UN Program Continues to Improve

A few weeks before he and his fellow delegates from the Cal State San Bernardino Model United Nations team left for the annual national conference in New York, Sina Bastami reflected on what he had learned as a first-year member of the program. “The biggest thing that it teaches you is how to be a diplomat,” said Bastami, a graduate student in social sciences. “So I’m thinking of how to apply that research that I’ve done, and the current events of the world, in order to gain what I desire as a diplomat.” All that hard work and preparation paid off for him and 27 other members of the CSUSB Model UN program. Split into two teams representing Lebanon and the non-government organization Third World Network, the student delegates continued the university’s tradition of excellence at the National Model United Nations Conference April 13-17 in New York City. The students representing Lebanon were awarded Outstanding Delegation, the highest honor the National Model UN conference gives, and achieving 19 such awards for the program in the last 21 years CSUSB has participated in the conference. And the students representing Third World Network were awarded Distinguished Delegation, the next highest honor at the conference. To put the awards in perspective, the Lebanon delegation was one of 24 Outstanding Delegations out of a total of 196 participating delegations throughout the world, putting CSUSB in the top 12 percent, said Kevin Grisham, the CSUSB faculty adviser for the Model UN and Model Arab League programs. The Third World Network delegation was one of 33 earning a Distinguished Delegation award, placing it in the top 17 percent, he said. In addition, the student delegates earned Outstanding Position Paper awards in the various committees to which they were assigned – the Lebanon team in seven out of nine of the committees it was assigned to, and the Third World Network team in three of the six committees it participated in. “These awards,” Grisham said, “are given in recognition of the preparation work that is done before the conference and is represented in two-page policy position papers the students are required to construct and submit for judging by the staff of the conference.” And it’s the preparation work – both for the papers and in learning the policy, politics and cultural nuances of the countries and organizations the CSUSB Model UN delegates represent at conferences – that have been key in the program's success in New York and at an international conference in South Korea in November 2013. Preparation this year for the Model UN team included a recent campus visit and briefing by the Honorable Consul Johnny Ibrahim, consul general of Lebanon (Los Angeles office). While it’s a given that academic research and keeping up with current events of a country is a major part of preparing for a Model UN conference, just as important is the preparation to become a diplomat. “One thing Dr. Grisham has taught me is that if you can look at an opposing side of your argument and understand it, not only will it make you a better diplomat, it will make you a better person, because you’ll understand both sides, and be able to make a rational decision,” said Amanda Meere, who completed her sixth and final year with the program at the New York conference. “It’s different from a debate,” said Dan Sarnoff, who is majoring in Arabic language. He is a first-year member of Model UN, but has participated in the Model Arab League program. “In a debate, there is a winner and a loser. Here, you don’t want anyone to lose. You need as much support as possible for your position. You need to make sure that other delegates are on board with your position, or at least won’t object.” The idea is to become a diplomat, as Bastami mentioned. “One thing that Dr. Grisham is very good at is how to accurately communicate what a diplomat does,” Bastami said. “It really teaches you to be calm, to present (your position), how to be – how is it? – disagree without being disagreeable.” While learning the policy, political and even cultural nuances of a country that a student will represent may sound daunting, especially with the added pressure of wanting to uphold a tradition of excellence, Bastami stated that his fellow teammates, from the veterans to the newcomers, are more than willing to help each other along. “Your fellow students help you through that process, doing what it takes to help another team member, “ he continued. “It’s more like family.” “I’ve grown to love the people of the Model UN,” said Meere, who will graduate in June with a master’s degree in social science. “We’re a family, we really are. We have each other’s backs no matter what. Having that bond is something that helps you grow as a person.” The CSUSB Model UN team representing Lebanon: • Nicolette Davis (political science) • Lanier Rogers (Arabic language, literature and culture) • Briahna Howells (Arabic language, literature and culture) • Steven Anthony (history-track B) • Dakota Hughes (economics-political economy track) • Sina Bastami (social science, M.A.) • Joel Webster (mathematics-physics concentration) • Joshua McClure (national security studies, M.A.) • Daniel Ghossein (computer science) • Sol Park (chemistry-biochemistry option) • Stephen El-Khatib (postbaccalaureate, Open University) • Mikael Erwin (postbaccalaureate, Open University) • Dan Sarnoff (Arabic language, literature and culture) • Joshua Monzon (political science) • Kevin Gema (political science and economics) • Elissa Best (English-literature track) • Noah Ghossein (biology-pre-med option) • McKenzie Kelly (biology) • Amanda Meere (social science, M.A.) The CSUSB Model UN team representing the Third World Network: • Kristen Ramos (geography-global studies track and psychology) • Joshua O’Handley (political science and economics) • Juan Garcia (political science) • Jonathan Herrera (criminal justice) • Tricia Mimaki (postbaccalaureate, open university) • David Briggs (Arabic language, literature and culture) • Alexis Butts (history-track B) • Beatrice Longshore-Cook (social science, M.A.)