UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 31, Page 3
May 14, 1992
Campus delegation experiences real-life diplomacy

     Twelve University of Delaware students last month joined 1,500
other collegians in New York City, not for an exciting vacation, but
for an intellectually stimulating, socially exciting and totally
exhausting experience.
     They were Delaware's delegates- representing Spain-at the annual
National Model United Nations Conference, held April 14-18 in the
Grand Hyatt Hotel on 42nd Street and Park Avenue.
     Before the conference, the students had researched current issues
in their respective countries so they could realistically represent
them at the conference, discussing and voting on resolutions.
     The Delaware delegates found Spain to be the most middle-of
the-road and moderate nation. When voting on      U.N. resolutions,
Spain generally votes with the European Economic Community.
     Senior political science major Jennifer McGrath participated in
Spain's General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) special agency.
In the five days of simulation, the mock-GATT agency nearly passed
working papers, but, in the end, the countries could not reach
agreement. McGrath said the real agency has been in a stalemate for
about eight years, so the collegiate delegates played their roles
accurately.
     Freshman Russian studies and political science major Beth Leshko
described the trip as a "lesson in communicating, diplomatic
communication," The lesson becomes especially hard, she said, when
trying to "keep your cool" while confronted with opposing views.
     Some of the model delegations tried to get into the character of
their nations by wearing traditional costumes of their countries and
feigning accents. Members of the delegation from Notre Dame
University, which represented the Holy See, dressed as priests.
     Janet Manspeaker, instructor in political science and
international relations, served as faculty adviser for the delegation
for the second year. In the fall, she said, nearly 100 University
students applied for the 12 positions in the Delaware delegation.
     Manspeaker and officers of the International Relations Club chose
the delegates, judging on their knowledge about the United Nations,
international organization courses, grade point average and
classification. Most delegates were upperclassmen.
     Manspeaker said the students prepared for the event by taking a
two-credit course in political science. She supervised library
research, gave suggestions, discussed session rules and presided over
practice U.N. sessions at the group's informal weekly meetings.
     The Delaware delegates said preparation was difficult because the
conference is a "current forum," and finding up-to-date data on Spain
was challenging. Leshko said they learned much from the exchange with
delegates from other schools. Some schools spend a year preparing for
the conference and some of these students brought personal
secretaries, copying machines and lap-top computers.
     The conference also provided the participants with mission
briefings from their assigned nation's respective representatives at
the Permanent Mission to the United Nations.
     Junior delegate Valerie Lewis described a committee speaker who
was a translator during the Cold War. He told interesting stories
about Cuban premier Fidel Castro's notoriously long speeches and
Nikita Khruschev's short temper.
     Members of the group agreed their participation was a great
learning experience. McGrath said it "really taught me about the
U.N.'s dynamics. It was hands-on experience worth 100 classes about
the United Nations."
     Agreeing, Lewis added, "It was interesting to learn how slow the
political process is (in the United Nations) .... It was interesting
that so much is involved."
     -Laura Reisinger