Friday, January 12th: Jimmy Carter's Cabinet

pictured above: the Secretary of State, Cyrus R. Vance.

Starving America

As America’s inflation and their resistance to communism rises, President Jimmy Carter’s cabinet fights hard to keep their prices low and their freedom high.

West Wing, Washington D.C. - All American eyes are on Jimmy Carter and his cabinet’s next move in reducing inflation. Gas prices continue to inflate, alongside eggs and milk. A speech given by Carter, and a subsequent Q&A, gave insight to what his cabinet plans to do in regards to the recent economic changes, as well as the looming threat of the USSR. “Through bringing our great nation back to the forefront of the global economy,” Carter stated, “We will begin to gain the advantage of the global economic front over our Soviet enemies.” 

When asked about the integrity of the American people’s money, the U.S. secretary of health, education, and welfare, Joseph A. Califano Jr., responded by saying, “We’re working on welfare plans to help with food and other necessities.” By distributing food for those in need, the President and his cabinet hope to ensure food security and calm the growing concerns of an economic depression on the rise.

The cabinet further agreed upon that the future of America maintains prices that the American people can manage, saying, “America is committed to having prices that the people will be able to afford.” Carter’s cabinet also expanded on the developments outside of the States, as stated in an interview with the Secretary of State in the United States, Cyrus R. Vance.

Vance stated he wanted to specifically focus on external affairs, including the strengthening of relations with Afghanistan and Iran. “We have to show American exceptionalism across the world,” he voiced. “We have to show the Soviet Union we will not back down.” The rising fear of communism across the United States is continually spreading, invoking more and more tension between the two global powers. This red scare sweeping the nation along with the devastation of prices has raised questions of the wages given to American citizens.

In an interview with the Secretary of Treasury, Warner Michael Blumenthal, he advocated for the raising of the minimum wage. “...we are working on solutions to raise the minimum wage, which will allow more people to afford items.” His ideas to raise pay and lower prices has so far gone well with the rest of Carter’s cabinet, and Blumenthal hopes to introduce this policy soon.

The future of America’s prices, as well as its security in capitalism, appears hopeful with the ideas and answers given from President Jimmy Carter and his administration. With further ideas to come from the cabinet, Carter ensures he will pull America out of this crisis, promising his people that America owns the finish line.

Reported on by IPC Delegate Mollie Harlin

Jeremy Carter’s Cabinet

The Secretary of health, education, and wealthfare spoke to the International Press Corps about the current situation for July 24th, 1977. He said that the U. S. was currently dealing with a decrease in Jimmy Carter’s approval rating among the US citizens, a current potential threat of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics(USSR) invading Afghanistan, and a general upward price in things like gas and groceries, basic necessities. Their committee raised the minimum wage (with an undecided number. The Secretary of Health, education, and wealthfare states that the main problem he prioritized was “domestic economic indicators and particularly wealthfare programs”. He was working on one that would include things like food stamps and help affording things. He and the rest of his council were going to continue with economic solutions like the raising of taxes, which was being debated but not yet finalized. He said that “ the only way that we can reduce spending, or at least keep spending the same, is by raising taxes.” and others amongst the committee seemed to feel the same way as well. 

Reported on by IPC delegate, Julianna Marie Hanna

Friday, January 12th: Security Council

New Battles Stemming From Peacetalks

As peace talks with the FLN militia from Algeria ramp up, new internal conflicts fly on how to deal with the FLN and potential threats of Communist takeover for the people of Algeria


UN Meeting Room, Algeria- The ongoing conflicts regarding the FLN and the French occupation of Algeria have brought about discussions regarding the genocide of the Algerian people. A paper sponsored and headed by the U.S.A, U.K, and China brought in a representative of the FLN to answer the qualms and questions of the Security Council.


The main topics of this Q+A were regarding the occupation of Algeria and how the FLN is responding to this occupation, specifically regarding potential communist influence in Algeria and fears of a dictatorship. Strong figures such as the U.S.A questioned the representative of their army, specifically the size and the intent of having an army in the first place, in which the representative responded with, “I’m not going to reveal that information to you, and I don’t like you.”


After this heated discussion, a motion for new peace talks from the representative of Brazil was voted on unanimously, where there were questions and concerns about the United States and France’s stances within this war. Representatives from countries such as Peru and Mexico called for better and more extensive peace talks with Algeria, specifically revolving around protecting the citizens caught in the middle.


But these peace talks were pushed aside from the U.S, who discussed the worst possible intentions of the FLN, specifically by saying, “They don’t care about Algerian independence, they only care about establishing a dictatorship and establishing a Communist regime. They could take away their people’s religious freedoms, their human rights to establish Communism. Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness is what we stand for.”


But there was significant pushback from the representative of Brazil on the United State’s accusations, with the representative explaining, “Brazil was colonized underneath Portugal, we understand the pain and struggles of the people of Algeria and will attempt to help them in any way we can. Accusing the FLN of the worst possible motives will only hurt the people, make this war worse, and make it incredibly difficult to help the people of Algeria. Threatening genocide and sending in military forces will only make this war worse, we must help the innocents.”


Discussions continue to ramp up in the Security Council, begging the question of who are they really protecting; their power, or the people?

Reported on by IPC Delegate Jack Maloney


Thursday, January 11th: Opening Ceremonies

Six Feet Away From Selfishness

As the Thirty-Seventh Annual MUNUM began with thunderous applause from all corners, keynote speaker Richard Lui gave a moving speech discussing the prospects of kindness, selfcare, and community by detailing his life. 

Rackham Auditorium, Ann Arbor - As delegates began to pile into the auditorium with electric excitement about the next four days of debate, the secretariat was met with chatter and booming applause. As the excitement died down, the opening video containing a spoof of the popular TV show Friends showcased an incredible comradery among the staff of MUNUM 37. 

The speeches of the Secretariat led to an introduction of award winning and best selling author, Richard Lui, who had faced challenging experiences similar to the ones audience members had. He began his enthralling speech which highlights his struggle to find jobs before he became a CNN anchor. He also detailed struggles from his personal life, with the story of his father, who suffered with Alzheimer’s, as well as struggles from a retired firefighter, Paul Casey. All of this led into his message of healing internally and externally from an epidemic, whether it be Covid or even worse, selfishness.

Epidemic of selfishness 

Selfishness is a large problem within society, an epidemic even.  It is common among people to only care for themselves. Covid changed that. People were forced to join together in the hard times of 2020-2021. Covid opened up people's minds to a T. At the beginning of the pandemic it was grandmothers making masks from scratch, then schools supplying food bags for kids who needed it.. Although Generation Z has been deemed as a selfish generation, Model UN has shown through their charity work that kindness is an epidemic that’s taking over.


Kindness 

The pandemic of kindness has been quickly spreading to heal the wounds inflicted from the previous pandemic of selfishness. Lui reflected on his internal conflict between furthering his career or taking care of his Alzheimer's-afflicted father. From this, Lui noted how, if he chose to take care of his father, he might not understand all that Lui was sacrificing for him. This led to the conversation of silent acts of kindness that happen every day that go unnoticed, Lui wanted the audience to know that despite his tough choices, the one he made, by slowing his career down, but taking care of his father every time he could, made him more confident in his message to the audience, as he took pride in what he believed in. This point was also furthered with the story of Paul, which Lui mentioned. Paul, an ex-firefighter, chose to retire in Colorado and drive thirty hours to New York to drive an ambulance to help those affected by the Coronavirus. Though MUNUM does not take it to as high of stakes as Paul does, the candy grams charity offered by the institution provides a way for students to indirectly support those without the same opportunity of education as they hold. Not only do the candy grams provide an opportunity for small acts of kindness between the MUNUM delegates, but they also provide a sense of community between committees separated by a 5 minute walk.


A Commutative Resolution 


The Covid-19 pandemic was a time where everyone was “masked away,” lacking the normalcy of conversations at social gatherings and family events. Moreover, the human instinct to socialize freely with fellow colleagues and classmates was suppressed for over three years, while the majority of Americans shared the collective experience of being trapped in their homes, missing out on precious moments and memories with families, friends and classmates. Together, everybody experienced disruptions to their personal, professional and social lives. Ironically, the separation that rapidly occurred in the lives of people around the globe brought the world together more than ever before. MUNUM’s 2024 conference comes at the point of a new normal in people’s lives. 

While primarily viewed as a negative experience, the pandemic did highlight the selflessness that can be found in all of us. In particular, Lui’s bittersweet anecdote about Paul, a prime example of this selflessness that brought communities together, saving lives. Furthermore, many worked diligently behind the scenes in restaurants, healthcare, and many other essential fields to keep communities running smoothly. Lui’s keynote at the opening ceremony set the tone for the conference, and as delegates converge on this conference from schools as far as 700 miles away, to those coming just miles from Michigan’s campus, everyone is urged to embrace the values of empathy, kindness, and selflessness throughout MUNUM’s 2024 conference. 

The emphasis on community at MUNUM is evident in the fundraising efforts that aim to provide a safer and more enjoyable education for underprivileged youth in Nepal. While charities are most prevalent in ways to connect communities, committees such as UN Women are also working endlessly together to provide equal opportunities and kindness for others. The lessons learned and developed this year at MUNUM must be applied to life everyday in order to make the world a more open and selfless space, much like what Mr. Lui wants. In the words of our own keynote speaker, “What will your message be?”


Saturday, Jan. 14th: Wrapping Up!

Heading into Saturday— full of heavy debates, passed directives, and final discussions for second topics— we find our IPC Reporters with bounds of knowledge. Here’s what went down:

A monopoly man look-alike, Angry workers and a Strong division in committee are things that can be spotted at the AD-HOC very easily. In the span of 15 minutes the committee was presented with a myriad of new issues, there was definitely a strong sense of division in the room.

First of all, some delegates believed individualized regulations were the way to approach this problem. On the other hand, some thought that would only bring more problems. Another recurring issue was the rail-road workers being dissatisfied with the committee's latest actions. They feel unseen and unheard, since they had finally received a good pay from the committee but then the delegates took that away. Some railroad workers argue that “they don't care about us, they just care about the big man with money” -Railroad worker (redacted). This comment makes sense in the context of the delegates deciding to please the big monopoly companies before the workers. When asked about the issue delegates had mixed opinions, some said that a good solution would be to Nationalize the Railroads, Others completely disagreed saying the workers are being greedy and ungrateful. All the railroad workers are asking for is a 16 cent or more minimum wage and good living conditions. They seem to be open to going back to work if these are provided.

To conclude, One can easily tell this committee is very divided. They will have to work together to find a solution for this crisis. Without the railroad workers the railroads won’t be able to run. We are very intrigued to see what the committee does. For more information keep reading The working paper.

Reported on by IPC Delegate Clarissa Ramirez

The Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice began reviewing working papers related to their second topic, The Modern Slave Trade. Delegates resultantly split into two main blocks: Pro-Russia and Anti-Russia. This is because it was revealed that Russia was hiding their slave trade from the committee and rousing debate proceeded. 4 main papers were presented and 3 failed with the exception of one succeeding; according to the delegation of China, (one of the leaders of the Pro-Russia bloc) it passed because it was very “general and agreeable”. There was mention of how the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice is a subset of the United Nations Economic and Social Council and whether that committee can make war plans. There was also mention of the lack of relevance about nuclear weapons in relation to preventing human trafficking. After the papers were reviewed and voted on, most of the delegates felt that the topic would be solved fairly soon. They then went on to discuss their next topic, The War on Illegal Poaching and Wildlife Trafficking

Reported on by IPC Delegate Aniva Vyas

This morning, we went to The Food and Agriculture Organization Committee (FAO) to check what they were doing. FAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that strives to achieve sustainability across the globe and improve food insecurity. We walked in during a moderated caucus about working papers and were able to catch some countries' thoughts about the idea of self-sufficiency versus working as a whole organization under the FAO.

To start, Japan urged the delegates to work together instead of being self-sufficient because collaboration is key when it comes to a huge issue like food insecurity. At the same time, Panama, Costa Rica, and Vietnam all expressed their concerns for developing countries and support self-sufficiency. They say that by giving developing countries authority to make their own decisions, over time they will become less reliant on food aid and will eventually be able to make their own food to support their people. To add, Uzbekistan brought up the concern of food insecurity in rural areas that have frequent wars and natural disasters and advocated for communication among other countries.

When an unmoderated caucus got approved, we went over to Australia and interviewed them asking their stance on food security. Australia replied by saying they fully support private organizations that, for example, develop technologies like more beneficial ways to farm, to combat insecurity in developing countries. They plan to do this by contributing funding. To conclude, we are excited to see what working papers the FAO choses and how they will debate their next topic!

Reported on by IPC Delegate Fiona Fortin

In HUAC, there has been an individual who took a different approach to achieving the goals set out by their committee. The delegate formerly from Mississippi (now Louisiana), John Rankin said in a statement that their sole objective is the one granted to them by the committee: “To weed out the communists and to solve the spread of communism in the America” In an effort to accomplish the committee’s goals, Louisiana has resorted through a series of unusual and playful directives to combat the perceived threat of communism. In a statement, they cite their directives as “not trying to become a communist state, we are simply trying to reform our government.” Despite their radicality, this doesn’t distract them from their goal.

Their government has suggested through the use of directives that the enforcement of anti- communist beliefs would be best handled by their government. To do this, they have suggested that lands with high communist sympathies should be annexed into their state. Such attempts were not fruitful with their latest attempt at annexation with the state of New York being unsuccessful. Once this had not given the results they had desired, they further increased their ambitions and introduced another directive.

The Louisiana Supremacy Directive was an attempt to increase morale and security in the fight to combat the perceived threat of communism. This included a mandatory celebration of Mardi Gras and a condition that allowed for further expansion of its annexation policy allowing for it to happen towards a state harboring a single communist.

These directives have been divisive in the HUAC committee, although a voice among those who spoke positively about these directives was incredibly notable. These responses came from the F. Edward Hébert, a fellow delegate in HUAC, who has voiced their support for these policies. John Rankin views this cooperation as a great and positive thing to prevent the spread of communism into the committee. They say this is only possible because “we share similar views. We have the same objective”.

Further attempts to increase the influence through the penultimate directive coming from Louisiana titled the Louisiana Purchase Part II, seeks to effectively give John Rankin ultimate power by granting them the Vice Presidency, the Speakership, House Majority Leader, Chief Justice, and Majority Whip. This is one of many amendments that has sought out to shift the dynamics of power towards the delegation of Louisiana and allies. It remains to be seen whether or not this will pass on the last day of the conference.

Reported on by IPC Delegate Jobsan Villa-Fuerte

When the IPC journalist entered the IMF or International Monetary Fund delegates were working hard on merging working papers for Topic B. The focus of the topic was Debt Trap Diplomacy which is a situation wherein rich and developed countries give out high interest debts to developing and needy countries. The committee, before committee session VII, had nine blocks each with different working blocks. However, the dias did tell us that the delegates were working towards merging these blocks into four concrete working papers.

The committee, according to the Dias, had lots of “similar ideas.” When asked what the differences in position was the Dias said that “a lot of the talk is about China.” The reason behind this is China’s reputation with debt traps; it is the biggest country that is currently laying out a lot of debt traps. Despite having the committee being split in two with regards to endorsing China, the country seemed very secure. “Things are looking good” said China, “especially in regards to small developing countries.” What China meant by that was unclear, but good intentions are assumed. The delegation of China also seemed unafraid of any opposition. “[The opposition] are a very vocal but a very small minority,” said China. A lot of countries that rely on China or have other political relations with the country, want to avoid mentioning it all together. Portugal said that one of the country’s goal is to “find a solution to this without alienating China...it is all about having to find a balance,” said the country. In the supported resolution, however, China is not mentioned at all. Instead, the country has chosen to focus on “access to the loans” without falling into debts that are “keeping them trapped.” The working paper supported by Portugal uses ideas like fluid interest to find a diplomatic solution.

Regardless of the other working papers, China has really clear goals: “For the truth to be unveiled and to protect the financial sovereignty of nations apart from the UN.” Will China accomplish its target? Or will the opposition hold China accountable for the previous debt traps Stay tuned to find out.

Reported on by IPC Delegate Tanvi Kulkarni.

‘The Super Slay’ is what they called it. The North Yemen Republicans weigh options in the war effort as they seek to gain an edge over their opposing Royalists by either killing millions during prayer or letting impoverished children die. The committee acknowledged that either way millions of people will suffer and ultimately peris in this lose-lose situation.

“We still have an optimal position, even though we do not have a functioning government,” said Moshin Ahmad Al-Aini. The committee suggested a call to arms for all Arab nations and sought the aid of Ethiopia as outside reinforcement.

They planned a voluntary enlistment via a Russia Republic radio broadcast to call on enforcements to march to the capital city of Sana’a, surround the capital and capture the Monarchist council. A crisis soon broke out, and many tribes were angry that the government beliefs had been enforced upon them. The tribes want to keep their unique identities but still be represented in the hierarchy of the Republicans. Solutions to this problem varied from ingratiating the tribes to letting them be. “We should construct a directive to send to the separate tribes,” said Hassan Al-Amri. “We should celebrate the differences of each individua tribe.” “These tribes have valid concerns—that we are forcing them to conform to a single bielfe system,” added Ahmed Numan. “We should eventually collaborate with them.” “I propose that we amend the constitution so tribes are more represented in the legislative branch,” said Al-Aini. “I think we should put some statute in place so that the tribes can have their own land and send representatives from each tribe to the national government,” added Al-Amri.

Backed into a corner, hoping to please the people and maintain their Constitutional monarchy, the Royalists had a communique with United States President Lyndon B. Johnson to discuss American reinforcements.

President Johnson agreed to meet with three Royalists delegates—Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, David Ben-Gurion, Hassan bin Yahya. The trio pitched their plan to Johnson.

The plan would include U.S. troops capturing the port cities of Yemen, then moving inward to the capital city of Sana’a. Israeli and Saudi Arabian troops will hold down the port cities once the Americans move towards the capital. The ultimate goal of the Royalists is to have the U.S. forces to expel the Egyptians, while the Saudis and Israelis would bomb from the skies and protect the perimeter.

The U.S. only offered 30,000 troops due to their ongoing conflict with Russia. President Johnson and the CIA Director assigned 10,000 to the capital from the north, 12,000 to the port cities and 8,000 from the countryside. Johnson concluded the communique with a stern notice that this will be the only support coming from the United States and wished the Royalists luck in their efforts to find some semblance of success or peace in the convoluted, violent and murky conflict with the opposing Republicans.

Reported on by IPC Delegate Nicholas Alumkal

A heated debate is heard in the Austro-Hungarian committee of World War I over the conviction of the suspect charged with the assassination attempt of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The crisis drop brought Gavrilo Princep who’s put on trial on the assassination attempt of the archduke and the attempted suicide to avoid persecution. Through the interrogation, it was uncovered more about the convicted suspect. Aged 19 and of Serbian descent, he grew up working at his dad’s sandwich shop, however later in his teenage years, Princep left to work on the streets. It’s alleged that he’s a current member of the Serbian rebel groups that are currently active in the empire that have been causing havoc for government officials. However it was proven difficult gaining information from the suspect as he actively refused to answer the questions directly and instead answer in hypothetical situations. The refusal of answering the question brought suspicion to the committee and they are likely to find him guilty for his crimes.

However, the debate became heated as there was no unanimous decision on the exact prison sentence. Many argued for a death penalty despite the minimum age of executing prisoners being 20 years of age. Major general Maximillian Ritter von Hoen argued that, “he’s a murderer. An exception must be made for the severity of his crimes.”. Some members argue that execution will send the wrong message to the citizens. As stated by prime minister István Tisza where they claim that “exceptions must not be made regardless” and instead offering life in prison with no possibility of parole. It’s rumored that the debate is continuing and the results of the trial may come soon.

Reported on by IPC Delegate Nico Capaldo

“I am a Monkey,” Said a monkey, at Ortega's cabinet. The cabinet members looked around very perplexed, as there were 36 monkeys stating that they were not satisfied. The monkeys and the young population of Nicaragua made it very clear that they do not approve of The contras. The United-states

Backed right-wing guerilla groups are very active in Nicaragua. It's very understandable how the young population does not support them, since its US involvement in their country, we still need to get more information on why the monkeys have a problem with the contras.

Before the strange crisis broke, the committee was talking about passing directives to deal with the country's current cocaine crisis. A recurrent theme during directive discussions was not criminalizing people who are addicted and instead building institutions to help with rehabilitation, A delegate even mentioned that “we should criminalize small scale cocaine dealers' '. Their reasoning to this statement was that the dealers are selling drugs because of the economy, But dear delegates, should you not criminalize drug dealers or try and fix the economy?

To conclude, This committee is in a very strange place right now, talking with monkeys and sympathizing with drug dealers instead of tackling the economy. We will certainly keep reporting on this peculiar situation. For more information keep checking The working paper!

Reported on by IPC Delegate Clarissa Ramirez

Entering the Persian-Greco war room you could be met with a map showing how troops will be moved in one corner, alliances being made in another, and sinister plots being concocted in the back. The pressure is enough to turn a lump of coal into a diamond. With so much happening it would be easy to overlook the secretive plan of Leontiades and Pindar.

Leontiades had their follower take over as leader and then had him poison the food supplies from Plateau before it got to Athens, damaging the close relationship between this city state (Plateau) and city (Athens). Pindar and Leontiades have also been in contact with a Persian general. While their methods may seem radical they find their actions completely justifiable. Leontiades and Pindar’s cities were both attacked, causing their people to have to flee for safety.

While Pindar and Leotiades had tried to warn the committee that fast action was the only way, the rest of the committee focused on collaboration. Leontiades summarized their sentiment by saying: “We were betrayed by everyone else”. Later on a gentleman’s unmod where delegates were not afraid to voice their opinions as disagreements broke out. While many felt it was most important to focus on the war with the Persians who were setting their sights on Athens, Pindar thought that he should investigate the attempted assassination of himself and the successful assassination of Leonides, King of the Agiad Dynasty. Words got heated as the argument went back and forth resulting in a joint crisis with Pindar and another delegate to investigate the assassinations. Pindar said that if the person behind these attacks was not found they may resort to assassinating those who they think are the most likely suspects. While assassination plots, poisonings, and treason occur a war continues to rage in the Persian-Greco Committee. The work and passion that all delegates are putting in shows through every heated debate and every directive regarding the training of alligators for war or the king's funeral arrangements, where his body may be carried by the batmobile.

Reported on by IPC Delegate Anna Crum

The Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee (SOCHUM) is hard at work finalizing working papers. With five working papers in circulation on the topic of prisoners’ rights, each paper was recently introduced by their sponsors. One of those working papers, Prison Pandemic Resource Committee Creation (PPRC), had 15 clauses and spanned an impressive length of 10 pages. Sponsored by China, Latvia, Iraq, Singapore, and Russia, the paper included the prevention of prisoner torture, the improvement of prisoners’ mental and physical well-being, the allocation of monthly menstrual products, the inspection of cells and food, and the acknowledgment of prisoners’ different religious beliefs, gender identities, and sexualities. After PPRC was presented, a five minute Q&A took place. The sponsors made it clear throughout the session that their paper’s primary purpose is to establish a precedent for prisons when another pandemic occurs, which they dubbed as “highly likely”. PPRC, in addition to other papers, added various friendly amendments proposed by fellow delegates. One of PPRC’s (many) amendments created an International Detention Bureau (IDB) to recall necessary prison data from willing countries and their detention centers. In fact, so many of these friendly amendments were added that the chairs were forced to announce they would no longer entertain them anymore. A+ rating for your friendliness, SOCHUM! However, the atmosphere became quite unfriendly when the 2 For, 2 Against speeches commenced. When it was time for delegates to give their opinions regarding PPRC, Malaysia proclaimed, “This paper is 10 pages instead of 3-4 pages like the other resolutions. It is clearly pre-written, so we cannot vote on this paper!” Gasps and laughter erupted throughout Forum Hall at the massive controversy. Though there is no proof of PPRC being pre-written (which is against MUNUM’s rules), the accusation hung heavy in the air. As SOCHUM moves into voting procedure on these five different papers about prison reform, only time will tell on which resolutions will pass and which resolutions will fail.

Reported on by IPC Delegate Sydney Lount

The world is coming to an end with global warming and what exactly is the main cause of this? Greenhouse gasses and fossil fuels. Agriculture, Transportation, Electricity generators. These are all economic factors that contribute to climate change. In power plants used to produce electricity and provide heat a lot of greenhouse gasses are admitted. Greenhouse gasses are very harmful to the environment because they cause the warming process of certain areas, in a sense, trapping the heat in earth’s air. This leads to climate change which affects our ocean temperatures and the rising of the sea and is overall predicted to be the fatal end to earth and its survival. Now what might be the possible solution to this issue, renewable energy. Renewable energy can replace our windmills and our light sources and help supply and fuel our poorer countries and increase their development to become more self sufficient. Funding by this would be provided by the UN habitat budget. It can also be helped by richer countries that have already started advancements in renewable resources which can help provide to the poorer population.This act would also help reduce pollution, slow down global warming, reduce air sickness, and most importantly provide a better environment for everyone to feel safe in.

Reported on by IPC Delegate Drithi Padukone

Amongst the Security Council, there was a general consensus that it was necessary for them to take action to resolve the conflict in Kosovo. However, as France told a reporter, “disagreements lie in the details.” Slovenia and Canada called for a plebiscite to decide if Kosovo should become independent from Albania. Whether they chose independence or to remain a part of Serbia, the directive would facilitate peace talks to ease tensions. Additionally, it would limit NATO action in the region However, when debating the directive, the Netherlands brought up the fact that Kosovo had previously not desired independence. Additionally, France told the committee that NATO would not listen to any UN proposed limits. The directive failed, lacking enough votes to pass and being vetoed by the UK. The Border Peace directive from Brazil and the Netherlands, focusing on defending the region and preventing the unnecessary insertion of NATO faced the same fate. The only directive the council was able to pass was “Refugees from Conflict,” from Malaysia, Gambia, and Namibia addressing job placement and scholarships for refugees of the Kosovo War. In a speech in favor of the directive Malaysia insisted, “There is nothing controversial about humanitarian aid.” Russia notably abstained.

After the committee’s failure to take any military action, in an update it was revealed that 45 Kosovan citizens had been killed by Serbian forces, but Serbian Leader Milovesic blocked the prosecution of his troops for war crimes. The update highlighted the fact that as the council failed to pass directives, the violence would persist.

Reported on by IPC Delegate Maggie de la Fuente

MIDNIGHT CRISIS: The Thousand Year Nuclear Winter

In the words of American musician Tom Waits in ‘Underground’: “They’re alive, they’re awake / while the rest of the world is asleep.” The year is 1982. Cold War tensions worsen by the minute, as the Soviet Union’s distrust with America and its allies is at an all time high. To the horror of the cold country, NATO has become increasingly secretive and suspicious, raising eyebrows and concerns. Last night, 15 members of the Soviet Union government convened late in the night to address a crisis: NATO’s attempt at nuclear warfare under the guise of ‘war games’. This group included representatives of the Politburo, Communist Party, and other government officials. A member of The Working Paper had the opportunity to sit in on the session, speaking on behalf of the General Secretary of the Community Party: Yuri Andropov. Together, this group offered some opening remarks, and immediately jumped into writing solutions into policies. Among the directives written, the room was able to successfully mobilize troops within West Germany and spread their influence into the United States. The member of the press recollects her experience: “It was fast,” she said. “Every directive passed without question or debate, so it felt like a hivemind, almost. We just agreed on everything, making it feel more like a directive-writing-spree.” Every time that the group would break for an unmoderated caucus, groups would form en masse to discuss a topic, write a note, and submit a paper in less than 5 minutes. This “Midnight Crisis”, as one may call it, bolstered quick solutions–even if not always successful.

Reported on by IPC Delegate Maco Jeleniewski

The Midnight Crisis focused on the topic, “Cold War Gone Hot,” and delegates did not shy away when told, “the backroom will be a sandbox,” even with the committee progressing at a, “breakneck pace.”

The Russian Cabinet initially reacted to NATO's war games near Soviet territory and PSYOPs, through the development of espionage insects, a press release and propaganda aimed at uniting the Soviet people, and the assassination of the beloved Princess of Wales. Grigory Romanov was left speechless calling the assassination, “the utmost horrible tragedy,” and telling a reporter, “it was an unjustly murder.” Although the assassin had a Russian accent most cabinet members had very little suspicion as to who had actually hired him. In the wake of Princess Diana’s death there was very little time to grieve with NATO deploying missiles to West Germany that could reach Russian territory within 6 minutes. There was some talk of encroaching into additional territories on the edges of the Iron Curtain, but that was sidetracked by the assassination of US President, Ronald Reagan. In a rather ironic fashion two assassins actually showed up to complete the job. Reagan was succeeded by his Vice President, George H.W. Bush. In response to the recent development, the directive, “Games, Games, Games,” was passed to disguise a mass mobilization along the Western border of the USSR calling it, “a War Game.” Further escalating the tensions, the US began to position offensive weapons in West Germany, Turkey, Italy, and Alaska, all pointed at the USSR. The general consensus amongst the cabinet was to progress to war and mobilize as much as possible. The war plans were interrupted by the announcement that there had been an assassination attempt on President Bush that had further provoked the Americans. Following this announcement, the cabinet proceeded to unanimously pass seven directives one after the other. These consisted of increases in defense, a press release blaming Bush for the death of Princess Diana, and many more protocols to prepare for war.

The cabinet was then notified that the missiles in West Germany were launched and the cabinet had a mere six minutes to respond. Screams of, “Nukes!” could be heard from the chambers as the Soviets wrote their final directive ever, “Nuke the Floor.” While waiting for the nuclear missiles to destroy both nations, Konstantin Chernenko told a reporter, “We’re all equal when we’re burning in hell together.”

Reported on by IPC Delegate Maggie de la Fuente

Friday the 13th: Directives, Deception, and Development

After Thursday night came to a close and delegates, advisors, and staff awoke a little too early for their liking, MUNUM XXXVI came together on Friday to share hours of political deliberations. Despite being the notoriously special and unlucky Friday the 13th, the committees were bustling with excited delegates who worked together with staff to have smooth, efficient committees. International Press Corps reporters scattered across these excellent committees to find out the inside scoop on how each one has been running so far:

Beginning with ADHOC, a committee in which the delegates are not made aware of the topic until just before conference begins, we see a unique variety of crisis drops and plot twists. ADHOC, this year, is the 1905 Beareu of Corporation. The committee started in 1903 and has progressed one year in every session, consequently, they were currently in 1905. Upon entering the meeting room of the Bureau of Corporations, correspondents representing The Working Paper were met with a multitude of directives being debated on. Most notably was the press release “Dirty Money, Not Funny” and investigative directive titled “Mocka Fella, Rockefella”. One of the directives, by Edward Peckman, was titled “Carnegie More Like Car-Naughty.”* Apart from that, houses were broken into, and lives were threatened.

However, the latest crisis for this hardworking committee is that the prosecutor, Charles Morrison, has been threatened to get his kneecaps cut off if he continues prosecuting. The crisis was dropped via conspicuous phone call fifteen minutes before IPC walked in.

“It was a threat to break my kneecaps and had a strong Chicago accent,” said Morrison. This wasn’t the first threatening act of the day, so the committee had unexpected reactions to the menace. “The room was split between taking the threat seriously and ignoring the call,” said Dias. The directly impacted, Prosecutor Morrison chose to ignore the call. Confidently, he said that he felt “great that [he was] threatening enough to the trusts.” For him, it was a job done right.

“Use the haters to fuel you,” advised Morrison.

With little context, reporters sought out various sources for information on why the Bureau was intent on enacting audits on J.D. Rockefeller’s personal finances. “Although we are public officials, we have never consented to [our] homes being broken into,” James R. Garfield said as she explained how every member in the committee had their homes broken into. The Bureau raises suspicions toward Rockefeller due to a recently published news article accusing committee members of “taking bribes”, which they view as a slanderous action. The nail in the coffin for Garfield was seeing that a note left at the scene of the break-in was signed “R”, leading the Bureau to attribute this action to Rockefeller.

Though this event was highly traumatic for many individuals, Garfield wishes to keep the public knowledgeable on the Bureau’s proceedings. The press release “Dirty Money, Not Funny” intends to invite members of the press to “insensitive meetings” regarding business procedure, but bars them from meetings regarding law and investigative action.

Reported on by IPC Delegates Tanvi Kulkarni and Maco Jeleniewski.

The African Union has faced several upcoming violent crises in the committee. The delegates are putting in their utmost effort to solve these issues with their working papers. The delegate from the Arab Republic of Egypt supplied information on their working paper “B.O.B.A” or Bringing Objective Order Alleviation. They want to focus on bringing peace to Africa and restoring ethnic groups. They have recognized that parts of Europe had “cut off African ethnic groups without regard” (Delegate from Egypt). They plan to put this plan into action using the many African natural resources and encouraging more tourism. They also have plans to regulate currency, goods, and flow to solve these solutions.

 However, while these delegates want to help rebuild Africa another resolution proposed by delegations like Ghana and Burkina Faso was to implement and raise tariffs. These delegates stated that by doing this a war over resources becomes economically inefficient.

 Similarly, to the topic of wars the delegation of Libya has decided to bomb Chad based on the fact that Christians have been oppressive towards specific Muslim  cultures in Chad. On the other side of the committee the delegation of the United Republic of Tanzania spoke on a working paper named Peace Tea. The working paper includes implementing peace keepers into the African nations. These peace keepers would be in charge of border patrol or nearby conflicts. 2000 people would be selected from each participating country and would be screened regularly by a virtual connection. They want the peace keepers to help people stay in line with the values of family life, future goals, and peaceful resolutions.

Reported on by IPC Delegate Megan Koontz.

In the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ,) resolution was the order of business in committee as they brought up the Effective Legislation resolution. The resolution aimed to criminalize human-trafficking for all reasons by developing a trans-national coalition to quash child labor.

“In this committee we are discussing forced labor and how to solve this issue,” said Serbia. “We have many different opinions and are dealing with several different resolutions. We have introduced two new working papers and are planning to vote on them soon.” 

The resolution would include cooperation between nations to create a joint task force to investigate payment above minimum wage to address global sustainability. The resolution would extend documentation of victims of human trafficking and build shelters along the borders of nations. Through the collaborations, the nations would build shelters for human-trafficking victims and overall increase tracking of traffickers and criminals.

In other news, there appears to be a traitorous block in the CCPCJ named “Slay the System”. In the words of Nigeria “they took a lot of inspiration from everyone else’s resolution, and it feels very congested”.  It appears that they have taken the best parts of other resolutions and stolen them to make what can be known as a “super resolution” without these other block’s consent. This has left many delegates in a state of distress as they must now work to find a way around this block.

Reported on by IPC Delegates Megan Koontz and Nicholas Alumkal.

The Food and Agriculture Organization had talented delegates discussing the first topic of committee: Maintaining Food Security During Global Disruptions. All delegates were dedicatedly working towards alleviating the impacts of global disruptions like the pandemic on their nations. The committee as a whole had about five working papers. But, here’s the catch- they all focused on extremely similar things.

The blocks formed in the committee have these common goals in mind: short term and long term solutions, protection from supply chain disruption, and prevention of food shortages in case of the next crisis. Something that is even more astounding is that these goals also have common approaches. For example, the enhancement of agriculture equipment and infrastructure seemed to be a repetitive focus of several papers. An international food network seems to be a popular idea, and the involvement of Non Profit Organizations, like Red Cross, is the backbone of every block. With different names like IFR, SWEPT, FAST, and FALAFEL, like the delegation of Honduras said, “everyone is working on the same paper.”

With more than 4 working papers out of the floor including “Swept” and “Fallafel” ideas were not in short supply. One of the biggest criticisms being that there were just too many papers. One delegate stated that the papers should be merged and then passed by the whole committee. To spite the work that this committee takes and the overlapping ideas the delegate from Poland stated: “Of the 3 agricultural GA’s I’ve been in this has been my favorite. While the large committee size makes for a challenging environment, that challenge also makes it fun”. This quote embodies the amount of drive this committee is illustrating. On the issue itself Sri Lanka made an impactful speech, and with more than 6.3 million people in Sri Lanka who are facing moderate to severe food insecurity, their voice was a needed perspective. Sri Lanka called upon larger and richer nations to help those nations who are smaller and lacking in financial support. Sri Lanka put an emphasis on helping developing nations reach self sustainability. Sri Lanka supports movement away from reliance on food supply chains which are not always reliable.

Even though blocks had some unique ideas, none of them seemed to be contradicting each other. For instance, Panama wanted to focus on “uplifiting indigenous farmers” and preserve the communal sense that agriculture provides the country. It is expected that there would be upcoming mergers later in the committee session. But the question remains: why do delegations want to create separate resolutions when they are all working with similar ideas? Are political alliances made for reasons other than similarities in approach? Stay tuned to find out.

Reported on by IPC Delegates Tanvi Kulkarni and Anna Crum.

A tense 3rd hour of committee has begun, as protesters sit outside the Capitol Building, demanding action against the hysteric Red Scare. Delegates in the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) grapple with the rise of McCarthyism and the effects of the Red Scare in the 1940-50s as American citizens become increasingly paranoid over the possibility that their neighbor or representative could indeed be a communist.

As it stands, the American people are frustrated and have taken to the streets of Washington D.C., demanding action from their government to put their fears to rest. Already, delegates have come up with a myriad of directives to address the various facets of McCarthyism. The plan “QTPIE”* involved a merging of various directives into one to tackle issues of transparency, communication with the public, and governmental accountability. The “QTPIE” directive was sponsored by Clyde Doyle (D-CA),. John S. Wood (D-GA), 7. J. Hardin Peterson (D-FL), and Everett Dirksen (R-IL). “QTPIE” contained the overarching theme of the directive which was transparency and accountability. It set up a standard for transparency by making it so the findings from the trial would be published to the public, having a minimum of 20 days for classification, and even more. Their second directive, “Goldie Locks” sponsored by Harold F. Youngblood (R-MI), Burr P. Harrison (D-VA), and John McClellan (D-AR), established rules for investigation and created an address to the Americans about the committee. “Goldie Locks” created a sub-committee where a diverse group of representatives and senators who will investigate accusations of communism, as well as having a line open for government officials to call in their suspicions, and having it so people will not be brought to trial unless substantial evidence is presented. In Joseph R. McCarthy's (R-W) words, “the government needs to be loyal” and this directive is helping to ensure that. The final directive they passed (“Investment of the Government”) was sponsored by Kit Clardy (R-MI) and Bernard W. "Pat" Kearney (R-NY). In this directive, they lay out what someone has to do to be put on trial including; failing order 9835, being incriminated by others on the stand for communists, treason, or espionage, having done actions that have incriminated themselves of the crimes of espionage or treason, or demonstrates a connection to a known enemy nation that the United States is fighting in a war. Above all “this committee is here to support the American people, not our agendas” Harold F. Youngblood says. They are working tirelessly to ease the American people's worries and keep communism at bay. Yet a source inside the committee has reviewed the time to come “that it is going to be hectic. McCarthy is going to go wild”

*QTPIE could also be spelled as QDPIE— it was not clearly stated.

Reported on by IPC Delegates Patrick Laudolff and Maya Smith.

This morning the IMF (International Monetary Fund) started the committee session by recapping and adding to the topic of the allocation of special drawing rights (SDR), a form of reserve currency given by the IMF. After the speaker's list, we took notes on what countries were sharing during the first moderated caucus and a trend we saw was that countries like Ireland and Turkey expressed concern for smaller, developing countries and are fighting to get them more power when it comes to decision making about where the money goes and how much. 

To add, when an unmoderated caucus got passed, we interviewed Bangladesh and asked what their response was to Chad who, during the speaker's list, shared that they want to give more power to higher-income countries. Bangladesh responded by saying that developing countries deserve a voice no matter what country it is. They also said that every country should have access to funds and help decide where they are going. Another big issue they brought up was corruption and terrorists in many third-world countries and how they want to be a part of the decision-making to insure that the money doesn't go into the wrong hands. Costa Rica also shared this concern. 

Furthermore, France told us that they had a solution which entailed creating a new body within the IMF that includes more transparency and equality for third world countries. We hope to go back and get some more information about this idea and see what happens and if it becomes a resolution. On the other hand, Slovenia talked to us about the opposite. They proposed the idea that if you give bigger countries more power, and they use it for good, countries like the USA and China can afford more loss in the sense that they have the resources to deal with high-end problems unlike developing countries. Slovenia then said that this will lead to multiple countries benefiting from their wins. 

To conclude, the IMF is torn between keeping the power in the hands of larger, more economically stable countries when it comes to SDR but also allowing developing countries to have a say as well. We hope to visit the IMF committee in later times to see how this topic played out.

Reported on By IPC Delegate Fiona Fortin.

When asked the best way to gain intelligence, Ibrahim al-Hamdi told a reporter, “You need to get smarter.” However, when asked who the best source would be for the Yemeni Republicans to gain intelligence from the Royalists, he said, “we should not be offering concessions to Americans...we should work to convert Yemeni’s to the Republican side.” On the Republican side of the North Yemen Civil War there seemed to be a consensus amongst the body that they needed a consistent inside source from within the ranks of the Royalists. However, there was much deliberation as to how they should obtain this source. Ahmed Numan, the founder of the Free Yemeni Movement, talked of establishing an intelligence branch of the new government to train spies and expressed interest in leading such an agency. When the topic of appointments was brought up Abdul Rahman Iryani emphasized the need for elections to be held as soon as possible. Iryani’s background as a trained judge seemed to inform his strong belief in sticking to the Republicans’ new constitution and holding elections instead of just appointing . Abdul Rahman al-Baydhani suggested kidnapping a Royalist in order to gain intel, suggesting that they use the necessary tactics to convince them to reveal compromising information for the Republicans to use. This suggestion was met with little success. Moshin Ahmad al-Aini brought up his correspondence with Bruce Conde, mentioning his affinity for stamps and willingness to exchange classified information. While the deliberation had no definite conclusion it displayed the potential for disloyalty within the Royalists, or perhaps even the opportunity to be double-crossed.

Reported on by IPC Delegate Maggie de la Fuente

Just a few days ago, Archduke Ferdinand was killed in a politically motivated assassination. According to official police reports, Gavrilo Princip’s gun fired two times before it was seized by a person who tackled him–information on whether or not this was a member of the public or not is not yet known. He was found chewing on a cyanide pill after this, attempting to kill himself. 25 Bosnian-Serbs have been detained and convicted in relation to the incident, under the cause of the liberation of Southern Slavs. Today, the Austro-Hungarian cabinet–composed of government members such as the Foreign Minister and Hungarian Prime Minister–questioned Princip during a heated trial. Among these questions included how the man sourced the firearm, possible motive, and cognizance of the repercussions. The man did not confirm much, as he had “forgotten” key pieces of information such as the origin of his weapon. However, he told the committee that a primary motive in this assassination was to act in support of Bosnian Serbs and Southern Slavs. The Press had the opportunity to ask Princip a handful of questions about his perspective, specifically on whether or not he had the intention of this event evolving into a worldwide battle. Princip told reporters that he “hoped the smooth-brained emperor would leave” territories that Austria has recently encroached upon as a result of the Archduke’s death, but this message was not received. In Princip’s words, “Austria started [this] war.” Following the conclusion of the trial, cabinet members engaged in a controversial debate, during which the operator of Austro-Hungarian Press Headquarters–Maximilian von Hoen–referred to Princip as a murderer and advocated for his execution. Hungarian Prime Minister Tisza opposed this notion, citing the fact that the execution of any person in Austria under the age of 20 would directly contradict official law. Another delegate proposed giving Princip the choice between death or assimilating into the Austrian military. The opinions at the table are very split, as most deeply seek justice for the Archduke–but the question arises: are they willing to forgo the law to do so?

Reported on (and cartoon drawn) by IPC Delegate Maco Jeleniewski.

“Patria Libre o Morir” Famous war cry that originates in Nicaragua, The phrase directly translates into “Free Homeland or die”, The members of this cabinet definitely live up to this. While expecting this debate we noticed all directives and working paper failed or did not have enough votes to go into voting procedure. Right away we noticed how determined and committed the members of the cabinet were toward their goals. Later on, A working Paper was introduced by Vilma Nunez, The vice president to the supreme court. The working paper was called “usamos el tribunal internacional”, the working paper would’ve tackled the United States involvement in Nicaragua and would’ve sent the case to the international courts. After a short UN-moderated caucus, Nunes realized that the paper would not get the support from several members of the cabinet such as Herberto Ortega and Gonzalo Carrion. Both members restated their opinion of how this working paper would only make the war go on for longer, since the international court takes a long time to process cases. After seeing the amount of votes the working paper would get, Nunez decided to not vote on it. A smart decision, Since she has the opportunity to over time convince people to vote for it.

Later on, a directive was finally passed! What felt like ages of disagreement came to an end. The directive is called Economic support of Nicaragua. It will expand Nicaragua's economic output and open it to international investors. After this directive was approved by an overwhelming majority, Another directive passed as well! The latin american allies, a directive whose job is to Build trade and Build relationships with latin american countries by sending delegations to their countries. The directives also look to remove United states involvement from Latin America But still keep trade and business relationships. The relationship with the United states was a recurrent theme in the committee session. Some delegates were preoccupied about how the expulsion of the United States out of Latin America was going to affect their economies, since a lot of Latin American countries rely on the USA's trade for food and profit.

Finally a crisis break arrived, It started with a very unique piece of information. “Nuns are moving,” said the journalist. Yes, Nuns. We do not have any other information on this topic, as there isn't much known about the nuns. What we do know is that there are new Catholic united churches being built in Nicaragua, these churches teach about culture and religion. There is not much information on this topic since most of Nicaragua's funding has gone to the military, therefore the respective agencies cannot investigate. One of the most controversial pieces of news that we were given was that Daniel Ortega left his wife for Doris Tijerino, a member of his cabinet. When we asked Humberto Ortega to comment on the topic he said “I'm very disappointed in my brother’s actions, but for now...No comment”. Lastly there’s some kind of white substance going around in Nicaragua, there is no information on what it is, what it does or where it comes from. While we try to get more information about unanswered questions, keep reading the working paper for the latest news on Ortega’s cabinet.

Reported on by IPC Delegate Clarissa Ramirez

Unity is key for the Greeks as the Persians arrive at the walls of Thebes. “It’s a sad thing how the Persian have invaded Thebes without the Spartans and Athenians actively helping,” Leontiades, a military commander in Thebes, told reporters when asked about their response to the invasion. Telesinius of Elis urged his fellow city states to come together, “as brothers and sisters in this battle.” The members of the committee discussed how they could evacuate Athens as well as where their forces could most effectively be allocated. Just as Xanthipus commented, “staging a small battle may be in our benefit,” in reference to how Greek forces could become familiar with the tactics of the Persian Army, a skirmish broke out between the Greeks and Persians. Two hundred Greek troops prepared to face off against three hundred Medeans as well as fifty archers. However, the Greeks hoped they could overcome what they lacked in numbers with the tenacity of their warriors. Their troops consisted of the Athenians known for zealous fighting as well as the Spartans who have historically never surrendered. The troops chose to take on a bottleneck formation, luring the Persians forward. The Spartans took a position on the front lines allowing the Athenians to sneak behind the Persians and forcing them to fight on two fronts.

Reported on by IPC Delegate Maggie de la Fuente

There was history in the making today at Model United Nations third committee, SOCHUM. In short, SOCHUM deals with humanitarian issues, human rights, as well as cultural issues. Today we asked delegate Hayat from Lesotho about the human rights issue of the night: prison rights. Delegate Hayat detailed how they were discussing possible solutions to overcrowding in prison. Although they may not seem as complicated of a topic as others, it is an immense issue that needs a solution. “We believe that this issue can be solved by making the accused, potential criminals wait for their trial outside of prison,” Delegate Hayat explained. She was working on writing her committee's Working Paper when I pulled her aside for an interview. She also claimed that this would save room for those that are completely guilty, rather than filling the prison cells with those who are potential criminals, or who have not had their full trial.

While Delage Hayat was working on her paper, we interviewed the delegate of Colombia, who was working on her own Working Paper. She believes that her solution will work because “It is an issue that impacts the states, is solvable, and our solution will most definitely work,” this delegate explains. After discussing her paper, we concluded that her solution was very similar to the Delegate of Lesotho's solution. While many people were working on finding direct solutions to the overcrowding of prisons, other Delegates decided that the best solution was to create programs that help get prisoners out of prison sooner than their release date. This included prison alternatives such as: healthcare programs as well as mental health programs. Not only did they come up with prison alternatives, they also came up with fundraiser ideas to fund these prison alternatives. They decided that these programs would be funded by the Model United Nations since it is a collective effort of many countries. There were many Working Papers being written with different solutions to the same overwhelming problem.

Stay tuned to see which working papers get passed on MUNUM’s own Working Paper...

Reported on by IPC Delegate Asmaa Issa

The UN-Habitat has dived into Topic A, discussing crucial aspects of countries transitioning to “Renewable Energy and Sustainable Green Cities.” Countries were mainly concerned about fulfilling the individual needs of every nation, transitioning from a fuel-based economy, and the lack of resources to establish ways to incorporate sustainability in developing countries. Despite committee session consisting of “mostly moderated caucuses,” according to Dias, Luke Byrne, there were some “pretty visible blocks” among the countries, as well. The said blocks were divided in the timeline of the action, the type of action, and most importantly approaches to monetary and equipment funding.

Countries like Uganda, Bangladesh, Chile, and Paraguay wanted to focus on every countries viable energy resource and use it to build sustainability in the country. “Every nation has some form of abundant renewable energy source, like solar or hydro power, we want to use it to advantage,” said Paraguay. The delegate also added that the block’s proposition to fund the project was to ask each country to contribute a part of their nation’s GDP towards the cause. “We want every country to contribute,” said Paraguay. The idea of including every country, however, looked very different for a different block. Consisting of major fuel dependent economies like Russia and Lybia, the block wanted to take smaller steps in the direction of green energy, and prioritize “leaving no one behind.”. Although the block was “not at all reluctant” for moving towards renewable resources, according to Russia, the goal was for a “slow but efficient transition.” The reason behind this was to lower the blow for countries that rely almost entirely on oil and gas exports to maintain their economies. Their solution to the lack of funding? Involving the private sector into the picture. Though block was against reliance of developing countries on the developed ones, curiously enough, it involved countries like Belarus that are already dependent on Russia for fuel. The question of how to monetarily help the underdeveloped countries become sustainable was so integral to the committee that there was a block dedicated entirely to funding. The block consisted of mostly underdeveloped countries like Jamaica and Haiti along a with a few developed ones like Switzerland. Their main goal was to get more developed nations to help out the underdeveloped ones with both monetary means and equipment. “We have a couple of developed nations who are willing to help out,” said Haiti. The delegate was right. In fact Monaco declared that the country was very able and willing to provide resources in all forms to the countries in need. Although there have been no submitted working papers so far, Dias Bryne expects some cohesive “working papers by tonight.” So far there has been no conclusion as to what the resolution for this crucial topic would look like. Moreover, according to Bryne, Topic A is also supposed to be focused on “sustainable urban planning” and currently there has been almost no mention of it. Stay tuned to read more about Russia’s reaction Haiti’s developed nation dependance, and USA’s reaction to Bangladesh’s request for GDP contribution.

Reported on by IPC Delegate Tanvi Kulkarni

An intense game of Rock, Paper, Scissors occurred between Brazil and Argentina, with Russia keeping score, in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). A triumphant blend of Brazil and Argentina’s respective national anthems filled the room as delegates anticipated the results of the competition. With 11 consecutive rounds of the game, Brazil came out victorious for the country who raised the most money for Congo’s refugee crisis. After the spectacle of the century, members of the Security Council began discussing their desire to de-escalate conflict and to stabilize Congo’s surrounding nations. Malaysia suggested the Dominican Republic of Congo move away from their gold and diamond resource-based economy in the future. Congo’s economy, originally built on colonization, hopes to have educators help transform their country’s financial situation. France added on to these goals, urging their fellow delegates to focus on the issue of child soldiers and preventing a Civil War. Canada’s ultimate objective was for Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda to find peace with one another. Some delegates had different priorities on what topic required the most focus, however. After China gave orders to Rwanda, a diplomat from the Congo was kidnapped, which is the event Gambia wanted the committee to commit its efforts to. As Russia put it so eloquently, “There is an imposter among us.” Moments before the International Press Corps left the room, a newly published New York Times article prompted yet another crisis... stay tuned to see what happens next in the UNSC.

Reported by IPC Delegate Sydney Lount

That’s all for Friday of MUNUM XXXVI! Stay tuned for more on The Working Paper.

Opening Ceremonies: “A New Beginning”

Humanity. Hardship. Healing.

The three words that established the tone for MUNUM XXXVI. As the conference’s first in-person opening ceremony since 2020, the MUNUM Secretariat was tasked with the important mission of welcoming 750 delegates and their advisors. Although Vice President Kamala Harris did not make a surprise appearance, MUNUM XXXVI’s opening ceremony was definitely historic. The University of Michigan’s annual Model United Nations conference began with a bang this evening, introducing delegates to the committees included and the lovely people staffing them. However, this wasn’t portrayed in the typical format–instead, MUNUM staff participated in a spoof of the hit T.V. show The Office. This included the iconic soundtrack over images of staff members falling on the floor, making animated gestures, and even performing CPR on each other in the case of IPC staffers. Overall, a comedic entrance created a sense of relatability, community, and lightheartedness.

Secretary General Mark Johnson introduced the conference’s theme of “Humanity, Hardship, and Healing,” in the hope that delegates and staff would use the conference as an opportunity to lend a, “critical eye towards our past,” and, “practice empathy,” when discussing both current issues like food climate change and historical topics dating back to the Persian-Greco Wars. Next, Johnson, who has participated in Model United Nations for eight years, shared his experiences working alongside the 12 other Secretariat members in putting a conference of such a grand scale together. Johnson, likely amongst a myriad of delegates participating in this weekend’s conference, is a firm believer in the power of Model UN, particularly due to how many minds the activity can bring together. MUN is a vessel for discovery and growth, perfectly emulated in MUNUM XXXVI’s conference theme this year.

MUNUM is finally back in-person, after 3 years of hardship. As a whole, it represents overcoming adversity, with both theme and preparation.

This year’s conference theme tied beautifully into Emma Swailes's speech about United World Schools: an organization which helps give children of remote villages access to a free education in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Nepal. UWS has partnered with 270 schools, helped 49,000 students, and is looking to continue its work with the University of Michigan. Their goal, “reach the unreached,” is so powerful and something all of us are happy to support as a conference, especially proceeding this exhilarating speech. After succeeding their goal with their partner school in Gufa, Nepal, which has since been converted to working with local governance, the conference aims to help another school in Orang, Nepal to reach the same goal. The conference hopes to raise $4400 for its new partner school through a combination of candy grams, merchandise, and partnerships with the local restaurants Pokē Pokē, Panera Bread, and Pizza House. Taking a glance within the Delegate Handbook, we can see multiple types of candygrams being sold: Type A candygrams include a message with a fun sized candy ($1.00) while type B includes this with a replacement of a regular sized candy ($3.00). Type C includes a message read by Secretary of Finance Justin Esdale and his yo-yo ($6.00). Finally, type D is a message read by Secretary General Mark Johnson and his recorder, which also includes a regular-sized candy bar. Reverting back to the donation possibilities, the available restaurants on January 14th are: Pizza House (5:00-7:30p.m), Poke Poke (4:00-8:00p.m), and Panera Bread. For Panera you must show the fundraiser flyer (hardcopy or digitally), while for Poke Poke you must mention “MUNUM Fundraiser” while ordering.

The Secretariat members proceeded into further details of the conference, mentioning the fourteen diverse committees at MUNUM 36 and The Working Paper from the IPC Committee being on the official MUNUM website. Lastingly, they commented on receiving feedback from the Chairs in Committees and heading to Room 6 of the League and informing the Dias on the case of lost credentials. Finally, they chanted “Welcome and Go Blue!” and banged their gavels in unison before dismissing the Opening Ceremony.

Following the ceremonies several conference attendees shared their thoughts with reporters. Liv Serio, a senior participating in the Persian-Greco Wars Crisis Committee discussed her experience at MUNUM over the past four years saying, “MUNUM has been the highlight of my Model UN career and one of the best experiences of all of high school.” Further, Advisor Ashleigh Dubie described attending MUNUM for the first time as, “both confusing and exhilarating.” No matter if it was someone’s first or final MUNUM it was clear that there was much excitement for the weekend ahead.

image showing two doors, one labeled "book" and the other reading "MUNUM," with a hoard of people shown walking into the MUNUM door. The title reads, "Today's Delegates." This image was created by Maco Jeleniewski, an IPC delegate from Carl Sandburg

A cartoon created by IPC Delegate Maco Jeleniewski from Carl Sandburg High School.

Welcome to the Working Paper!

By: Story Triplett

Hello Delegates, Advisors, and Staff, and welcome to the home of The Working Paper! My name is Story Triplett, and I will be serving as the Editor-in-Chief for the International Press Corps for MUNUM XXXVI. I’m originally from Rockford, Illinois, but I moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan when I was 15 and have been there when I’m not on campus. I’ve been involved in Model UN for about five years, and this is my second year on MUNUM staff. Alongside being a director for IPC, I’m representing MUNUM on Secretariat– a panel of students who help set up the conference and work with the University to provide committee rooms, hotel bookings, bus schedules, and lots more. I’m the Secretary of Publicity, which means I’m in charge of posting announcements about the conference to our social media accounts. I encourage all delegates to check out our Instagram page, @munum1987: we frequently post about the conference, our staff, and how we’re working to benefit the community around us.

I’m very happy to announce that our International Press Corps committee is back after a long hiatus! IPC delegates will be working hard during conference to produce articles for this blog, The Working Paper, MUNUM’s editorial paper covering all conference happenings. This page is where all of the IPC delegates’ journalism will be posted as they explore the University of Michigan’s campus, sit in on committees, and report on all things MUNUM for our conference.

Stay tuned for articles produced by our delegates, posted here throughout conference. I’m looking forward to meeting you all! Go Blue!