CSU, Chico News

Students participating in the Model United Nations (MUN) course at California State University, Chico won 10 awards (out of 50 total awards) at the American West Model United Nations Conference Nov. 18-21 in Las Vegas.

The regional conference, sponsored by the Pan-American Model United Nations, prepares students to participate in the National Model United Nations held each spring in New York. The national MUN is the world’s largest university-level simulation of the United Nations. It annually educates more than 3,400 students (40 percent from outside the United States) about the United Nations and contemporary international issues.

The MUN is organized like the United Nations, with committees, programs, a general assembly and a security council. Three Chico students competing in the World Food Program won awards. Aki Matsushima and Jeff Whitney won awards for their representation of Switzerland-Matsushima an Outstanding Delegate Award and Whitney the General Assembly Research Award. John Crosby won a Distinguished Delegate Award for representing Australia.

Four students won awards for their representation of China. Fumiko Motohashi teamed with Ian McFarren, Mick Ehrgott and Justin Palmerlee to win the Distinguished Delegation Award for their representation of China in four committees. Palmerlee also won a Distinguished Delegate Award for representing China in the General Assembly, and McFarren won the Outstanding Delegate Award plus the Research Award for representing China in the Security Council.

"The outstanding peer teaching of five veteran competitors is the main reason our students did so well," said Rick Ostrom, professor of Political Science 442, the course that prepares students to compete. "Robbie Taggart, Tanner Songer, Emily Cohen, Eliot Enriquez and Kristian Nieria really coached our rookies to success."

Ostrom was especially impressed by the performance of five students from Japan who made the team and competed at Las Vegas. "I’m amazed at the winning performances of Aki Matsushima and Fumiko Motohashi, who not only competed in a second language, but walked away with top awards!"

Ostrom also said that it is noteworthy that 12 of the 15 college graduates selected to run the 2006 American West Conference are Chico State alums. "I had a wonderful reunion with these former students," said Ostrom.

Fifteen first-year MUN program students from the political science class that prepares MUN participants will join seven MUN veterans to represent Venezuela at the national conference in March. CSU, Chico’s delegates have achieved a world-class reputation by winning a performance award 16 of the past 17 years and the coveted Outstanding Position Paper Award (for research papers submitted a month before the five-day competition) every year since this award was added seven years ago.

This year the Model U.N. program is funded by the Instructionally Related Activities Program, Dean of Behavioral and Social Sciences Bob Jackson, student fund-raising activities, Professor Ostrom and the student delegates themselves.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 12th, 2006 at 10:40 am and is filed under 2006 Fall.