BMUN March 2018
Sunday, March 4th
Debate at BMUN 66 is officially closed, and we could not be happier for and more proud of our delegates! Everyone said they had a fun, yet challenging experience. According to Sydney Strawn, it was a "high-intensity situation that allowed for growth." (followed by "my brain is freaking out") Niki Nair compared it to "competing in mental Olympics." While there were highs and lows, on the whole, it was, as Jake Kagnoff says, "an eye-opening experience" that allowed for the delegates to make friends from not only schools in the area, but from El Salvador and Mexico as well.
Apart from the research awards, two of our delegates received a Commendation Award from the World Health Committee, Nikita Nair and Dallas Fadul, for their performance within the committee. Everyone did a superb job within their committees - whether it be a small one, such as the NGO forum with 15 delegates, or a larger one, such as SPECPOL or DISEC, with around 150 delegates. Their situations ranged, the mix of delegates in each committee was different, but they all brought their strongest selves to the table, and we cannot ask for more!
Today, we were up and packed and outside our rooms by 7:20 am, to catch the bus to Telegraph Road where we grabbed breakfast at Noah's Bagels. We then spent time together in the Student Union until they went to committee at 9 a.m. The delegates continued debating and wrapping up resolutions until they were let out at 12:30 p.m. If they ended a bit early, the chairs either made presentations about the topics addressed or exchanged in Q&A's with the delegates about college life at UC Berkeley. We met them all at 1:30 after they had grabbed lunch and we lined up for opening ceremonies, which began at 2 p.m. Once BMUN 66 was officially closed, we hopped on the bus back to the hotel where our driver picked us up and drove us to the airport. Everyone is currently lounging, grabbing food, charging phones and working on homework to prep for the upcoming school week!
Thank you all for entrusting us with your students and allowing them to have such an amazing experience!
Sara & Cortney
Debate at BMUN 66 is officially closed, and we could not be happier for and more proud of our delegates! Everyone said they had a fun, yet challenging experience. According to Sydney Strawn, it was a "high-intensity situation that allowed for growth." (followed by "my brain is freaking out") Niki Nair compared it to "competing in mental Olympics." While there were highs and lows, on the whole, it was, as Jake Kagnoff says, "an eye-opening experience" that allowed for the delegates to make friends from not only schools in the area, but from El Salvador and Mexico as well.
Apart from the research awards, two of our delegates received a Commendation Award from the World Health Committee, Nikita Nair and Dallas Fadul, for their performance within the committee. Everyone did a superb job within their committees - whether it be a small one, such as the NGO forum with 15 delegates, or a larger one, such as SPECPOL or DISEC, with around 150 delegates. Their situations ranged, the mix of delegates in each committee was different, but they all brought their strongest selves to the table, and we cannot ask for more!
Today, we were up and packed and outside our rooms by 7:20 am, to catch the bus to Telegraph Road where we grabbed breakfast at Noah's Bagels. We then spent time together in the Student Union until they went to committee at 9 a.m. The delegates continued debating and wrapping up resolutions until they were let out at 12:30 p.m. If they ended a bit early, the chairs either made presentations about the topics addressed or exchanged in Q&A's with the delegates about college life at UC Berkeley. We met them all at 1:30 after they had grabbed lunch and we lined up for opening ceremonies, which began at 2 p.m. Once BMUN 66 was officially closed, we hopped on the bus back to the hotel where our driver picked us up and drove us to the airport. Everyone is currently lounging, grabbing food, charging phones and working on homework to prep for the upcoming school week!
Thank you all for entrusting us with your students and allowing them to have such an amazing experience!
Sara & Cortney
Saturday, March 3rd
To begin with, eight of our delegates won Research Awards last night for their position papers! We are so proud of them!
Today was a rigorous, intense day of debate. We started off at 7 am and went for breakfast at Starbucks on the way to the conference. By 9 a.m. everyone was in their committees and picking up where they left off last night:
After debate closed for the day at 4:45 we headed to an early group dinner at Red Tomato Pizza house on University, then for ice cream at Ici Ice Cream. We then returned to the hotel around 7:30. Some stayed to do homework or play card games, and the other half are at the delegate dance!
All photos from yesterday are now included!
S & C
To begin with, eight of our delegates won Research Awards last night for their position papers! We are so proud of them!
Today was a rigorous, intense day of debate. We started off at 7 am and went for breakfast at Starbucks on the way to the conference. By 9 a.m. everyone was in their committees and picking up where they left off last night:
- DISEC (Matthew & Lauren) were writing resolutions to stop the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction, but unfortunately none passed. They then moved on to debate small arms and light weapons;
- UNHAB (Avi) addressed building progressive cities, before moving on to the issue of rising sea levels and how it affects city planning;
- SPECPOL (Zak, Sydney, Jake, Garrett) was attempting to resolve political instability in the Middle East, then moved on to the issue of protecting indigenous minorities and their rights;
- ECOFIN (Elizabeth & Sofia) was addressing the status of IDPs and Refugees in Syria and Israel/Palestine, then moved on to International Black Markets and Currency Valuation;
- WHO (Niki and Dallas) discussed how to accelerate the eradication of global diseases, followed by how to rehabilitate health structures in conflict-affected zones.
- Our two delegates in the NGO forum, representing CERES (Daniel) and Light for the World (Wendi), moved in and out of committees, offering the aid their NGO's can grant to the different forums and the issues they are addressing. Daniel presented a panel at UNEP on his NGO's program for providing renewable energy to those living without electricity in remote villages across the African continent, and Wendi offered her NGO's help to WHO, offering health services for the blind and disabled communities.
After debate closed for the day at 4:45 we headed to an early group dinner at Red Tomato Pizza house on University, then for ice cream at Ici Ice Cream. We then returned to the hotel around 7:30. Some stayed to do homework or play card games, and the other half are at the delegate dance!
All photos from yesterday are now included!
S & C
Friday, March 2nd
After a bumpy ride to Oakland last night, we arrived safe and sound to our hotel at around 9:30 p.m. After checking in, we all went to our rooms and went to bed to catch up on rest before the weekend!
Today we started out with a hearty breakfast at Au Coquelet, a French Bistro a few blocks from the hotel. Within ten minutes of being inside, a hail started pouring down, followed by a bout of hard rain. Fortunately by the time we needed to move on, it was sunny again. We continued on to campus where we met up with Joshua Jacobs, a freshman at UCB and an LJCDS alum, who gave us an informal tour of the campus for 45 minutes. We then met up with Rachel (Molly) Fehrer, who engaged with our students in a Q & A and showed us around as well. At 1 p.m. we headed back to the hotel to rest for a bit and get into our formal clothing for tonight's first session. At three we took the bus back to campus, designated a meet-up point and explored the restaurants around Telegraph street for an hour. We then attended the opening ceremonies, which included a surprise performance by the Cal marching band. Everyone is now off in their first committee session! It's been a rainy, but wonderful day!
After a bumpy ride to Oakland last night, we arrived safe and sound to our hotel at around 9:30 p.m. After checking in, we all went to our rooms and went to bed to catch up on rest before the weekend!
Today we started out with a hearty breakfast at Au Coquelet, a French Bistro a few blocks from the hotel. Within ten minutes of being inside, a hail started pouring down, followed by a bout of hard rain. Fortunately by the time we needed to move on, it was sunny again. We continued on to campus where we met up with Joshua Jacobs, a freshman at UCB and an LJCDS alum, who gave us an informal tour of the campus for 45 minutes. We then met up with Rachel (Molly) Fehrer, who engaged with our students in a Q & A and showed us around as well. At 1 p.m. we headed back to the hotel to rest for a bit and get into our formal clothing for tonight's first session. At three we took the bus back to campus, designated a meet-up point and explored the restaurants around Telegraph street for an hour. We then attended the opening ceremonies, which included a surprise performance by the Cal marching band. Everyone is now off in their first committee session! It's been a rainy, but wonderful day!
