoids the corruption of peo-ple’s moral values, especially those of children. Children of impressionable ages are constantly exposed to forms of media with excessive violence and pornographic material. By censoring these kinds of information in the me-dia, we can ensure that children do not learn about things that could be harm-ful to themselves or others, since they are too young to judge for themselves what is appropriate or inappropriate. While it is the responsibility of the child’s guardians to keeps such forms of media away from children, there is no way that we can assure the responsi-bility of these guardians. It is therefore important that we censor the media for the sake our children’s moral upbring-ing.

Furthermore, censorship of the me-dia means that information cannot be misrepresented. Censorship prevents advertisements from publicizing exag-gerated claims about their products. We no longer see ads about tonics that cure everything from arthritis to brain tumors and this, thankfully, means that people aren’t deceived into buying these. However, the misrepresentation of information can go beyond adver-tisements. People cannot misrepresent certain ideologies to make their own seem more favorable when there is cen-sorship.

By: Bavo Stevens

“We no longer see ads about tonics that cure everything from arthritis to brain tumors”

“People have no choice but to be-lieve what they see”

January 29, 2010 Issue IV

http://sites.google.com/site/munityonline2010FOCUS

First Committee of the Gen-eral Assembly (GA1) works to-wards peace. Their main topic, Disarmament and International Security, includes issues such as the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the region of the Middle East and develop-ments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international securi-ty. The former topic is especially relevant as it pertains to the cur-rent and controversial tensions in the Middle East, particularly those between Iran and Israel as well as a potentially destabi-lising Middle Eastern nuclear arms race.

Given the tensions raging in the Middle East, and the global implications of any country un-leashing the devastating force of a nuclear weapon, the whole world has a key interest in work-ing towards a nuclear free Mid-dle Eastern zone. This objective might sound unrealistic, even utopian. However, the tensions

which make the eradication of nuclear weaponry so difficult are the very reasons why such regulation is fundamental. A resolution debated yesterday in the GA1 contained several clauses and sub-clauses which would permit the struggle of

finding a peaceful balance in the Middle East to be facili-tated. Notably, the resolution “suggests [that] all member states of the region to declare their support for the creation of a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone in the Middle East” and “urges Egypt, Iran and Israel to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear

Test Ban Treaty as the only An-nex II states in the Middle East yet to ratify”. This particular resolution passed and thus dis-played the committee’s desire to achieve peace, as well as a will-ingness to begin putting more pressure on countries which

make the nuclear arms race pos-sible.

Issues also being debated in yesterday’s GA1 included a zone of peace and cooperation of the South Atlantic, where the zealous, eager delegate of Alge-ria spoke in favour of a resolu-tion. The resolution, in Algeria’s opinion, was key in working

towards peace. When attacked and criticised, the delegate con-ceded that the resolution “had its imperfections”. However, he insisted that such potential flaws would neither hinder rec-onciliation nor wreak “havoc”, but instead would lead to fur-ther debates and discussions and, ultimately, peace.

Yesterday, General Assembly 2 (GA2) started with debate upon a resolution concerning external debt and the develop-ment towards a durable solution to the debt problems of develop-

ing countries.Over the past three and a half

decades, the countries with the sixty lowest incomes in the world have increased their ex-ternal debt from $25 billion to over $500 billion. For develop-ing countries, ensuring eco-nomic progress and growth is already a difficult task and the burden of external debt poses yet another obstacle to their ad-vancement.

There are many reasons be-hind the large sums of exter-nal debts developing countries owe developed countries today. Many have had debt imposed on them upon gaining indepen-dence. Others borrowed money from developed countries dur-ing the 1960s and 1970s, when certain richer Western coun-tries like the United States had

relatively low interest rates. Some debt crises are often caused by domestic difficulties, like depreciation of currency or a fall in demand for exports which they are heavily depen-dent on, as well as the refinanc-ing of loans, which causes the imposition of new debts to re-pay old ones.

Debt spins in a vicious, in-creasing cycle. Because of this, spending on developmental ne-cessities, such as health and ed-ucation systems, is postponed, stunting economic develop-ment. This is exacerbated by the unfair advantage developed countries already have in trade situations, especially in agricul-ture, where goods are heavily subsidized and protected by the government. This results in the loss of competitiveness for the

same goods produced in devel-oping countries, further strain-ing their ability to repay fellow nations.

Debt figures are relatively insignificant to the developed countries, and the issue of debt cancellation for the develop-ing countries is raised. This also poses the problem of de-pendence; developed countries may misuse future loans and expect the debt to be canceled.

With the complexity of the issue at hand, all resolutions on the topic have failed so far. When asked why, Deputy Chair Ashley Gangell explained, “The delegates are unable to agree on how the issue should be resolved. They all just seem to want to bash each other up about it.”

GA1 Embarks On a Quest for Peace

It’s Payback Time in GA2By: Jessica Gao

By: Victoria Uwemedimo

Eric Lawton

Eric Lawton

“The tensions which make the eradication of nuclear weaponry so difficult are the very reasons why such regulation is fundamental. “


http://sites.google.com/site/munityonline2010 FOCUS

Acceptance is All We’re Asking ForThe Humanitarian, Social

and Cultural committee, also known as the General Assem-bly Third Committee (GA 3), has dealt with a great variety of topics over the past week. Im-portant issues such as prevent-ing the spread of malaria in de-veloping countries, particularly in Africa, have been discussed intently in the committee. The delegates strive to put together a

comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the Declara-tion of Commitment on HIV/AIDS.

The GA 3 also extensively dis-cussed the effective promotion of the Declaration on the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguis-tic minorities. By implement-ing and effectively promoting this declaration, we can prevent wars such as the ongoing Israel-Palestinian Conflict, from hap-

pening. Not only is it important that we accept the minorities with their individual traits, but we should also encourage them to develop their capabilities within their own language and unique culture, seeing as every human being deserves his or her dignity, and discrimination of a minorities goes against the basic human rights that every person ought to have. When discussed in this committee, however, the delegates struggled to find an effective and productive way to promote this declaration, which explains why the resolution did not pass.

When asked how the commit-tee has been doing over the past week, the delegate of France stated: “Everything is okay. The debates about HIV/AIDS are going great and they’re inter-esting if you know your issue well”. That goes to show, del-egates; a good debate is based on good research. Furthermore,

the United States of America spoke passionately for over half an hour on her resolution for HIV/AIDS before opening her-self up to points of information, followed by Singapore, who ran to the floor to share his opinion with his fellow delegates.

When asked how the week was going, Judith van de Weter-ing, President Chair in the GA 3, said: “Our delegates are perfect; they are really calm but also very active.” She also confessed that the chairs were forced to seek aid from one of the delegations after finding out that the computer was in Chi-nese and the Deputy Chair, the only one who could read Chi-nese, had just left.

So, taken as a whole, the Gen-eral Assembly Third Commit-tee has worked hard over the past week to successfully find solutions to pressing issues, and their chairs are very proud of them!

Photographer name

Somali, Palestine and Cyprus: GA4 Unveiled

In this year’s General Assem-bly, sub-committee four, one of the issues being discussed is the controversial topic of the creation of a stable Somali gov-ernment in order to guarantee economic and social security in the country and the region. Delegates were urged to find solutions that remediate this matter as this is one of the most important problems faced in Africa and the world today. Re-garding this issue, the President Chair of this committee, Cem Ucan from the American Col-lege Institute in Izmir, stated that “Somalia is an important part of our agenda. There were five resolutions made about this issue, and the debate has been really intense.”

The Somali government is characterized by civil wars. As a result, there has been no

stable government for decades. The power has been divided between two main groups: the Transitional Federal Govern-ment and the Islamic Courts of Union. The Transitional Fed-eral Government, who has the support of the United Nations, is working on gaining control of the country, while the Islamic Courts of Union also battles for control. The constant war and a lack of government have desta-bilized the economic and social security of the country and the region. Another pressing prob-lem in Somalia is the constant attacks of pirates. This hurts the economy and the well-being of its citizens. Furthermore, these conflicts put the population in continuous danger.

When asked about the qual-ity of debate, President Chair Cem Ucan expressed that “it is not as heated as last year, but it is still good because the delegates

are productive and the issues at hand are very interesting.” Concerning the other issues, he said that “Cyprus and Palestine are really important issues that should be discussed.” One of the resolutions debated yester-day was Resolution 180 on the assistance to Palestinian refu-gees. “Its main focus is on the Israeli-Palestine conflict and how it can end peacefully. It is a good resolution that involves a

lot of debate since there are two strong opposing sides,” said the delegate of Kuwait, Keun Hee Kim, from the Association of Korean Schools.

With this in mind, MUNITY would like to congratulate the GA4 committee for its great take on the issues as well as the creative and helpful solutions presented for these very impor-tant matters.

By: Mari-Ana Narbon

Karina Dukalska

Karina Dukalska

By: Liske Bruinsma


http://sites.google.com/site/munityonline2010FOCUS

“... battle of the 21st century; one waged on an entirely new platform: the internet.”

GA5 Shows Importance of Possibility

Unlike other Model UN con-ferences that only have one or two General Assembly forums, THIMUN has provided stu-dents with access to all six Gen-eral Assembly committees that each deal with specific themes. General Assembly 5’s (GA5) four issues pertain primarily to finance, the forum’s theme be-

ing Administration and Bud-getary.

This year, GA5 deals with financing the International Criminal Tribunal for the For-mer Yugoslavia, the work of humanitarian organizations in areas of conflict, and the Unit-ed Nations Observer Mission in Georgia. Overall, delegates have illustrated a thorough in-terest in the debates, making it

harder to pass a resolution, but at the same time allowing only for the better resolutions to pass. Amendments were made one after another and endless points of information dismissed unnecessary or repetitive sub-clauses, at the same time intro-ducing new ideas

In fact, only one resolution has passed in the past four days. The delegate of Niger was the main submitter of the approved reso-lution pertaining to the issue on financing the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia. The resolution has two main targets: increasing the efficiency and awareness, and decreasing the overall cost of the Tribunal. Two other resolu-tions were merged together to create better reasoning, and the meticulous debate presented by the delegates polished up the re-maining problems.

The atmosphere of GA5 was serious and the tone heavy, yet diplomatic. Although there were no funny anecdotes or metaphors made in speeches, several delegates displayed their enthusiasm with clever comments relative to finance. Throughout the conference, GA5 showed continuous mo-tivation to seek realistic pos-sibilities concerning monetary issues.

“In MUN conferences, the GA5 is the only committee which encourages a thorough debate on the sources, alloca-tion and implementation of monetary and non-monetary resources,” said Luc Noordhol-land de Jong, one of the Deputy Chairs of GA5. “It focuses on how to make the ideas from the other General Assemblies pos-sible and feasible in the modern world.”

By: Patricia Kim

GA6 Overview: Battling Cyber Crime With Legal Superpowers

Walking into the General Assembly 6th Committee was a sobering sight. Delegates were attentively taking notes as Chairperson Saad Ishtiaq, from the Interna-tional School of Panama, dictated a freshly intro-duced amend-ment concerning the issue of cyber warfare.

The motive be-hind this cyberspace arms-race is information; the ability to defend, capture, dominate and manipulate your own intelli-gence as well as your adversary’s is a lucrative prospect. This is the battle of the 21st century; one waged on an entirely new platform: the internet. Cyber warfare is an unregulated field

just beginning to be tapped into; there are no international or domestic laws governing the concept and therefore the pos-sibilities remain wide open. The issue of cyber security is burn-

ing in everyone’s mind, and legal action must be taken in order to prevent catastro-phe.

This year, the General Assem-bly 6th has debat-ed the creation of

a legal framework for the issue of cyber warfare. Stepping back from the insulated nature of other committees, GA6 focuses on setting legal guidelines that lie at the core of the internation-al legal apparatus. Constructing a global policy and establishing international law is enough to make even the toughest UN of-ficial break a sweat!

Throughout the conference, “the quality of debate has been interestingly passionate and engaging, with delegates so desperately wanting to take the floor that they sent me pleading notes, angry notes, and even a lollipop!” commented the Chairperson. It was amazing to see how engaged the delegates were during the session; clearly, this committee means business.

Sometimes, though, a little quirk breaks the tedium. When the delegate of UNICEF intro-duced yet another amendment – and ten others motioned to stop him – there was a moment of open laughter. The correction read: “To replace ‘International Court of Criminals’ by ‘Inter-national Criminal Court’”, and surprisingly, it passed unani-mously!

By: Alejandra Paton

Sophia Palenberg

Sophia Palenberg


http://sites.google.com/site/munityonline2010 CONFERENCE

Behind the Scenes: MUNITY

The MUNITY press room is a place which transforms throughout the day. Photogra-phers, layout artists and report-ers trickle in in the morning, blowing our hands to try to shake off the cold clinging to us. Our morning ritual consists of desperately trying to sell the day’s issue of the newspaper in the freezing temperatures of The Hague, ambushing people, bombarding them with orders to pay us one euro and trying to come up with new marketing techniques, such as “Get your MUNITY here! One for one euro, two for two euros!”. None-theless, as MUNITY reporter Bavo Stevens admits, “It’s worth it!”. There is an element of truth in that the cold begins to wear off after a while, thawed by the few genuine thanks we get and the admiration, gratitude and truth which lie therein.

After our ‘morning ritual’, the rest of the day ensues, with people coming in and out of the press room asking to use the computer or the printer, with the whole team typing frantical-ly with intense concentration, with editors running around and graciously answering nev-er-ending questions. As the day grows older, we grow more ex-hausted and more stressed, un-til finally our articles are done and the reporters sit around idly while the layout team works urgently on finishing the next day’s newspaper. Yet despite the fatigue, pressure and demand-

ing time constraints, we are all here because we want to be here and we truly love every second of it.

Here is an interview with Mr Newman, MUN Director and the MUNITY Coordinator:

1. How important is the MUNITY to THIMUN?

Extremely important. It gives the opportunity for young peo-ple and aspiring journalists who have a background in MUN to use their skills to report on this conference.

2. How does the applica-tion process for the MUNITY work?

Just as with all student offi-cers. The application is due in September and I read over sixty applications for roughly thirty positions.

3. What sort of criteria are you looking for in an appli-cant?

I’m looking for students who have a background in M.U.N, primarily students who are editors for yearbooks or stu-dent newspapers, at their own schools, students who are in-terns in local newspapers and students who are looking to study Journalism on a univer-sity level. Also, we are always looking for layout artists, es-pecially those who are familiar with the program InDesign. But we don’t overlook students who

love the press and just want to see the c o n f e r -

ence from a different perspec-tive than a delegate.

4. What do you think of the atmosphere in the MUNITY Press Room?

Stressful in that we have a real deadline and all work has to be

complete and sent to the printer by 5.30. We have the longest hours of most attendees of the conference. Exciting as we have been in touch with each other over the Internet in prepara-tion of the conference and the friendships created in the ex-citement of the press room are lasting. Passionate because ev-eryone really cares about the as-signment given.

5. What is the best thing about the whole MUNITY ex-perience?

I think MUNITY allows them to see the bigger picture of the conference, access all rooms most of the times, have their finger on the heartbeat of all that is happening and shar-ing that with all the delegates. MUNITY gives the students an incredible opportunity to decide for themselves whether they want to pursue this later on or not, to have a make or break situation in which they can find out if journalism really is for them.

6. Who has a harder job: those debating or those at MUNITY?

We have longer hours, start-ing to sell newspapers at 8.00 am till the deadline at 5.30 pm, hardly having a break, trying to find that perfect quote in an in-terview with someone as high as the Princess to someone taking coats or selling French fries.

By: Victoria Uwemedimo

Sophia Palenberg Karina Dukalska

Eric Lawton

“...we are all here because we want to be here and we truly love every second of it.”


http://sites.google.com/site/munityonline2010CONFERENCE

Delegates Greatly Appreciate Their MUN DirectorsNone of us would be here if

it wasn’t for our delegations’ directors. They take the time out of their busy schedules to haul us all to The Hague for a week in the middle of the school year, often leaving their own classes to fend for themselves with a substitute teacher. Some directors organize trips to Am-sterdam for the free Wednes-day afternoon, dinner out in The Hague, nights out with our friends and fellow delegates. Ms. Jangochian from The Eng-lish School says that she orga-nized “delegation dinners and a tour of Amsterdam on Sunday” when their delegation arrived in the Netherlands. They stay up late to make sure we make it back to the hotels in time for curfew and also make sure that delegates are home safe at their host-homes; they spend sleep-less nights with one ear on the hotel room door so they can be

sure none of us sneak out to go to each other’s rooms. So by the end of the week, the directors are exhausted, and deserve a big thank you from each and every delegate.

While many of you may think that your director is bother-

some – not letting you stay out later, and checking in on you in your commission to make sure you are there and not skipping, they are doing it for your own good. They are legally responsi-ble for you this week and the di-rectors have to avoid problems and they have to be prepared for anything whether it is a bloody nose or a drunken delegate. Di-rectors are here for your benefit; they only want you to learn as much as possible and take as much away from this confer-ence as you can. Ms. Herding from the Benenden School in Kent, UK, was quoted saying “this is a very professional con-ference that takes a lot of com-mitment and voluntary work from the directors”. The direc-tors aren’t forced to be here, but they are taking the time to be here and make your MUN ex-perience that much better

One director, Alexander Kish from the American Interna-tional School of Budapest, has participated in THIMUN for nineteen years, and one of his own former-students is now a director here at THIMUN. Ms. Dubock complimented Mr. Kish and commented that “he is a very dedicated man and is re-ally going to be missed by many here”. Mr. Kish will “really miss the energy and the unique, dif-

fering viewpoints from the students at THIMUN” and he “truly believes that the real UN and legislatures should always look at students resolutions”.

THIMUN Advisory Board is made up of MUN directors, such as Mr. Kollar who in ad-dition to their responsibility of chaperoning their delegations, help coordinate all the forums here at the conference.

While we wouldn’t be at THI-MUN without our directors, this is a student-led conference and the directors take a back seat role and let the students lobby, debate, speak etc. In the off-conference hours, direc-tors aid delegates writing their resolutions, practicing public speaking with the delegates and helping them become the best delegate they can be.

Hopefully this article will make many of you realize that these directors aren’t here to be a nuisance; they are here to make sure that each and every delegate gains maximum ben-efit from this conference. So make sure to thank your direc-tors for all their hard work this week; you owe it all to them for being here!

By: Genna Snider

Sophia Palenberg

Sophia Palenberg

The Faces of

THIMUN


http://sites.google.com/site/munityonline2010 CONFERENCESpecial Conference Deals with Good Governance and Interesting Similes

This year’s Special Confer-ence will be dealing with Good Governance, striving for trans-parency and equity in govern-ment (SCGG). The complexity of the topic may sound intimi-dating, however, it is of great importance, and for that exact reason it was chosen to be dis-cussed at this year’s THIMUN. Divided into two sub-commis-sions, the special conference dealt with many topics such as the promotion of a democratic and equitable international or-der in sub-commission two, and ensuring integrity, indepen-dence and authority of legal sys-tems in sub-commission one.

In sub-commission one, three resolutions have passed, includ-ing one resolution on transpar-ency and integrity of all govern-mental institution. According to the president, Sehoon Joo, “there are a lot of constructive amendments being submitted! At times there is some joyful laughter, some strong points are made, but whenever the delegate of Germany took the floor, nothing went right, due to his inappropriate simile…” When asked about his peculiar

actions, Germany confessed: “I did think of a few new similes, such as: ‘This resolution is like a person, it has many flaws, but that’s what makes it perfect’” As a consequence of his speeches, Germany is no longer recog-nized by the chairs. On the other hand, Bulgaria believes he “spoke so passionately he made people cry.”

In sub-commission two, delegates have been both con-structive and destructive. Three resolutions have passed, includ-

ing the fostering of national dia-logue, democracy and reconcili-ation amongst the civil society and governmental actors. The delegate of France stated: “It has been going great. When we think about worthy-to-mention moments, [we think of] all of USA’s speeches, because they are extremely entertaining and also intelligent.” In one of his speeches, the United States of America said: “This resolution is as silly as the colour pattern on my socks”, he then proceed-

ed to show his brightly coloured socks with a huge variety of co-lours to the whole committee.

To finish off - Special Confer-ence’s ‘quote of the day’: “Could the house please come to order! Nothing is funny in the house!” by Junichi Fukuoka, Assistant President sub-commission one.

By: Liske Bruinsma

Real Life Conflicts Close to Home Another of the many

advantages THIMUN dele-gates have when coming to the conference in The Hague is how close to “home” some of the is-sues being debated are in real life. One of these is the Interna-tional Criminal Court, located just across the World Forum. It is governed by the Rome Stat-ute, and it is the first permanent, treaty based international crim-inal court established to punish the most serious crimes that concern the entire international community.

One of the cases hap-pening right now is on the In-ternational Court Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. In this

case, Mico Stanisic, minister of the Serbian Ministry of In-ternational Affairs, and Stojan Zupljanin, chief of the Regional Security Service Centre and ad-visor on internal affairs to the President of Republika Srpska, are being tried on crimes against humanity, which include perse-cutions on political, racial or re-ligious grounds, extermination, and others. When asked about the trial, Antonis Rocopos, del-egate of Nepal from the English School, said that “[I] was scared about the security measures. It was intimidating; it took like 15 minutes to get inside.” It is, by far, an impacting experience to witness how people that have done a lot of damage are finally facing the consequences of their

a c t i o n s , which is history in the mak-ing.

As one is present in the trial, the most impressive factor is the way it pre-cedes. “I was really impressed by the level of perfection pres-ent. There are three judges for one case, and the criminals are defended by two lawyers,” said Antonis Rocopos after his visit. Being quiet, attentive and re-spectful are some of the things the visitors are expected to do,

since it is of major gravity to solve these issues.

So, if you are planning on visiting the International Criminal Court, be sure to be as polite as possible and pay close attention to how real life con-flicts are solved.

By: Mari-Ana Narbon

THIMUN members visited the International Criminal Court

Delegates of the Special Conference prepare for another round of debate in Amazon.

Sophia Palenberg

Eric Lawton


http://sites.google.com/site/munityonline2010ENTERTAINMENT

Post-THIMUN: Are You Ready for School?

What will we miss most about THIMUN?

Travelling to Europe and ex-ploring the Netherlands– that sounds like a lovely vacation! Delegates from all over the world hopped on planes and arrived for an extended stay in Den Haag. After busy days of debating, they have been touring, shopping, and socializing since day one – quite a shift from the tedious, blank walls of a classroom and all that day-to-day learning that takes place in school.

Some view THIMUN as a time to have fun and enjoy the nightlife of a city without having to worry about deadlines, essays and grades. For most, though, the work has never stopped. Be-ing a strong delegate requires researching every day, writing and merging resolutions, and discussing issues with fellow delegates and allied countries; these delegates gather in groups in hotel lobbies, on couches and in their own rooms, intensely discussing amongst themselves.

There is also the stress of de-bating from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon, on top of the demands of homework and assignments that need to be

completed before heading back to school after THIMUN “My teachers don’t understand what hard work THIMUN is. They al-ways give more work when peo-ple travel.” said Bavo Stevens, a MUNITY reporter from ACS Amman.

It’s something of a dream – especially for IB students- for whom THIMUN represents a parting of the thunderous clouds

of labor. Unfortunately it’s very short-lived, and the realization has slowly started to dawn on them. You’re going home. “In a couple of days I will be back to reality!” exclaimed Sebastian Naranjo, delegate of UNDP from the International School of Panama.

Everyone seems to dread heading back to school. I had the privilege of listening to an entire

conversation being shouted on the tram, right next by my ear, about workload and returning to school during the morning com-mute. “Next week is hell week.” groaned J.P. Caroll, delegate of Palestine from the International School of Brussels. Those exact thoughts will be in the minds of many come the post-THIMUN weekend!

When MUNITY asked the delegates what they are going to miss about THIMUN the most, the answers were very similar. Expectedly, there are many del-egates who will miss the intense debates they have participated in. According to others, the par-ticipants love to socialize. Many of the delegates stated that they are going to miss the intimate bonds they have formed with each other in THIMUN. The Student Officers and Admin Staff are also going to be missed a lot by the delegates. Some of the participants answered that they are going to miss the night life they have experienced here. Obviously, meeting with people

out of the academic circle and gaining new friendships were memorable experiences for delegates. In addition to social-izing, the delegates loved The Hague and Amsterdam and stated that they are going to

miss these beautiful cities. There were times that

were pretty icy as delegates be-gan lobbying and debating, but overall we’ve fotgotten what we miss most about home as we form new friendships in the

warmth of the World Forum. MUNITY wishes the partici-pants safe travels to their homes and hopes that a warm smile paints their faces when they look back at the conference.

By: Alejandra Paton

By: Tugce Koseoglu

Alejandra Paton

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Debates

The People

The Cities

Nightlife

THIMUN Staff



Roller Coaster at the Environment Commission James Ellis, the delegate of

Micronesia of Kings College, Chester, had a bumpier ride than he expected before his res-olution was passed. The resolu-

tion in question, concerned the effects of the global financial crisis on the environment. El-lis had formed a bloc with the United Kingdom and Austria,

and the three had initially decided to work togeth-er to draft a r e s o l u t i o n . However, due to conflicting views and in-creasing dis-sent amongst the trio, the United King-dom decided to leave Ellis’ bloc. Not a terribly major blow to El-lis, who man-aged to see his resolution

pass through the advisory panel before it was being debated in committee.

That’s when chaos struck! In

the middle of the heated debate, the United Kingdom charged Ellis and his Austrian ally with a plagiarized resolution. He then proceeded to evade questions by absconding, leaving the En-vironmental Commission in ut-ter commotion. This was soon followed by a motion by the UK’s to table Ellis’ resolution.

Upset by the unfolding

events, Ellis met with Deputy Secretary General Lara Non-ninger and the President of his Commission, providing them with evidence of the originality of his resolution. Following the meeting, the UK representative decided to revert to his original stand and ’untable’ Ellis’ reso-

lution. Austria and Micronesia had reworded the resolution after the meeting; as it is, he had lost interest in the matter at hand and didn’t want to create more trouble. While this was favorable to Ellis, such an action would still need a two third ma-jority in the Commission and due to the existing accusations of plagiarism, James was wary of majority opinion.

The vote proved to be nail

biting with Ellis acquiring a two third majority by only two votes! However, after these (to him) scary and unexpected events, Ellis was able to breathe easy as his resolution was finally passed in Commission.

By: Aditya Naganath

Live for Today, Plan for Tomorrow and Party Tonight!By: Vera Bloemen T a k e

your suits off, put your party clothes on and get ready to rumble!

Ending the THIMUN week with an overwhelming, breath-taking, spectacular and mag-nificent party has been a THI-MUN tradition for a long time and, as always, the party will take place here, in the basement of the WFCC. The party starts at 20:00 (doors close at 21:30) and, unfortunately, finishes by 24:00.

As always, music is arranged by Ohio Music Service, and they will play two different mu-sic styles in the two different rooms in the basement.

Beer, wine and soft drinks will be served, however it is not al-lowed for anyone to bring alco-hol to the party, nor will smok-ing (of any substance…) be tolerated in the building. There will be strict surveillance and consequences when caught, so be on your best behavior – at least just for tonight!

Anyway, we held a little poll, asking your plans for your last night here in The Hague.

87% of the delegates we asked said they were plan-ning to at least stop by. From the people not going, we got excuses like someone having “a very important chess tour-nament”, plus some schools aren’t allowed to go to the party, because of the alcohol being served.

The delegates’ expectations for the dance were varied and pretty high. For example: “A lot of hot boys dancing their &$#@ off for us girls”, “Fun!” and there even was somebody who ex-pected “A lot of new philosophi-cal insights”. As for aims and goals for the dance, most of the delegates will be aiming to just have a lot of fun. Interestingly, a lot of you were also planning to “hit the bar”, “to put those biol-ogy lessons into practice” and a member of our very own press team said: “Can’t tell you – it wouldn’t be appropriate”. There

was even a very special some-one who wanted to “kidnap the DJ and take over the party!”

As for bringing dates to the party, some of you were very picky: “A hot girl with long black hair, almond-shaped green eyes and a short skirt”. On the other hand, some of you were a little more “desperate”: “Anyone that wants to go with me”. We also got some personal answers: “DSG David Ollivier de Leth, he’s sweet!”, “Jelmer (Equatori-al Guinea) from HRC2 with the cute hairdo” and “The girl sit-

ting in front of me…”Well, we wish you all good

luck with it all and hope you’ll have an amazing party. See you there!

Finally, please remember to bring your badge, proof of age and party ticket, as you won’t be allowed in without a badge AND party ticket… And that would be just unfortunate, wouldn’t it?

Eric Lawton


http://sites.google.com/site/munityonline2010CONFERENCETeddy MUNY Reproduced!by Jessica Gao

The teddy family is growing at THIMUN!

Since the start of the con-ference, the raffle for Teddy MUNY, organized by Chair of the THIMUN Board Ms. Dubock, has already raised 800 Euros and counting.

Due to the success of the raffle sales, Ms. Dubock has decided to increase the chance of win-ning the teddy bear. There will be three prizes at the end of the week--Tenny MUNY, Mini-MUNTy and Baby MUNY.

The two new members of the teddy family are slightly smaller than Teddy MUNY, as their names suggest. However, they are jsut as adorable as the prede-cessor, Teddy MUNY.

Embellished with a THI-

MUN pin, the two teddy bears proudly represent the humani-tarian efforts put in by all the THIMUN delegates who have purchased raffle tickets at the stand on the second floor of the World Forum.

The aim of the raffle is to raise money for the relief efforts of the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti a little more than two weeks ago. All proceeds of the raffle will be used to aid the citizens of Haiti.

Please continue to show your support by purchasing a raffle ticket for 50 cents at the mer-chandise stand!

The three THIMUN teddy bears epitomize the ultimate mission of the United Nations: the struggle for a better world and a brighter tomorrow!

Munity-Online Munity-OnlineSophia Palenberg

Sophia Palenberg

An apology from a delegate“The delegation of Niger would like to apologize for inappropriate

notepaper they have been using. It was a case of irony gone awry, based on an official UN survey that classified Niger as the least de-sirable country to live in based on its HID and other factors. We are very sorry, it was not our intention to insult any delegates or repre-sentatives of Niger.”

Eric Lawton



THIMUN Nationality Survey 2010The XLII Annual Session of The Hague International Model United Nations is still the largest High School Model United Nations

Conference in the world, with a total of 3,600 students and teachers taking part. The total number of students is 3,200. The national representations were as follows:

Germany 327 United Kingdom 172 Netherlands 202 United States 637The other students came from:Algeria 1Angola 2Argentina 5Australia 33Austria 4Azerbaijan 2Bangladesh 2Belgium 59Benin 1Brazil 20Bulgaria 2Cameroon 1Canada 90Cape Verde 1Chile 1China 61Colombia 2Costa Rica 2Croatia 2Cyprus 23

Czech Republic 2Denmark 10Dominican Rep. 6Ecuador 11Egypt 37Eritrea 1Estonia 1Ethiopia 1Finland 19France 130Gambia 1Georgia 2Ghana 1Greece 103Guatamala 1Hungary 3India 62Indonesia 18Iran 3Ireland 35

Israel 8Italy 86Japan 32Jordan 27Kazakhstan 4Kenya 19Korea, Rep. of 68Kuwait 11Latvia 1Lebanon 7Liberia 1Libya 3Malaysia 12Mexico 6Morocco 4Nepal 1New Zealand 21Nicaragua 1Nigeria 4Norway 29

Oman 2Pakistan 14Panama 12Peru 3Philippines 12Poland 6Portugal 12Qatar 6Romania 1Russian Fed 12Saudi Arabia 4Senegal 1Seychelles 1Sierra Leone 1Singapore 29Slovakia 2Slovenia 1South Africa 6Spain 77Sri Lanka 3

Sudan 13Sweden 11Switzerland 9Syria 1Taiwan 3Tanzania 1Thailand 2Trinidad and T 1Turkey 126Ukraine 4Uruguay 1Venezuela 12Viet Nam 1Zimbabwe 2

There were 369 teachers and officials, of whom 168 were men and 201 were women: 108 Americans, 57 British, 34 Germans and 18 Dutch. The other national origins are as follows:

Australia 12Austria 2Belgium 3Canada 17China 7Cyprus 3Ecuador 2

Egypt 2Finland 3France 11Greece 17India 5Indonesia 1Ireland 6

Italy 6Japan 2Jordan 6Kenya 2Korea, Rep. Of 1Lebanon 2Mexico 1

New Zealand 3Norway 3Pakistan 1Panama 1Portugal 1Singapore 5Slovakia 1

South Africa 2Spain 6Switzerland 2Turkey 11

Admin Staff Keeps THIMUN Chaos OrganizedBy: Bavo Stevens

Delegates are the face of THIMUN. They are the picture that comes to every-body’s mind when we think about THIMUN, and their standard is what we use to evaluate its success. Had there been no delegates, there would have been no THIMUN. Yet, while the delegates unquestionably do play an important role, the Admin staff plays an equal-ly important one. Despite the fact that they have been often called ‘note-passers’, [admittedly even by MUNI-

TY reporters!] they are the people who work behind the scenes to ensure that this conference goes smoothly, and without them, there would have no organized chaos.

When it comes to lob-bying and debating, the amount of work that the Admin staff has can be said to be less than that of the delegates, their jobs aren’t as easy as many of us would like to believe. The students at the American School of The Hague (ASH) started

preparing for their positions as Admin staff in November. Nathanial Bulovas, from ASH, told MUNITY press that he had devoted his lunch breaks during these last two weeks for his Ad-min position training. Ad-min staff Kelly Smith and Julian Janssen from ASH, said that their positions re-quired them to know every-thing from dress code to the safety procedures needed in the case of an emergency.

Continued on page 15Sophia Palenberg


http://sites.google.com/site/munityonline2010ENTERTAINMENT

Funny notes

They went on to tell us that at the end of their training, they were required to take a test to prove that they were sufficiently prepared to be Admin staff Despite the amount of work that the ASH stu-dents had to endure, they are happy that they volunteered as Admin staff, telling us that THIMUN had provided them with a rewarding experience.

Not all Admin staff, however, volunteered for their position. The students at the British School in the Netherlands (BSN), for ex-ample, have to participate in THIMUN during their junior year. Having no real option over the matter, Billy Baric, Admin staff and

student at BSN, said that he could not think of many students from his school that didn’t particularly enjoy participating in THIMUN.

What some of the readers might not know is that many of Admin staff needed to have good academic records before they partici-pate in this conference. Kelly Smith said that ASH required grades above 75 percent and teacher recommendations for each of her classes before she could miss a week of school for THIMUN. Other schools had similar requirements; Thuy Nguyen, a student at the International School of The Hague, said that her grades needed to be high enough to miss a week of school but still be prepared for her International Baccalaureate exams.

by delegates!

From: The Commonwealth of AustraliaTo: The Honorable Delegate of the UK You have guts to go up there after wasting the houses’ time like you have. Love, Australia

From: RomaniaTo: BulgariaNice speech, you had all the female delegates around all excited/ sad because you didn’t wear a bow tie this morning.

From: The Democratic Republic of CongoTo: IndonesiaHaven’t decided (whether to vote for or against the resolution) cos I don’t know hat it’s talking about, due to the music idea. What songs are you listening to? I’m on sleepy music to encourage sleepy time.

From: Cote d’IvoireTo: MadagascarHow are you today? I am currently peeling of the all nighter I pulled yesterday. I am so tired. I want to go to Madagascar. Hahaha. Are you going out tonight?

From: The Democratic Republic of CongoTo: EgyptHey Egypt, what was ur name again? Sorry bout last night, the delegate of DRC was out of it and apologizes if she said anything weird on the street. Lol. Btw you are a really good speaker!! ( and what country is the guy to your right?)

From: Cote d’IvoireTo: PolandMy friend was just about to destroy the USA calling them imperialist swines and since the delegate of USA is a ginger, he was gna call him a fiery carrot-top devil ;p

Admin Staff Keeps THIMUN Chaos Organized (continued)


http://sites.google.com/site/munityonline2010 PHOTOSJanuary 27, 2010

THIMUN is Fashionable!

Karina Dukalska

Karina DukalskaSophia PalenbergK

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Karina Dukalska

Sophia Palenberg

Sophia Palenberg

Karina Dukalska

MUNITY 2010 Volume 18 Issue IV

Education

Transcript of MUNITY 2010 Volume 18 Issue IV