When it comes to doing well in Model United Nations conferences, club co-presidents Daniel Fried and Ezra Spiro, and vice president Evan Keyes all agree that the top two ways to mastering a debate is to, “Know more than your opponent and wear the power tie”. However, it must have taken more than just a few fancy ties at this year’s Model United Nations conference which was held at Stanford University. Although over 600 delegates from eight states and six countries attended, our very own UHS team won the award for Best Small School Delegation. Moreover, 13 individual awards were given to the members of University High School’s Model United Nations team. The Stanford conference was held from November 6 to November 8 and the members that attended were Amita Gupta, Angel Jiang, Angela Wu, Beatrice Nielsen, Brandon Hellman, Brendan Tobin, Brooke Conrardy, Chelsea Olson, Daniel Fried, Evan Keyes, Ezra Spiro, Katherine Richard, Lee Burke, Olivia Friend and Sophia Villarreal. Participants in the conference act as diplomats and follow standard United Nations procedures as they try to come up with solutions for international problems.
Choosing a club to join isn’t always easy, but “I was interested in national relations and debate so Model United Nations was the logical choice”said club co-president Ezra Spiro. “I like to read the New York Times and am interested in national politics and affairs. I also like working in committees and building consensuses”, said vice president Evan Keyes, who also agrees with Spiro. Examples of topics that are covered in Model United Nations meetings are nuclear proliferation, which is the spread of nuclear weapons, drug trafficking and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts. When asked what his favorite topic was, “It’s hard to pick just one,” said Daniel Fried, club co-president. Despite their success in the conference, these club leaders admit that Model United Nations has its challenges. “The hardest part of Model U.N. is making friends while debating effectively”, said Spiro. “Essentially you are tearing your opponent down, but in the end you want them to vote for you” said Keyes. If you are interested in joining Model United Nations, “now is a great time to join”, said junior Katherine Richard. There is an upcoming conference at the University of Arizona in March and it is open to new members as well as the returning members. After all, according to Fried, nothing beats “the thrill of debate”.
