5 student life
the spectrum newspaper • january 29, 2015
Peering inside MUN
Facing freezing temps
New year for Model United Nations
How are Blake students handling the cold?
Michael Malecha • Staff Writer
Deniz Ercan-Fang • News Editor
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odel UN is an acclaimed program that allows participants to simulate the experience of international relations in the style of a UN conference. For many years Randy Roberts, a former social studies teacher who retired at the end of the 2014 school year, headed the program. After the departure of Roberts, David Graham and Jon Dicus took upon themselves the duty of leading Model UNers into a successful season. Under new leadership, the club will be participating in conferences in Boston and Chicago, where participants will display their knowledge of various international issues. James Gruver ‘17 explained, “To prepare for the different conferences most people make binders full of information about your country and the issue you are discussing.” He “brought a binder with [his] position paper and multiple sources giving [him] various views on the issue.” Gruver is a novice Model UNer and thus has only experienced Model UN
under Graham and Dicus to which he commented, “Mr. Graham and Mr. Dicus have been great. They are always organized and everything has run smoothly so far.” Charlie Alldredge ‘16 had a different opinion of Model UN. He commented that “the experience changed a lot.” Regarding leadership and preparation, Alldredge explained, “Student leaders lead most
of the lessons this year.” ”We’ve tried to keep most things the same,” ays Mr. Graham. “We have given the students more of a leadership role this year.” Concerning their upcoming conferences, Alldredge was quite confident that Blake Model UN was ready to show its extensive knowledge of the crucial events of the world.
Karpeh, who lived in Liberia for 25 years, described one of the biggest obstacles facing nurses. Before Ebola, nurses only diagnosed fever symptoms as malaria. As a result of the common mistake between malaria and Ebola, nurses are dying because of their lack of protective gear and equipment to differentiate to avoid misdiagnosis. Hall described his experiences working with some of the poorest villages in Sierra Leone to provide long term development. When Ebola first broke out, he provided training for locals. However, he described that many were in denial because they didn’t know what it was and
were illiterate. However, because of the trust he had created, the villages he worked with fared much better than the surrounding villages. He urged that we keep Ebola on our minds and in the news, support government issues, and keep people educated. The second panel was in regard to what Minnesota is doing to combat Ebola and what needs to be done. Wendy Burt, the Vice President of Communications and Public Relations at the Minnesota Hospital Association, discussed that we are “fortunate we have had time to prepare.” Four hospitals in Minnesota are on the CDC’s list of 35 national Ebola-
ready hospitals. She ensured that “all hospitals in MN are prepared to identify potential cases, screen, and isolate a patient.” Kristin Rollwagen, of Metropolitan Airports Commission, described the safety precautions that TSA at the MSP airport take. She reports that there are no direct flights from the points of origin of Ebola. However, she emphasized that it’s not an exact process, TSA needs to be proactive without being intrusive when people come through international arrivals. She acknowledged that some people could slip through, so the need for people to self-identify their possible exposure to the
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photo credit: www.emunc.org
Zoe Zellmer ‘17, far left, collaborating at Edina MUN.
A lone student treks through the tundra in the morning.
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photo credit: Stuart Patterson
innesota is one of the coldest places to be in the winter. Known for its arctic winters, below-freezing temperatures and icy roads, Minnesota is hardly a winter paradise. But after last winter’s polar vortex, how bad is this winter’s weather? Last year was one of the coldest Minnesota winters on record, with 48 days of below-zero wind-
chill and a cumulative of almost 70 inches of snowfall, the 2013-2014 winter was one of the coldest winters in nearly three decades. Even though the earth is warming up 0.02ºC per year, it seems that Minnesota did not participate in this global heating since the 2013-2014 winter was the 9th coldest winter since 1873. Emma Smith ‘16 ex-
pre-hospital screening and testing in the airport is critical. Jonathan Rose, chair of the Sierra Leonean Community in Minnesota (SLCM), described the urgent necessity for supplies and services to the people in Sierra Leone. Before the outbreak, there was 1 doctor per 50,000 people. Now, 10% of those doctors have died, 20% of the nurses work in fear of being exposed to the disease with no protective equipment, and clinics are closing while patients are increasing. He emphasized that until there is 100% contingency, we are not “winning” against Ebola. COL Mike Wickman, the leading National Guard RedBulls into Liberia,
stated that approximately 700 troops will be deployed in Liberia in the spring of 2015 to help facilitate the concerns mentioned by the other panelists. Regardless of whether Ebola is flashing across our new screens or not, this infectious disease is a continual threat. Even though the issue seems distant, as Rose explained, “the war is not over.” Blake students have taken a step to help eliminate this infectious disease by spreading awareness. Echtenkamp reflects, “It was never about us, our goal was to have people who were interested in learning more to have a place to receive that information.”
plains, “I don’t like the cold because it makes it unpleasant to be outside.” This sentiment is indicative of the greater Minnesota population during the winter. However, how cold is too cold? This varies from person to person, but what about schools? When should schools be closed due to cold weather? Maddie Dekko ‘16 believes that “[Schools] should close when it’s -20 with windchill,” while Daniel Shan ‘15 remarks, “if I go out and it’s too cold schools should close.” While answers may vary from person to person, last year on January 6, 2014, governor Dayton decided that all schools should close due to predicted wind chills of -50ºC. This resulted in every child’s dream of a two day extension of winter break. But how much time is really spent outside in the cold? Shan comments that he only spends “20-30 minutes max outside [and it’s] basically just my car rides.” However, Dekko says that she “probably spends 3 hours outside in the winter” due to her skiing commitments. Outdoor athletes need to pay attention about the arctic temperatures, but it seems that the rest of us are only outside during commutes. Nonetheless, the cold is a real danger for everyone. With an internal body temperature of 98.6ºF, it can become very difficult for the human body to regulate internal body temperature in a -20ºF surrounding. Likewise, everyone has heard the stories of people going outside during the winter and freezing to death. So even though Minnesotans are known for their resistance to cold temperatures, remember to dress prepared and stay safe.