Toni Steffens-Steward
The Paw Print
Members of the Adams State College Model UN team traveled to Geneva, Switzerland for the annual Model United Nations conference.
Up against teams from the London School of Economics and the Geneva Graduate Institute the ASC team brought home two awards which tied them with Pace University for the most awards. Micha Keller representing France and Thomas Keller representing Turkey won a Distinguished Delegate award for their work in the Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Committee. Dr. Mari Centeno the Model UN advisor at ASC said that “most of the team also deserved awards, and they won, in my book, for the incredible amount of quality they dedicated to the conference.”
Laurel Heimstra, Alfonso Casias, Sonny Santistevan and Laura Cox also attended the conference where students dealt with issues including religious defamation, freedom of expression, LGBT rights as human rights, ending extreme poverty and hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa, Multi-lateral debt relief; and the legality of pre-emptive war. Heimsta said that all of the members of the Model UN “work hard to improve our community and provide the UN spirit throughout Adams, Alamosa, and our individual communities with everything we do and learn.”
The Model UN program participants earn one credit for taking part in the program, but being involved requires a lot of dedication above what would normally be expected for a one-credit class. The members research and write resolutions to solve global problems, give speeches and debate. They also do community service and fundraising. The top performing team members are chosen for the travel team and they spend an additional two hours training each week.
The team traveled to the UN building in Geneva and experienced the surrounding community. Heimstra said that her favorite part was “going to St. Pierre’s Cathedral and seeing the excavations below the church.”
Cox said “getting to go to Geneva for an international Model United Nations conference was the coolest thing I have ever done.” She also enjoyed St. Pierre’s Cathedral and taking a boat ride on Lake Geneva.
The students were able to stay in a cold-war underground bomb shelter that has been turned into a youth hostile. Heimstra said that “it was an honor to go and it was a responsibility to represent Adams and the United States. Best of all was the friendship between the group members and the people we met in Geneva.”
Traveling to the conference can also be a great learning experience and can help students prepare for their future career. Students can also gain a better understanding of international relations and they get to see new and interesting things.
From 2004 to 2007 they went to regional conferences in Las Vegas and Santa Barbara before moving on to bigger conferences in the United States. They then decided that as an international club it would be appropriate to participate in international events. In 2007 they went to Venezuela and to the Netherlands in 2009. They have also traveled to Greece and Rome before this year’s trip to Geneva.
The Model UN takes part in many campus activities and members work hard to help improve the world around them. Heimstra said “We are about making the world better through understanding and contributions, the trips are a way to expand that influence and understanding to bring even more improvements home with us.”
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