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Park University Holds Model U.N. for Area High SchoolsBy Summer A. Evans - April 22, 2005 - 3:14 pmEmail this article | Printer friendly page | Media Inquiries Park University hosted the Model United Nations for area high schools on Apr. 15-16 at the campus in Parkville. This event gave students from Immaculata, Leavenworth, Liberty and Louisburg high schools the opportunity to participate in a simulation of U.N. decision making. "The conference was outstanding," said Steven Youngblood, Park professor and assistant to Park's Model U.N. "The students were well prepared and energetic, and showed a sophisticated understanding of the complex issues that were discussed." The Park Model U.N. simulation included more than 60 student delegates who assumed the roles of diplomats from 20 U.N. member countries. As delegates, the students addressed reforming the U.N. Security Council, elimination of racism and racial discrimination, balancing population growth and development, the crisis in the Dafur region of Sudan, nuclear weapons proliferation in North Korea and Iran, and the situation in the Congo. Park University students served as committee chairs, keeping the high school students organized, on task, and in character. Co-organizers of the event were George Belzer, Park's Model UN director, and Olga Ganzen, Park's director of International Education and Study Abroad. Model United Nations is an authentic simulation of the U.N. General Assembly, U.N. Security Council, or other multilateral bodies, which catapults students into the world of diplomacy and negotiation. In Model U.N., students step into the shoes of ambassadors of U.N. member states, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe to debate current issues on the Organization's vast agenda. The students, better known as "delegates" in Model U.N., prepare draft resolutions, plot strategy, negotiate with supporters and adversaries, resolve conflicts, and navigate the U.N.'s rules of procedure-all in the interest of mobilizing "international cooperation" to resolve problems that affect almost every country on Earth. Park University's Model UN recently returned from the American Model United Nations conference in New York. The Park students represented Uzbekistan. For more than 50 years, teachers and students have benefited from and enjoyed this interactive, experiential learning experience that not only involves young people in the study and discussion of global issues but also encourages the development of skills useful throughout their lives in such areas as: research, writing, public speaking, problem solving, consensus building, conflict resolution and large group decision making. The next Park University Model United Nations will be on Nov. 11-12 at the campus in Parkville. For more information about Model U.N., please contact George Belzer at gbelz@yahoo.com. |