April 17, 2003::No.203

Cal State Fullerton Students Participating in Model United Nations

Nineteen Cal State Fullerton students are in New York this week for the 2003 Model United Nations Conference through April 19.

Eleven students are representing Israel; eight others are representing Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders). Attendees include award-winners from previous MUN competitions.

“This is the first time in the history of Cal State Fullerton’s Model United Nations Club that our students are representing both a country and a non-governmental organization,” said Choudhury Shamim, faculty adviser and delegation leader. He noted that participants met earlier with the Israeli consul general in Los Angeles and conducted a conference call with the ambassador of Israel. In New York, a briefing is planned for students visiting the Israeli Mission.

Those attending the conference, by cities of residence and major, are:

Serving on the General Assembly’s First Committee are Contratto and Day, who are involved in discussions centered on weapons of mass destruction and terrorism, regional disarmament measures and peaceful uses of outer space.
Gonzalez and Gonzalez-Galvan are participating on the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development Committee. Their discussion focuses on intellectual property rights, continuing barriers to trade in agriculture, and regulation and standards harmonization.

Representing the Special Session of the Child Committee are: Lund, Paredes, Roberts and Salorio, who are looking at child labor and the plight of children living in poverty, children and the environment, and the effect of sanctions on the well-being and safety of children.

As members of the International Organization for Migration Committee, Taghavi and Susan Kim, Fullerton’s MUN president, are examining social development and migration assistance in Afghanistan, gender and migration, as well as the trafficking of human beings.

Serving on the Crime Congress are Harrison and Ruigu, who are examining crimes against the environment, juvenile-justice system reforms, and cyber crimes and the Internet.

The student delegates to Doctors Without Borders are Ranasinghe and Haddad. For the Economic and Social Council, they are addressing private-sector partnerships in development, access to prescription drugs and coordinating emergency humanitarian assistance.

Khalife is serving on the Organization Islamic Conference and focusing on the role of the Islamic Community in the protection of Al-Aqsa and the Palestinians, promotion of trade among member states of the conference, as well as conflict resolution between member states.

For the United Nations Population Fund, Ricketts is addressing the right of reproductive health, impact of population growth on the environment, emergency assistance in conflict and natural disaster zones.

Vanderwest serves on the World Health Organization examining the challenge and promise of a vaccine for HIV/AIDS, human cloning and protecting the human genome, and biological and chemical terrorism.

In February, Cal State Fullerton’s delegation to the America West Model United Nations Conference held in New Orleans won the Outstanding Delegation Award for its participation. Three students also received individual awards for their committee work: Salorio, representing Norway on the Refugees Committee, and Roberts, representing Argentina in the Organization of American States, both received the Outstanding Delegate Award. Day, who represented Norway in the Security Council, received the Distinguished Delegate Award. In December, Day also was named “Best Speaker” of the Security Council for his participation at the 1st International Model United Nations in Bonn, Germany, where he represented Ireland.