Mellow Out 2 by Giada Benfatto

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Mellow Out at VinSpring 2012

National Session of EYP Ukraine 2ndâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; 5th of March

Article Type The Journalist team of VinSpring 2012

Dear Organisers, we win.

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Mellow Out = to cool off, chill out. Is often associated with hippies.

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Table of Contents

P4 Editorial P5 The Future P6 Euronight P8 ECON P9 ENVI II P10 CULT P11 AFET P14 The Hour of Hosu P16 In Defense of Rating Agencies P18 HO Interview P20 ITRE P21 ENVI P22 AGRI P23 LIBE P24 Toilet Mystery P25 Best Memories

Find the videos at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0dWcWUJ_qg&feature=youtu.be http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS7akqJBszYt http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDlFcBlrcY4&feature=g-upl&context=G23fbbe7AUAAAAAAAAAA

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Editorial

Deux Petits Mots Les deux langues officielles au PEJ sont l’anglais et le français. Cependant, on en voit pas beaucoup du deuxième. C’est pourquoi nous avons décidé d’écrire au moins l’éditorial en français. Vous vous demandez sûrement pourquoi, alors que personne ne va comprendre ce message. Nous on vous, il n’y a pas toujours besoin de mots, pour faire passer un message. Le seul fait que cet article soit écrit en français est suffisant pour attirer l’attention des gens. Peut être même mener à la discussion. Quelle discussion ? Celle sur si ou pas la langue française doit rester une langue officielle au sein du PEJ. C’est une question de débat qui ressort à presque chaque session, en particulier lorsque des PEJistes français sont présents à la session. Pourtant, le débat ne tourne jamais vraiment autour de la question de la langue, mais plutôt sur le fait que les PEJistes francophones souvent ne sont pas à l’aise en anglais. Ceci porte d’un côté à des débats en langue française lors de l’assemblée plénière, qui sont mal compris par les membres non francophones. D’un autre, ça cause des problèmes de communication entre les participants. A cause de ces deux fait, l’utilisation du français est souvent critiquée, et beaucoup de membres trouvent que ça serait mieux qu’il ne soit plus utilisé. Cependant, il y a un autre côté qu’on oublie souvent lors que on parle du français au PEJ. Non, ce n’est pas la question de l’origine du PEJ, que, comme on sait tous, a eu lieu en France. Mais plutôt de la question des différences culturelles. On ne peut pas nier que le fait d’avoir deux langues officielles ajoute une petite touche à ce facteur, et de la diversité aussi. Quel est donc le futur du français au PEJ ? Sachant que les PEJistes sont connues pour ne jamais atteindre des conclusion sur n’importe quel argument, je suis sûre que le français va rester encore longtemps au sein de l’organisation

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Solution of the staring game (from the top): Left row: Ievgen – Knowledge of international policitcs Katya – Blue contact lenses Julia – Spreads good mood Dominic – Humour Right row: Tea – Tolerance Dennis – Communicative Bardia – Stands for globalisation Roksolana – Is just awesome

Giada Benfatto (DE) & Waltter Suominen (FI)

Delegate Interviews

What is up next in EYP? Journalists, chairs or organisers? Mert Ozbilek reveals the dreams and aspirations of the VinSpring delegates concerning their future in EYP. Sofia Petterson (SE) : Wants to become a journalist in future as she likes to write a lot and it is like a hobby for her. A journalist should be proficient in writing and enjoy it at the same time so this job is just right for her. Erekle Antondze (GE) : Erekle would like to try not one, but two official positions in the sessions to come. First of all, he wants to be a journalist, as he believes that they are one of the key factors in making the session an entertaining one. He saidthat journalists can make even a really boring committee work the funniest thing in the world by rushing in the room and doing something funny. In addition, he wants to become a chairperson, as he believes that delegates gain a lot from them and he would like to become one and teach his own delegates as much as he can. Artur Kolisnichenko (UA): Artur’s preferred position is the chair position. He explains his choice by saying that chairs are relatively more involved with delegates and the session, and this is a thing that he really wants to happen. Oksana Krovchuk (UA): Is also amongst the delegates who wants to get her hands on a chairing experience as she likes being involved with other delegates so much and she would like to give advices to delegates once she is a chair, learn about their opinions and teach them from her own experiences as a delegate. Natalia Olasyuk (UA): Natalia, unlike the other delegates interviewed is not that interested in becoming a journo or a chair. Rather than being that kind of official, she would like to live the organiser experience as she finds being involved with the organization of the session pretty interesting. She also told that seeing the smiles on the participants of the session by the end of it. Yuliya Mykhaylyak (UA): Yuliya said that even though she has had the chance to attend an EYP conference a couple of times already, she was never able to be an official. Therefore, she wants to become a journalist or chair in her next session and the live official experience of the EYP for the first time. Oksana Konorska (UA): To understand Oksana’s dream position perfectly, one should hear her exact words: “Journalist. It is my dream. I am definitely going to be a journalist in a future conference and it will be an unbelievable experience for me.” Mike Rozkhov (UA): Mike would like to try two different roles in EYP as well. His greatest wish is to become a chair as he likes to work and interact with other people a lot, fill them with energy and inspire them in any way. However, he wants to become an organiser as well. He really believes that being an organiser would allow him to see not only the session itself but also how it is prepared and that he will learn a lot about dealing with people from this experience. Moreover, he wants to have the experiences, emotions and understanding that only an organiser can have. – MO

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Report

EURONIGHT Ovie Utomakili and Mert Özbilek report on a night of surprising performances and talent revelations.

The night of Saturday, 3rd of March, will always be remember as “the night of revealed talents” among delegates and officials of Vinspring 2012. Eurovillage and Euroconcert, while already being the most anticipated events of the session, turned out to be a true inspiration for the media team. The latter especially could have lived up to the Eurovision singing contest, with 13 surprising performances that can only be described as unique and unexpected. Eurovillage was probably one of the events most EYPers really looked forward to, and it did not disappoint. It all began with the delegates preparing their stands by placing delicacies they had brought along according to their region or country. Then Sebastian Hosu (AT), President of the session, officially started the event and everyone began to try and reach for the snacks, meals and

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drinks from many different parts of Europe. Tasting all the food present at the event was a wonderful experience as usual, even though some of the meals looked peculiar. For example, one of the regional tables displayed a box of fresh fish, which was used to molest one of the Editors. As the eating frenzy came to an end, region and country were announced, and the first round of uncovered talents began. The western part of Ukraine gave a breakdown of its region by traveling across it on an imaginary train trip. The presentation was then concluded with a popular native song to which most participants sang along. Also noteworthy was a brief performance of the theme song of the Lviv International Session, which was originally sung by Kristina Chelmakina, one of the VinSpring organisers. The southern and

eastern parts of Ukraine also shined through with their unique customs and dances. A special presentation from the Czech Republic was introduced by the moderator as being held by “those people who hang out on the beaches of Croatia, sunburnt and wearing sandals and socks at the same time.” Most striking of all though was the presentation from Sweden and its introductory song from the final countdown, which was followed by a traditional Christmas tune and a song from ABBA. As if it was not enough, birthday congratulations were sang in five different languages for one of the performers. After the Eurovillage and country presentations were concluded and everyone had a full stomach, it was time for some art to take the stage. The Euroconcert was just in time to accomplish this and lighten everyone’s night even more. Be-

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fore that could happen though, there was a 20-minute mini-party before the concert to make time for the preparations where people danced and waited for the exciting event to start. The EYP concert started with journalists Fabian Sommer (AT) and Max Nikolaichuk (UA) presenting the first show. A lovely jazz performance by Klara Sundlöf (SE) welcomed everyone to the concert. Then the widely known singer Beyonce’s “Halo” was brought to the VinSpring. Then came the recently famous French song “Je veux” by ZAZ, and Natalia Solovjova had the listeners stand on their feet and clap the fabulous performance. A more classical piece followed as Vira played “Stranger in the Night” with her flute, bringing total silence in the room, everyone’s attention fixed on the notes coming out of the instrument. After-

wards, a very uncommon performance took place. Viktoria Machan came on stage backed up by musich and with a magical laser show that put all the audience into a trance. By the end of this special show everyone was once again standing and clapping. A duet of the The White Stripes’ all time favourite song “Seven Nation Army” came next and an entertaining live show was brought to stage as the performers danced around the stage enthusiastically, involving the audience. The next thing in the programme, an Ukrainian song, was sang along by the audience all the time, with hands and cell phones in the air, a smile on each face. Rosanne then took the stage to play the guitar and sing a wonderful and truly relaxing song. Four UkranianNigerian delegates performed a dance that can be described in many ways,

with marvellous, funny, entertaining, eccentric being only some of those. Alena Kotelnyk performed a hypnotizing a cappella by singing Leleky. Then the hardworking organisers came on stage as they repeated once again the performance of the International EYP Session in Lviv in 2011. This time it was lead by the ex Head Organiser of the IS, Dmytro Honcharenko, who had come to the session as a surprise guest. The star of the night, the focus of attention, was however the president of the session, Sebastian Hosu, who had the closing performance by singing CC, “Unchain My Heart” by Joe Cocker and “New York,New York” by Frank Sinatra in a way many would call “like a true artist”. The performance struck the audience and got everyone up and dancing, and the Euroconcert slipped into the next party of the session.

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ECON – Committee Article

MAF-ECON

Olga Popovych tells how ECON became the Mafia committee, and what they are capable of. With the Godfather Dominic Degen (CH) and fairy Godmother Roksolana Pidlaska, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs has formed their own community, like a mafia family. There are definitely both pros and cons to being in a mafia family. However, as you can see throughout history, the mafia always gets what they want and easily reaches their goals. That is also the case with the ECON committee. Even though they are very different, they each have their own role in the community, and always feel calm and ready for action. It all began when they showed great results in the actual mafia game. In the end mafia won, but that was exactly what they needed. Sadly, the pervert and the prostitute died, though MafECON decided they could easily survive without them. Nevertheless, they still decided to honour their memory and that is why they built a graveyard of

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all their lost members. They like making decisions and feel confident when doing this. As you can see, this committee is serious, but at the same time they are constantly having fun. They feel open and naturally connected with each other. At one time they managed to scare Hrvoje – the chair of ITRE – away from the room after he accidentally walked into a discussion on porn movies. That is a good strategy, because secrets should stay in the family and no spy should hear them. In reality the committee was just playing the snowball fight game, and that was one of the questions. Nevertheless it showed how easy it was for them to talk about everything, even personal and awkward things. I was also amazed to see how talented this committee was, as they had five delegates performing at the Euroconcert. Vika Movchan with her light

show was absolutely incredible, Lidiia Zhgyr rocked the crowd, Rosanne Rabin Rosorg’s performance was absolutely amazing and Adebayo Adegbeye and Oke Egbete had a really entertaining dance. In my opinion, these are the people who made this event unique. Yet the true potential of the committee was revealed when the Godfather and Fairy Godmother were late on one fateful morning, and their protégés started committee work without them. During the time, they also invented more rules that could help them improve the quality of the discussion. “I feel lost because my committee is so self-sufficient and they do not need a chairperson”, the fairy godmother Roxy says. I am sure she is proud of them and welcomes their initiative. Thus, the only thing I can add is: dear ECON, keep it up and you will succeed. – OP

ENVI II – Committee Topic

Mother Russia Talking Trash

Fabian Sommer investigates ENVI II and their quest to make Ukraine cleaner. Mother Russia wants us to recycle. Her planet needs to be clean and efficient, and if the world is changed according to the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety II, this will be the case. However, there would be landfills full of Post-Its, because of their innumerable ideas. The committee is easily recognisable by its positive attitude, the cooperation within the committee, and the wealth of ideas brought forth during Committee Work. However, the delegates of ENVI II are not only well informed but also quite artistic. Many of the portraits painted during teambuilding could be hung in art galleries alongside famous artists like Picasso or Goya. Especially the portraits of Julia Pustovoltova and Sergey Leshchenko resemble surrealist masterpieces. Their talent does not just lie in painting, but also in performance art. With Anton and Endi performing at the

Euroconcert, this committee rocked the show with modern performances. Anton sang a duet of “Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes, and Endi danced to hip-hop songs.

to public buildings, such as schools. Showing that this topic is more relevant than ever, Yana Petrus described that there was, in fact, a landfill right next to her primary school.

During the name games, the committee also came up with many creative job ideas for its members. While Mother Russia is disappointed that Anton Udovenko chose to be an astronaut and not a cosmonaut, she looks forward to seeing him in space. With Jackie Chan growing older, we can also look forward to Kate Chernyuk succeeding him as the Queen of Kung Fu.

In general, the committee tends to be quite well versed in the subject matter. They did a lot of research before and can cite numerous examples of waste disposal systems in other countries. Additionally, the committee is very politically correct, preferring terms such as “financially challenged” to “poor.”

When not playing random team building games, such as “Bip Boobs” or “100 Things to do to your Journalist,” the committee is trying to battle one of the largest ecological problems facing Ukraine today – waste disposal. Today there is not a reliable recycling system, and many landfills are created next

I am honoured to have been the journalist for a committee with such potential in the last days. What I most appreciate is their ability to be serious at one moment and then have fun at the next, like when using a coffee break to plank on the highest possible place. In one phrase: Mother Russia approves. – FS

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CULT – Committee Article

Wild, Wild East

A memoir of the fifteen brave CULTural souls and their proud work, by Martin Dite. Once upon a time in the wild, wild east – in the city of “Win-it-see-ya,” fifteen brave souls met and formed an alliance of wit and knowledge, beauty and muscle to stand for the ordinary people. Now, as you might have overheard a few years earlier by the river Rubicon, the dice were thrown, and their destiny was set. A life devoted to spreading the “green word” amongst all classes, ages, religions, genders, nationalities and subcultures – from outlaws to sheriffs, from Lviv to Luhans’k. A life of hard work and difficulties to overcome is waiting for them at every corner. These fifteen brave souls are in no way conform. Like gold-diggers during the Gold Rush, CULT located the

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rarest and most potent sources during their Information Rush, evaluated them thoroughly and used them for the best. However, it is important that we keep in mind that some of them can only be used rather rarely, as they are very precious. The result, produced in the face of sweat and toil during countless blazing days and sleepless starry nights, might have been only a little baby one day, but has grown into strong and confident cowboy with time. And, this cowboy is ready to draw his Colt and fight for a place in the sun. It is not easy to walk some paths, but CULT has proven extraordinary abilities in all disciplines needed. Only a single discipline seemed to be too

difficult for the committee all their efforts. However, even the natural nemesis of the cowboys and cowgirls – pass the tennis ball – succumbed to the endurance and dexterity of CULT in the end. Finally, the last barrier standing between CULT and the end of the journey had been overcome. Now the word has spread from the East to the West, and only one more step is to be taken. The cowboy is preparing for his final duel. He walks down the lonely path to the General Assembly hall. He readies his guns and waits for high noon. Not much can be said about the story of this brave cowboy. Just “Win it & see ya” – MD

AFET – Committee Article

Strategic AFET

It is not easy for a committee to think about everything thoroughly from making a strategy for a game to discussing, but AFET had no difficulty in doing so, as Mert Özbilek recounts. It was finally the time for the teambuilding of the Committee on Foreign Affairs to start. After the usual name games, AFET committee was ready to play the game which was the key for them to get to know each other a lot better than they could have possibly imagined. This game was about everyone – including the chairs – pairing up and trying to tell as much as they could about themselves for approximately 10 minutes. After this part of the game was concluded, everyone tried to “sell” his pair to the rest of the committee, and this is where the first surprises appear.

many more activities. By the end of the game, everyone was appreciated one way or another and successfully sold.

came as a reward for learning to work together after a long day of teambuilding.

After a few more games came the human knot, a game which teaches how to work collaboratively. This game reached its purpose for the AFET committee. However it took a long time to do so. The committee had to work for a really long time on this game and were unlucky enough to form two circles instead of one for four times in a row. After the unsuccessful trials, AFET was victorious and untied the challenging knot, having to stand in funny ways time to time because of its complexity.

Gvantsa Kvaratskhelia (GE) was appreciated for her traditional dance skills when she agreed to give a preview. Klara Sundlöf (SE) impressed everyone when she told that she knew 6 different languages. The biggest surprise though came from Serghiy Karelov (UA) when he told the rest of the committee that he worked voluntarily from time to time, helped old people, was a part of a music group and did so

Another game that demonstrates the importance of collaboration, the so called “Monster” game was one of the highlights of the teambuilding as well. The committee had to make monsters with only a given amount of legs and arms touching the ground in total. They were successful in forming 3 monsters that looked like a turtle, a pigeon and a beetle. AFET was even able to move around in these formations and this

Then came the time for more serious stuff to take place as committee work was the next thing on the program. AFET started off by brainstorming and listing the facts, problems and solutions on a flip chart. When everyone had his say on the topic, the committee decided to discuss facts, problems and solutions respectively, and decided which ones were going to be put on the resolution. They decided that every single one of them had to agree with the idea before they were over with the idea and that may have been the reason for the long but beneficial discussions. However, it also meant a resolution each of them believed in. It is all this that made the strength of the committee. They may have taken time when doing things, but it is merely because they worked in a precise and methodical way. As you will see during the General Assembyl, the results were will worth the wait. – MÖ

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Presidential Interview

The Hour of Hosu Martin Dité and Max Nikolaichuk unveil the Transylvanian cape covering our President. You might know him as Mr. President, the person who may or may not be a vampire or just as Sebastian the chair. We are of course talking about Sebastian Hosu (AT), the President of the session. He is said to be a very active, communicative person and often describes himself as an attention seeker. Yet his remarkable performance at the Euroconcert piqued our interest and made us wonder if there was not more to his person. We have thus tried to go beyond the appearance and reveal some of his more hidden features. After the Euroconcert performances, it would have been foolish not to ask him about other talents that may still be revealed, and that is exactly how we opened the interview. His answer was somewhat evasive, hinting that a proper opportunity and perfect timing

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are the crucial aspects for him to reveal his talents, and we were unable to discover more. We have also tried to prove some theories concerning his possible vampire identity, but the results did not seem to be persuasive enough to make any strong conclusions. The reason for this is that he has denied his affinity to the Twilight saga, as well as fear of Knoblauch Suppe – which is garlic soup in German – and even love for Bloody Mary. So are the self-proclaimed vampire origins just part of the show or is he just very good at concealing his identity? Nevertheless, something we did manage to uncover was the secret about his looks. We are sure you all noticed that Mr. President looks very accurate and well dressed whenever you meet him during the session.

Clothes are a real hobby for him, and he always tries to wear something that is interesting for himself. Moving on from his own person, we were interested in finding out how he felt about Ukraine, especially when it turned out to be his first time here. Therefore it was impossible not to ask him about the creatures that make Ukraine famous – Ukrainian ladies. When asked about how he feels about them, his first compliment was on, “the emotional intelligence of Ukrainian girls and the way the dance”. Sebastian then went even deeper mentioning the Western Europe stereotype that “if you marry a Ukrainian girl, she will gladly cook for you and will gladly rub your feet.” The Presidential opinion on Ukrainian girls was concluded with the statement, “No of-

Presidential Interview

fenses to Western European girls, but high heels are definitely sexier than no heels.”

a chance to share as much magic as possible with everyone at the session, from the delegates to the organisers.

A new experience for him is also his role as a President. Usually, when one is in this position, there are countless duties to be taken care of, yet Sebastian seems to be managing them all with ease. He claims that the key to this lies in the proper choice of the officials’ team. “Then everything is working by itself and I can just focus on being a mascot,” he says. To him, this new EYP role is also the one he found most interesting out of all those he fulfilled in his long EYP journey. Considering that our President has participated in every EYP role, except the one of Editor, this is saying a lot. Nevertheless, presiding our naturally connected session was his favourite experience as it gave him

However, even – or perhaps especially – for a person who has willingly devoted a big part of his life to attend 30 EYP sessions, there can be downsides. Apart from the obvious ones, that include sacrifice of school grades, free time and health, the worst aspect for him is the loss of interest in everyday people, as EYP sets very high standards in this. “You cannot talk about cultural differences, you cannot have the sincere fun either, connect instantly at this level,” Sebastian says. Simply, some of the ‘normal people’ just seem less interesting. Another vital question that was trembling in the air for the last days was if Sebastian was planning to continue his

EYP journey. In a diplomatic and presidential manner we were not given any official announcements concerning the stop of Sebastian’s activity in EYP. To prevent any kind of misleading we offer you Sebastian’s direct quote, ”Let us say that I do not know because I do not plan to go to other sessions, but I do not officially say that I am quitting” Perhaps all of us have their personal ideas of how the perfect EYP Session President looks like. There is one thing we can definitely agree on though, and that is that the Session President is the always the brightest star and the one who sets the example. As for Sebastian Hosu, we challenge anyone to say that he is not filling this role in an exceptional way

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Opinion

In Defense of Rating Agencies Fabian Sommer explains why rating agencies are not evil and are actually trying to protect us.

Rating Agencies, such as Standard and Poor’s, Moody’s, and Fitch, are a darling punching bag of populist politicians and a disgruntled public, not just in Europe, but worldwide. They are an easy target, because their decisions can seemingly lead to higher borrowing rates for a country. In reality, rating agencies are the watchdogs of the financial market and their purpose is to protect us, the investors. Admittedly, before the economic crisis started in 2008, rating agencies failed miserably at what they were created to do – give accurate, unbiased ratings. Even the infamous investment bank Lehman Brothers had an “A” rating – the sixth highest rating and four steps from a “junk” rating from Stand-

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ard and Poor’s when it declared bankruptcy. As a result of such miscalculations, both economists and politicians correctly blamed rating agencies for warning neither the public nor banks of unsafe investments. Afterwards, there was an obvious change in the agencies’ approach in giving ratings. Suddenly, they seemed to have remembered what they were created for, and their ratings became more conservative and realistic. However, when they also started reassessing the ratings of sovereign states, such as Greece, Portugal, or Ireland, the international community cried out. Columnists and pundits that had earlier blamed rating agencies for giving good ratings too easily, now com-

plained that they were being too strict. In reality, the problems of those nations lay much deeper – rating agencies were only the first ones to find out the problems and adjust their evaluations accordingly. For many it was easier to blame the rating agencies than to acknowledge that their country as had made mistakes in the past. When later, they even dared to reevaluate and degrade the ratings of some of the world’s largest economies – such as the United States, France, or Great Britain – politicians once again cried out and called their decisions irrational. Michael Sommer, the head of the largest German union declared that, “the US-Rating Agencies are the

Opinion

most effective cruise missiles of Wall Street.” Despite what Mr. Sommer says, ratings can actually help countries. If a country is downgraded, it should adjust its policies. That way it can make sure that investments in that country are still safe, so borrowing costs would lower again. In contrast, let us for a short moment imagine a world without rating agencies. While anti-capitalists would be frolicking in the fields, financial markets worldwide would be in chaos. Without objective ratings, investors would have to evaluate the safety of investments independently. That way each investor would either have to use their gut feeling or pay ridic-

ulous amounts of money to accurately evaluate the risk of each investment. Additionally, due to each investor’s completely different evaluation the markets would be even less predictable than they are now. One day, a nation’s borrowing costs may be low, because of a group of people that believe it is a safe investment are investing that day. However, the next day, that group is on holiday and different group could say that it is unsafe, leading to higher borrowing costs.

countries when borrowing costs may rise. Rating agencies are the watchdogs of the business worlds and as such, we should not try to silence them every time they bark. – FS

As we can see, correctly functioning rating agencies are a vital part of a functioning market economy. So while it is easy to blame rating agencies for all of today’s problems, we should realise that their true purpose is to protect us from bad investments and warn

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ITRE – Committee Article

L-ITRE-ly Natural

Your faithful journalist, Olga Popovych, tells about the progression in ITRE committee ITRE is like a box of chocolates – you never know which one you are going to get. Luckily in this committee you will find only great things. I was surprised to discover that they have literally all the qualities to be a perfect committee. However, even though they were sociable from the beginning, it all started small. Game by game, word by word, they united in a powerful team, ready to fight all the difficulties on their way. Their first challenge was the game human knot. “First of all, let’s figure out the strategy: who is the tallest and who has the longest arms?” said someone from the tight knot. Despite some initial struggles, they succeeded in this game. Moreover, they did it as a team. Watching them day to day, I figured out that their power is in the underwear. It might sound funny, but they have incredible success whenever underwear is mentioned. The first time was when playing the line game. Knowing who was wearing what underwear made

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them immediately succeed and closer to each other. During the fruit salad game, it came up again. “I am wearing a bikini,” said Mister X. Due to journalistic honour codes, I cannot reveal the name, so only ITRE knows who it was. After this, many other moments made them closer and closer. The result of it you can admire: their committee picture won first place in the competition, and can be admired in the next picture spread. How much more “naturally connected” can you become? This clearly describes that they work as one and do not only understand, but actually live by this theme. During the committee work they were as active as possible. After only ten minutes of Committee Work, they had dozens of post-its already on their flipchart. Their topic was quite controversial, but this was not a challenge for them, Therefore, soon enough they reached agreements on all the issues that were discussed. However, that

was not the only aspect that made them unique – they were the only ones to have Wi-Fi among the committees. “It is ITRE’s, do not even try,” was the network name. Nevertheless, they were not abusing of it, but actually working on the possible solutions. All this proves that ITRE is an active, smart, hard-working and just legenwait for it -dary committee. The only weakness they had was their addiction to coffee. But even in this case, it was a collective coffee rush. I am proud that I have met many incredible people and was their journalist. I am also sure that they would not be the same without their wonderful chairs – Nata and Hrvoje. I am amazed how all of them – Rostyk, Andy, Slavik, Vlad, Vakhtang, Yulya, Vira, Alina, Alyona, Anna and Anna, Ira – made impossible possible. This was L-ITREly. – OP

ENVI I – Committee Article

Dear Diary,

Marianne Munz gives us a peak inside to her head, and her feelings about ENVI. While being a journalist for the Committee on Environment I, I have had plenty of funny moments and interesting experiences. As a first time journalist, I could not have asked for a better committee. Everyone was enthusiastic about both teambuilding and committee work, and I am sure their placard will be raised many times during the General Assembly, I have never ever met such an active committee.

ENVI I was the lucky committee who got the president Sebastian as their chair, together with the sweet Anastasiya. With this duo as chairs it is impossible to have a teambuilding without a lot of intimacy. Chicka, chacka; Say my name, bitch; (tennis)balls and The coin game were games that were introduced by the chairs with great enthusiasm. I laughed my head off during “Say my name, bitch”, honestly.

First of all, the delegates are always friendly, happy and positive. That is not the only qualities the delegates in ENVI I have. For instance, during the teambuilding, I got to know optimistic Olho, young Yuriy, nodding Natalia, asking Anastasiya, exited Erekle from Georgia and loving Olena. I also learned that Valeriya liked to drive a vehicle, Yevgenia liked to eat, together with Dmytro, who preferred donuts. The second foreign delegate, Lina from Sweden, likes lollipops, while Ksenija was especially fond of her knees.

Several of the delegates were also great singers. Plenty of songs were sung during teambuilding, among them “Barbie girl”, “Yellow submarine” and even both the Russian and Ukrainian national anthem. Natalia and Ksenija were even so brave that they performed at Euroconcert, with songs in French and Ukrainian. I was deeply impressed!

need their chairs. “It is so great, we do not have to do anything. We could actually just go back to the hotel and go to sleep or something.” Clearly, Sebastian is satisfied with his committee. Furthermore, though Ukraine is the 20th largest emitter of CO2 in the world, I am sure this will change after this awesome committee has presented their resolution on how to reduce this amount of emission. At least I hope so. After all, the environment is probably the most important issue in the world today, and I can promise you that ENVI I is well aware of that. It has been a honor to be its journalist, and I can truly say: Honeys, I love you all, and I will smile. –MM

During committee work, ENVI I was really organised and strict with content, time and phrasing, they almost did not

Out 19

AGRI – Committee Article

AGRI’s Creativity

Oviemundo Utomakili reports on AGRI, describing it as the most creative of committees. A committee is at its best when the members are creative, but creativity is not soemthing we study. It is something you are born with, and that is what makes it an uncommon gift. Fortunately, there is a committee that is filled with creativity and its delegates have been able to combine their unique abilities in order to create such amazing results. They rely on their instincts and go far beyond the ordinary to come up with solutions – not only to their own topic, but also to the obstacles they meet during the process of committee work. They are very lively and effortlessly come to an agreement. They can only be described as a perfect match made in heaven even though they are not couples. The first day of the session was all about getting to know each other and themselves. For instance, during the teambuilding Alex was able

20 Mellow

to discover his best animal, a dog. The following day the discussion of the committee topic then began. It was amazing to see that all the delegates had actually prepared for the topic. When they spoke it was like they were human encyclopedias. Thanks to Beyonce there were also arguments on which gender runs the world, and it was like a theme in the committee because the argument continued even to the final day of committee work. As we all know though, an apple does not fall far from the tree. Their chairs, Yegor and Karin–Liis, understood the delegates. They were able to properly groom them and help them harness their inner instincts. Creativity is a key to success. Thanks to the creativity of each delegate in the AGRI committee, I am especially looking forward to the

manner in which the resolution will be served to the board. Oksana, you will always be an intelligent Barbie in your world. Alex, there will always be times twhere you are hot and cold but always hold your head up high. Liza, even with times when you don’t feel like doing anything, the sky is your limit. Olha, you will always be sexy and smart, and we all know it. Zvarchy, hold on to your dreams. Kateryna, keep being yourself and you will achieve your dreams. Maria, your hard work will be translated into success. Victoria, your intelligence is your greatest asset. Veronica, keep up your outstanding character and attain greater height. Jeff, keep on excelling. Denis, the sky is your limit. Volodymyr, keep the torch burning. Louis, keep on unlocking your vast potentials. – OU

LIBE – Committee Article

Loving LIBE

This is the committee of high spirits, good manners and smart heads where you can meet a rock & roll band musician, a horse rider lady, a dancer with eleven years of experience, a journalism fan girl, beautiful voices, charming smiles and even a hookah man. With the “Libe Liii-Be Amore Amooo-Re” song, LIBE marched victoriously throughout the session. Whatever challenge the committee faced, it was accepted straight away. The uncompromising win in the snowball fight against ITRE, the special clap technique when calling numbers, remaining blindfolded, the outstanding feature of always being able to find time for fun during tough times and then focus back again – those were the episodes that made LIBE’s journey successful. Sadly, LIBE’s journey here at VinSpring is now on its final straight. As long as VinSpring’s participants remain naturally connected by wonderful memories and time spent together, there is no need to feel sad as the end of the session approaches. So cheers to LIBE and cheers to VinSpring. – MN

Facts

Pride, joy, pleasure and pride again are the feelings Max Nikolaichuk experiences when introducing LIBE committee to the VinSpring community.

• The committee is chaired by the Vice-President Krzysztof Ignaciuk and blue eyed blondie Kateryna Baskenova. Blue eyed blondie – that is worth repeating twice;

• There is also a blond male, Yuriy. The evidence of the existing mental contact between blondies around the world has not been found yet; •

The LIBE committee did not lose The Game;

• Good manners, politeness and the “Ladies first” rule are common and valued here; • LIBE people are masters in planking – do not forget to watch the second video as the proof; • Do not mess with LIBE. If you decide to challenge them in a snowflakes battle, otherwise you will inevitably lose.

Joke of the day: – How was your yogurt this morning?” – Well, it was fine. But my stomach told me, ”Dude, no.” Kate and Krzysztof’s impression on the committee people: “Everyone in the committee is blooming like a beautiful flower with every new day of the session. We are lucky to witness them blossom and are proud to be the part of this evolution.”

While committee work is in full action: “How do you actually call this paper we are working on, guys?” – “Mmm… A resolution”

“Regardless of whether we want it or not, LIBE topic affects everyone. I bet LIBE’s resolution will lead to productive debates. which we will definitely enjoy. I am looking forward to the real ACTA alternative being presented. No other variants are possible, because LIBE rocks.” ~ Max Nikolaichuk, journalist of LIBE

Out 21

Article Type

22 Mellow

Article Interview Type

Out 23

Investigative Journalism

Toilet Mystery

Marianne Munz and Olga Popovych decide to take the case of the missing toilets into their hands. According to the World Toilet Organisation – a prestigious sui generis entity accidentally discovered by the journalists – Ukrainian-style toilets do not make to the top 25 weirdest ones. For foreigners this is unbelievable, because these toilets literally are a hole in the ground. We are convinced that something has happened to these toilets and as journalists we do not have a choice but to start an investigation in order to find out the truth. After a long day of hard work we finally found the only possible two explanations. The first one, that someone has stolen the toilets in Ukraine. Our opinion is that the thieves were the Russians, during the time of Soviet rule in Ukraine. The reason for this suspicion is that communism was based on equality – the equality between workers and employers, between different social

24 Mellow

classes, and last but not least between men and women. The original toilets were therefore removed from all over the Soviet Union, so that there would be no capitalistic inequality. Another theory we came up with to fuel our distrust towards the Soviets is based on an accident Stalin possibly had in the 1930’s. He dropped his toothbrush in the toilet, and the fact that it was completely drowned under water made him so furious that he decided to forbid every single toilet in the whole Union. The second explanation is connected to the accident that happened in Chernobyl. Among many other effects this accident also resulted in all Ukrainian water and pipes becoming radioactive. This lead to the fact that all the toilet seats also became radioactive, and it was not possible to sit on a toilet seat without turning into a

mutant. This was obviously quite an issue for the Ukrainian government, so they decided to destroy all the toilets, leaving only small holes in the ground. After a while, the water became less radioactive, and eventually it was safe to rebuild the original toilets. However, statistics showed that the improvement on people’s health skyrocketed after the destruction of the toilets. The reason behind this is that because they do not sit on them, their leg muscles got stronger. Therefore, the Ukrainian government decided not to change back to the original toilets in public places, such as schools and museums. In our opinion, both explanations are equally realistic and backed up by thorough research. Now, it is up to you to decide which one really took place in Ukraine’s past.

iy, EN VI

Best Memories

Yuly a

Quotes

by Marianne Munz

Kud i ,A GR

“The first day of teambuilding was the best. It was so funny and the chairs were good. The fairytale party was also fun. Everything has been great. “

MARIAN U C , o t i k i MUNZ N When we had booblik in bed for breakfast.

Yu r

Viktoriia Zabiian, LIBE I appreciate the non-alcoholic policy, I think that it is important

ET F A , v ri

Wifi in the rooms o l v a

Olya P

o d Fe

“The euroconcert from yesterday was the best, it was really amazing. Everything here has been so unforgettable. This was my first time at EYP, and I also loved the teambuilding.“

Kulb a

nska

ry,

“And the man with the moustache that lives on the third floor who tried to pick-up all the girls in EYP at the party last night.”

Su ka c

The girl shoes in the room this morning!

, AFE

“There was this one guy waking up and finding some girls shoes in his room, and he had no idea how they got there, or who they belonged to.” And when there were no water in coffee break!

EC ON

“The most memorable was staying up late, playing fruit salad and other games. Hi ha ho, for example, that was really fun.”

Out 25

Article Type

Елеватор

PERSON DOES NOT CHOOSE ELEVATOR, ELEVATOR CHOOSES PERSON. AGED TASTE WITH A SPICY EDGE SMELLS LIKE MARSHUTKA IN THE MORNING HELPS OUR NO-MOVE COMRADES TRAVEL UP AND DOWN FEELS LIKE HOME FREE ROMANTIC NO-LIGHT MOMENT ELEVATOR HAVE TEMPER MOTHER RUSSIA APPROVED IN 1969 26 Mellow