JCCC Model UN Team Receives Award at the 2010 National Model United Nations Conference New York City.
The Johnson County Community College (JCCC) Model United Nations team is pleased to announce that it received an Honorable Mention Award for its portrayal Nigeria at the National Model United Nations Conference (NMUN) in New York City, March 28-April 1, 2010.
JCCC was evaluated by the conference on the following criteria: representing Nigeria’s policy in a manner consistent with economic, social, and geopolitical constraints; diplomatic negotiations skills, and proper use of rules of procedure.
Some of the issues at the conference included Climate Change, The Privatization of War, Information and Communication Technologies for Development, Implementation of a global Standard of Education, Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development, Water and Nuclear Technologies, Limiting the impact of HIV/AIDS in Africa, and International Cooperation, Burden and Responsibility Sharing in Mass Influx Situations.
The team advisor, Dr. Brian Wright JCCC Associate Professor of Political Science, said “an exceptional group of students who worked very hard.” Thirteen JCCC students competed with other colleges and universities from across North & South America, Europe and Asia (for example Baylor University, University of California, Universidad San Francisco de Quito Ecuador , London School of Economics, Faculte de droit de l’Universite de Montreal, University of Texas, Universitat Erfurt Germany, Universitat Hamburg Germany, University of Pennsylvania, University of Wisconsin, University of British Columbia, University of Bonn, University of London, Sichuan International Studies University, Philipps-Universitat Marburg, New York University).
“These awards it would not have been possible without the hard work and collaboration between of every member of this team,” said JCCC student Joseph Gideon, of Lubbock, TX and Overland Park, KS. Joseph was selected to work as part of the conference staff on International Court of Justice. In addition to Joseph tweleve JCCC students participated in the conference Maxwell Otieno Matite(Olathe, KS), Abraham Mathok (Lenexa, KS), Milvi Saarna (Kansas City, KS), Lily Darrington (Prairie Village, KS), Angie Zapata (Gladstone, MO), Farhan Din (Overland Park, KS), Jeremy Williams (Overland Park, KS), Kumar Shretha (Lawrence, KS), Chris Dwyer (Overland Park, KS), Paige Crosswhite (Louisburg, KS), Rebecca Elo (Kansas City, MO) was chosen to work as part of the conference staff on the International Atomic Energy Agency.
This NMUN award caps five years of success for JCCC, during which the team has won awards at the last fifteen consecutive conferences they have attended. It also completes a sweep for the school year with this JCCC team having won awards at the American Model United Nations in Chicago Il and Mid-West Model UN in St. Louis. These conferences are an exceptional educational opportunity for JCCC students and a chance to highlight the school’s academic excellence. JCCC students prepared for the conference through research for position papers, class assignments, and participation at their own MUN simulation. A wide variety of majors are represented on this team, such as Political Science, Business, History, Nursing, Education, English, and Science.
“The NMUN conference was an unforgettable experience because of meeting students from around the world. I am proud to be a part of such a successful team” said Milvi Saarna (Kansas City, KS). “This conference was an experience I will always value; having had the opportunity to work with great students from around the world. I feel inspired” said Jeremy Williams (Overland Park, KS)
“It is very impressive former,” JCCC Model UN faculty advisor and current Adjunct Professor, George Belzer adds that “I hope everyone understands how big an achievement this is for JCCC. NMUN is by far the world’s largest and most prestigious Model UN conference. Participants include major universities from throughout the world, each of which sets the main focus of their program on award recognition at New York. Although the NMUN is huge and continues to grow, it has kept its number of awards small and to win one clearly says to the rest of the Model UN community that you have one of the strongest programs in the world. Winning such awards is a great experience for our students will stay with them throughout their lives.”
Model United Nations allows students to understand the international issues at the United Nations while building skills in public speaking and diplomacy. More than 3000 students participated in the conference by proposing resolutions and writing reports dealing with world issues. The conference helps students to further understand global issues and international relations in a forum that allows them to discuss global concerns in an atmosphere that is similar to that of the United Nations. Student Abraham Salva Matok said of the conference, “This experience at NMUN has been an educational and eye-opening experience, allowing the JCCC team to bond together and cooperate to achieve the highest accolades possible.” Joseph Gideon “When you enter the United Nations General Assembly Hall and witness so many students from around the world working on international issues. Nothing compares to the feeling of everything coming together which spending time at the United Nations. Just imagine what we can accomplish in the future.”
JCCC Model United Nations team Receives at the 2010 Mid-West Model United Nations conference St. Louis MO.
The JCCC Model United Nations team received three Outstanding Delegation and two Honorable mention awards for its portrayal of United Kingdom and Australia at the 2010 Mid-West Model United Nations Conference at Union Station St. Louis Missouri February 16-20, 2010. This accomplishment is attributable to team members Paige Crosswhite (Louisburg, KS), for her work on the 1965 Historic Security Council and the “Situation in Cyprus,” Chris Dwyer (Overland Park, KS) for his work on the World Food Program (WFP) and the issue of “Enhancing the role of the WFP in Preventing and Treating Malnutrition in Emergency Situations,” and Kumar Shretha (Lawrence, KS) for his work on the Security Council and the issue of “International Piracy.” In addition, former JCCC team member David Willis (Cleveland, MO) was selected by the Mid-West Model United Nations Conference to be the 2011 Secretary General and Brandon Bezner (Overland Park, KS) was selected to be the 2011 Under-Secretary General. The Secretary General and Under-Secretary General are responsible for organizing and managing the 2011 Mid-West Model United Nations Conference. JCCC Model United Nations faculty advisor Brian Wright (Warrensburg, MO) was elected by the faculty of the Mid-West Model United Nations conference to serve a three year term on the Board of Directors of the conference and was also elected by the Board of Directors to serve as the Board Secretary. These Mid-West Model United Nations conference awards cap over five years of success for JCCC, during which the team has won awards at each of the last eighteen conferences they have attended. The JCCC Model UN team will next attend the National Model United Nations and Leadership Conference in New York held at the United Nations March 26-April 2 where they will represent the country of Nigeria. This conference is an exceptional educational opportunity for JCCC students and a chance to highlight the school’s academic excellence. Eighteen JCCC students competed with students from over 100 other Universities and Colleges from across North America (for example, DePaul University, Univ. of Illinois, Univ. of Missouri, Univ. of Michigan, Univ. of Wisconsin). Additional JCCC team members not listed are:
Jeremy Williams (Overland Park, KS) Jeremy was rushed to the hospital with appendicitis on morning of Wed. Feb. 17, received emergency surgery and unbelievably returned to the conference the night of Thursday 18.
Maxwell Otieno Matite (Olathe, KS), Abraham Mathok (Lenexa, KS), Jeremy Mock (Raymore, MO), Milvi Saarna (Kansas City, KS), Lily Darrington (Prairie Village, KS), Angie Zapata (Gladstone, MO), Allison Williams (Overland Park, KS), Farhan Din (Overland Park, KS), Josh McConico (Bonner Springs, KS), Erica Roper (Edgerton, KS), Joseph Gideon (Kansas City, MO) ,
JCCC MODEL UNITED NATIONS TEAM RECEIVES POSITION PAPER AWARDS AT AMERICAN MODEL UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE
The JCCC Model United Nations team received four awards for their Policy Positions Papers of Kenya and Tanzania at the 2010 American Model United Nations Conference Chicago IL. November 19-23, 2010. In addition Joseph Gideon (Overland Park, KS) served as a Justice on the International Court of Justice.
The Position Paper Awards are presented in recognition of Johnson County’s pre-conference preparation. The position paper serves as a blueprint for building consensus and formulating and negotiating workable draft resolutions to resolve issues. In the last five years the JCCC Model United Nations has received awards at all eighteen consecutive conferences they have attended. Most notable are the awards received at the National Model United Nations Conference held at the United Nations in New York City. This past spring the team received an honorable mention award at the National Model United Nations and has received outstanding position paper awards in 2009, 2008, 2007, & 2006. Preparations for these conferences are an exceptional educational opportunity for JCCC students and a chance to highlight the school’s academic excellence.
Twelve papers were submitted for the 2010 American Model United Nations conference with six for Kenya and six for Tanzania.
Papers summited for the General Assembly Plenary committee are by Jeremy Williams (Overland Park, KS) representing Kenya and Ellie Brecunier (Shawnee, KS) representing Tanzania on the issues of “The role of Diamonds in Fuelling Conflict” and the “Outcome of the Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development.”
Papers submitted for the Disarmament and International Security committee are by Maxwell Matite (Olathe, KS) representing Kenya, Matt Lantz (Kansas City, MO) representing Tanzania on the issues of
“Towards an Arms Treaty: Establishing Common International Standards for the Import,” and the “Export and Transfer of Conventional Arms Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.”
Papers submitted for the Economic and Financial committee are by Robert (Andy) Anderson (Lawrence, KS) representing Kenya and Bernard Murphy (Olathe, KS) representing Tanzania on the issues of “Macroeconomic Policy Questions” and “Protection of Global Climate for Present and Future Generations of Humankind.”
Papers submitted for the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural committee are by Belinda (Nichole) Taylor (Joplin, MO) representing Kenya and Paige Crosswhite (Louisburg, KS) representing Tanzania on the issues of “Eliminating Rape and Other Forms of Sexual Violence in All Their Manifestations” and the “Status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child as it Relates to Child Labor.”
Papers submitted for the committee on International Legal Questions are by “Fatuma Kelleh (Olathe, KS) representing Kenya and Margarita Zuniga (Lawrence, KS) representing Tanzania on the issues of “Nationality of Natural Persons in Relation to the Succession of States” and the “Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization.”
Papers submitted for International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are by James Khalif (Overland Park, KS) representing Kenya and Andrew Snow (Olathe, KS) Tanzania on the issues of “Nuclear Power and Iran” plus the “Nuclear Energy and Multilateral Approaches to the Fuel Cycle.”