Monday, February 7, 2011
Captain's Blog XXI
Below are a few observations of YUNMUN XXI, from BT captain, Aaron S. ('11)
This is my fourth and final year at YUNMUN, and this year’s conference seems better than ever. Our Beth Tfiloh delegation is so dedicated to doing well and making the school proud.
Yesterday started off with a bang as we watched the Super Bowl before even having one committee session. Afterward, we proceeded to our first meetings.
I am a delegate on the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC), representing Austria., and our first meeting was great. It ran smoothly and everyone was relaxed (from the game,?) which seems to have set the tone for the rest of the conference.
Yesterday started off with a bang as we watched the Super Bowl before even having one committee session. Afterward, we proceeded to our first meetings.
I am a delegate on the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC), representing Austria., and our first meeting was great. It ran smoothly and everyone was relaxed (from the game,?) which seems to have set the tone for the rest of the conference.
Our Very Own "Binyamin"
THE GAVEL
At YUNMUN, each committee has a chairperson and each chairperson has a gavel. This gavel is used to call a room to order or to finalize a resolution. It has taken on a persona of its own, so that the gavel is revered amongst the chairpersons, and the delegates fear the sound of its pounding.
Well, the end of day 1 at YUNMUN XXI seemed to come to a close with very little incident. The 12:30 am curfew for delegates was easily enforced, as students were exhausted from the excitement of the Super Bowl (commercials) and from their first committee sessions.
However, as the hallways quieted down a strange phone call went out to the BT chaperon:
It seemed that in one of the committees, the gavel had disappeared. And the chairperson was certain that he had noticed said gavel peeking out from the bag of the Austrian (that's us) delegate. The chairperson had gone so far as to ask the delegate to open the suspected bag, but, alas, this search revealed nothing.
The BT chaperon was asked to follow up on the incident, but he could not shake the feeling of familiarity with the story. For when the sons of Yaacov go down to Egypt to seek sustenance during a famine, their youngest brother, Binyamin, has a silver cup planted in his bag of food and is arrested and imprisoned for his actions (if you don't know the whole story, it turns out that the governor is actually brother #11, Yosef, and he just wants to give his older brothers a hard time).
After some intense negotiations, all agreed that resolution of the incident could wait until morning.
So, at breakfast, an internal investigation launched by the Austrians confronted the delegate about the gavel. Perplexed and adamant in innocence, the delegate searched the bag one final time --- only to produce the gavel.
The gavel was returned to its rightful place in the committee room and no one is the wiser. Still, security around the Austrian delegation has been beefed up and tensions are high (no, not really).
This will, undoubtedly, be one for the ages.
At YUNMUN, each committee has a chairperson and each chairperson has a gavel. This gavel is used to call a room to order or to finalize a resolution. It has taken on a persona of its own, so that the gavel is revered amongst the chairpersons, and the delegates fear the sound of its pounding.
Well, the end of day 1 at YUNMUN XXI seemed to come to a close with very little incident. The 12:30 am curfew for delegates was easily enforced, as students were exhausted from the excitement of the Super Bowl (commercials) and from their first committee sessions.
However, as the hallways quieted down a strange phone call went out to the BT chaperon:
It seemed that in one of the committees, the gavel had disappeared. And the chairperson was certain that he had noticed said gavel peeking out from the bag of the Austrian (that's us) delegate. The chairperson had gone so far as to ask the delegate to open the suspected bag, but, alas, this search revealed nothing.
The BT chaperon was asked to follow up on the incident, but he could not shake the feeling of familiarity with the story. For when the sons of Yaacov go down to Egypt to seek sustenance during a famine, their youngest brother, Binyamin, has a silver cup planted in his bag of food and is arrested and imprisoned for his actions (if you don't know the whole story, it turns out that the governor is actually brother #11, Yosef, and he just wants to give his older brothers a hard time).
After some intense negotiations, all agreed that resolution of the incident could wait until morning.
So, at breakfast, an internal investigation launched by the Austrians confronted the delegate about the gavel. Perplexed and adamant in innocence, the delegate searched the bag one final time --- only to produce the gavel.
The gavel was returned to its rightful place in the committee room and no one is the wiser. Still, security around the Austrian delegation has been beefed up and tensions are high (no, not really).
This will, undoubtedly, be one for the ages.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
A Tale of Two Competitions
Dinner was a traditional fare of Super Bowl eats (think "offensive lineman") and the major hall in the hotel was set up with a large screen, onto which the game was projected.
Below is a photo of (most of) the BT Model UN delegation enjoying the Super Bowl event.
This year's team is one of the strongest BT delegations ever, and includes the following students:
Aaron S .(Sr. Captain, '11), Michal D. (Jr. Captain, '12), Gabe Z. ('12), Aaron F. ('13), Micaela G. ('13), Kayla K. ('13), Josh L. ('13), Caitlyn F. ('14).
A tremendous thanks to our chaperons as well:
Mr. Spodek, Ms. Izaks and Ms. Jacoby.
FYI, Austrians and Jamaicans generally show little interest in this type of football, but if they did, they would also root against the Steelers.
It's Time!
Beth Tfiloh's Model UN delegation is on its way to YUNMUN XXI at the Stamford Plaza Hotel and Conference Center.
The students worked hard throughout the first half of the school year to prepare for this event. Aside from meeting during the appropriated club periods, members of this select group made sure that they were proactive and up to date on the requirements for the event.
The video below has become a sort-of mascot for the delegation. Many have a love-hate relationship with it, but everyone gets a kick out of it.
We hope you enjoy it as well.
We are representing Austria and Jamaica at the conference (see if you can spot them in the video).
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