37th Annual Montana Model United Nations

Welcome to the 37th Annual Montana Model United Nations Conference.

January 2001

Dear High School Advisors:

With the new term for Montana high schools into full-swing and Spring term at the University about to commence, the time has come to begin preliminary work on Montana Model United Nations 2001 (MMUN). I have already started my plans and would like to share them with you.

I would first like to tell you about the committees I've chosen for this year's conference. We have maintained our core committees and commissions: GA1 (Disarmament and Security), GA3 (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural), the Security Council, and the Commission on Human Rights will all be featured. I've also included a Commission on the Status of Women, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Organization of African Unity (OAU), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). One great thing about MMUN is that we have the opportunity to change many of our committees from year to year; and while many were particularly pleased with committees like the International Court of Justice and ASEAN, I think the committees for MMUN 2001 will prove to be just as exciting and challenging.

WIPO is one of the 16 specialized agencies of the United Nations system, and is dedicated to the use and protection of the creative works of human beings. We know these works as intellectual property; with the explosion of communication that has taken place in recent years, we transfer information-music, art, literature, scientific development, and even mathematical theorems-at an accelerated rate. While most like the ideal of a free and open exchange of information (i.e., public education), those responsible for this information feel they deserve credit and compensation for, and control over this information. Can we have both an open exchange and protect intellectual property rights? Where ought we to draw the line between the rights of the creating intellect and the needs of the hungry intellect of the populace? How should we go about administering regulation over such a vast, pregnant, and rapidly changing topic? These questions have particular significance to the population today and to my generation in particular. I think that a group of students weaned on the Internet will certainly benefit from this committee and the dynamic discourse that will no doubt take place.

I replaced ASEAN with the Organization of African Unity (OAU) this year just for the sake of moving our focus to another part of the world that deserves attention from us. Africa is a hotbed for conflict and thus conflict resolution. Our awareness, understanding, and appreciation of what it means to be an African today is frighteningly low, and it is my hope that by featuring the OAU we can combat the apathy and ignorance many Americans feel toward Africans.

Finally, I've replaced the ICJ with the International Committee of the Red Cross. The committee of the ICRC, despite its namesake, is not composed of international members. It is a group of 15-25 Swiss citizens who discuss and take humanitarian action on international events. Because the committee itself is not composed of international members, the students participating in the ICRC will not be affiliated with the school's country or countries. In that, the ICRC parallels the Executive Committee of MMUN 1999. Therefore, I will take applications from the individual students interested in participating. I will send out the applications at a later time.

Countries have been assigned based on the country preference slips that every advisor had the opportunity to fill out and return to Eric Vang or me at the 2000 conference. Happily, I was able to fulfill nearly all of the requests we received. You should have received these assignments in the mail. Please review them; if you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me by e-mail at harris_mmun@yahoo.com

We will be making new written directions for parliamentary procedure and a fun instructional video to go with it; both will be available to you and your students soon.

I grow more excited for MMUN 2001 daily, and I hope you share this sentiment. With that in mind, I am pleased to invite you to join us again, on November 19th and 20th, for the 37th annual Montana Model United Nations Conference. We all anticipate hearing your response.

Sincerely,

Benjamin Harris
Student Director
harris_mmun@yahoo.com