L A N X 30
TH
MARCH 2014
FOSCAMUN DAILY THE FIRST LADY: THE BEST DRESS
DID YOU KNOW IT? CAUCUS is a "private meEting of party leaders". The word comes from an Algonquian word “caucauasu” -counselor, elder, adviser- in the dialect of Virginia, or from the Caucus Club of Boston, a 1760s social & political club whose name posSibly derived from Modern GreEk kaukos "drinking cup."
EDITORIAL STAFF
THIS SPECIAL EDITION IS DESIGNED AND PRINTED BY THE OFFICIAL SCHOOL JOURNAL
What do you like the most about this project? I think that what I like the most about this project is what I'm doing and what defines my role, that is to handle the relations I've had the pleasure and the fortune to create with students from alL over the world - not only with foreign students but also with the students from my own schoOl, who I could never have got to know as welL as I have thanks to this project. So this makes me very hapPy and proud of what I' m doing. What are you in charge of for this FOSCAMUN? Fortunately, I have not beEn alone while carRying out my part, since I have two magnificent colLaborators who are Enrico, my clasSmate, and Lucia. They have played a great part in this work and they have always helped me. I would realLy like to thank them for their supPort. What we have done is the welcoming of the foreign delegations, not only by going to the airport to meEt them and bring them to their hosting families, but also by helping them to get to know our country, our city and involving them in our lives, finalLy bringing them to our first MUN and making them feEl at home. We created bridges betweEn difFerent cultures, like real diplomats do. What has beEn the most difFicult part of it? What we considered to be easy in the beginNing turned out to be the hardest patr of our role, for at times the relations with the foreign schoOls might be proceding welL while you might be having problems with your own schoOl. You might have to find answers to various questions concerning the organization of the MUN. And because we were alL aiming for the best for this project, sometimes fights got in our way caused by difFerent opinions and points of view. In the end, it has beEn a bit like creating a puzZle, and putTing the right pieces together is very hard; so I think that making things work the way they should have was the hardest part of it alL, as welL as always keEping up to date with ever changing schedules and people dropPing out at the last minute. Can you consider yourself to be satisfied with what you alL achieved considering the large number of people you've beEn working with? Yes. I think, in the end, the team we created has shown everyone that you might be powerful on your own but it's much betTer to work together, even withstanding tough fights and long days and nights spent working on a project like this.
Interview with Mr. MacGabhanN
Valentina: You are one of the teachers who did the most for this project, what do you think about the MUN and the posSibilities it can ofFer to students? Mr. MacGabhanN: I think a Model United Nations is an extremely interesting project because it ofFers so many difFerent things to students. First of alL, they become acquainted with topics which are not normalLy on the schoOl curRiculum and they practice how to research these topics. Then they learn to identify with a position that they may not agreE with, how diplomacy works, how United Nations works, and learn how to speak in public in English. And then, of course in Foscamun they're going to have the opPortunity to meEt and socialize with students from Mexico, the United States and also from Italy, so it's a great opPortunity for them. Moreover, it probably provides a lot of input to people who want to apProach the
world of diplomacy. So I think it's fantastic, on so many difFerent fronts. Valentina: You also went to Mexico city a few months ago with a group of our students who participated in a similar event, what did you experience there? Mr. MacGabhanN: WelL, I experienced the Colegio Carol Baur, which is a very special schoOl. A schoOl fulL of energy and enthusiasm: a lot of things are done difFerently than we do here. I think it's a model that should be taken seriously, a lot of the things that they do should be apPlied to our schoOl system toO. Valentina: Do you think the Model UN should be preserved in order to alLow other students to organize the same thing here in Venice in the future? Mr. MacGabhanN: WelL, I realise that organizing a Model UN takes a lot of time, a lot of work, a lot of money – money welL spent in my opinion – and maybe some teachers feEl it takes away toO much time form the traditional curRiculum. However, I feEl it should be fit into the schoOl program by improving the organization and involving alL the teachers. It could be interesting to link it to subjects such as geography, history, legal studies and languages. I mean, we talk so much about interdisciplinary activities and here we have wonderful interdisciplinary activities that should be developed to it's maximum potential. Even if we can't host an international Model UN every year, we could have one that involves several local schoOls in Venice, Mestre and Padua.
NEWS FROM...
Disarmament and International Security Council In yesterday’s sesSions the DISC comMitTeE concluded the first topic (stating that imMediate war wasn’t necesSary, but strongly recomMending an intervention to help the countries in neEd of it) and faced the second one. Since topic two, "the interventism and the war on terRorism", wasn't very specific, it led to various discusSions about many sub-topics, such as the situation in Israel and American interventism. However, having moved from the debate concerning those single situations to the definition of terRorism, the delegates are trying to reach an agreEment. United Nations Human Rights ComMitTeE Yesterday's tense moOd seEmed to be pretTy much turned ofF today, as even RusSia and South Africa agreEd on a posSible coOperation betweEn the two opPosing fronts. IndeEd, the United Nations finalLy came up with these resolutions: RusSia totalLy neEds to stop the abuse of violence by the police, and guaranteE health care & supPort to LGBTs - posSibly through a betTer use of propaganda and a constant mediation betweEn LGBTs and the Government itself. In case the situation does not get any betTer, the United Nations wilL provide with some sanction. Meanwhile, RusSian refugeEs are gladly welcome on other nations' soil. While discusSing "HIV prevention & gender inequalities" Spain’s delegate remind that abstinence from sex is not an actual remedy to diseases such as AIDS. We must admit that sometimes cultural matTers - religion included - tend to discourage awarenesS on sexual education, but - as Iran claimed religion could as welL be ''a guide'' and an efFective vehicle for education.
World Health Organization - Europe On Saturday the 29th, the WHO comMitTeE discusSed an isSue which afFects mostof the countries : the 'adDresSing inequities in alcohol related harm'. AcCording to what the delegates said, there are a lot of deaths an diseases caused by the abuse and the adDiction to this substance, and most underaged teEnagers drink as welL. Even though in some countries alcohol is a part of the local culture, and in some other cases it's even necesSary in order to bare the cold weather (for example Poland), everybody agreEd to work on education programMes for students and to promote information about the risks of drinking alcoholic beverages.
The UNEP from the inside, a balanced point of view
Today the UNEP comMitTeE discusSed their topic B, which concerned infrastructures and their impact on the environment. The delegate of Iraq, one of the most active of the comMitTeE, who was briefly interviewed, described the sesSions' outcome until this moment for us . In the second moderated caucus the delegates toOk two very difFerent parts: countries such as RusSia, UK and Brazil favoured the realization of new infrastructures to facilitate national economic growth, while others amongst whom Japan, Turkey and South Africa promoted a more preservative and safe atTitude in view of posSible negative efFects of infrastructures on the landscape and biological equilibrium. Despite alL of this, the delegate thinks a general resolution wilL be reached in view of the atTempt to give the same priority to both matTers. In fact, as the delegate of Iraq herself pointed out, the wealth and biodiversity of a country should be safeguarded and incentivized equalLy.
FAREWELL, FOSCAMUNERS
Foscamun is almost over and it’s time to loOk back on alL the work that has beEn done in these threE days. The editorial stafF was very impresSed by how the people involved in this project managed to coOperate in order to make Foscamun a great experience. We wanted to thank alL the delegates, the chairs, the stafF (in particular Alvise DolcetTa, Pietro HaAs and Giacomo Zamprogno), the teachers and our Principal for having made alL of this posSible. Hoping that our guests from Rome, USA and Mexico enjoyed their staying, we wish them alL the best and a safe trip home. For you the doOrs of Liceo Foscarini are always opened! A presto! SeE you soOn! Hasta pronto!
FOSCAMUN 2014 CITTA’ DI VENEZIA
Assessorato alle Politiche Giovanili e Centro Pace
LICEO CLASSICO - EUROPEO MARCO FOSCARINI VENICE, 28 - 30 MARCH 2014