Palo Alto High School’s Model United Nations club will attend its first conference of the year this weekend at University of California, Berkeley.
The Intergenerational Model UN conference is a unique conference in that it gives the opportunity for delegates of any age to participate, according to MUN researcher Tara Madhav.
“It’s not only a high school conference, but for delegates who are adults and even middle schoolers,” Madhav said. “It’s really for anyone who is interested in Model UN.”
MUN is a club intended for students to learn and discuss current world politics and events. For conferences such as the Intergenerational conference, each student will be assigned a committee with a specific topic and a country. Students must then research their country and its position. They will then write a paper and debate with other delegates to find a solution.
According to Madhav, the Intergenerational conference is more educational and slow-paced in comparison to other MUN conferences. However, Madhav hopes the conference will serve to get the veteran delegates accustomed to the process once more, and give the new delegates a feel for MUN conferences.
Although there are no awards for this MUN conference, the committee does recognize specific delegates at the end, according to Madhav.
“The committee chairs recognize who they felt were the ideal delegates during their speeches,” Madhav said. “It’s a pretty great thing to be recognized for.”
Last year, a collection of Paly students were recognized by the committee, including junior Anmol Nagar and graduate Chris Van Gelder (Class of 2015), according to Madhav.
This year MUN has implemented a new position in the club. The newly appointed researchers will compile research binders for the upcoming conference, which will enable MUN members to excel during the events by utilizing the useful sources, according to MUN President Eli Craverio Frankel.
To prepare for the event, the club is additionally organizing a Paly student veteran camp to help people refresh for the conference, according to Madhav.
“We look forward to all the veterans getting back in shape for the year, and in general, an educational experience,” Madhav said.