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Volume 97, Number 21
Hope College Anchor
March 1 3 , 1 9 8 5
Hope to be Invaded Over 950 high school students will be invading the Hope campus beginning tomorrow, afternoon for the 13th annual Model United Nations. "We've got over 150 more students from around 10 new schools coming this year than last," stated Phil Tanis, high school coordinator. Around 200 high schoolers will arrive Thursday to begin participating in one of the five Security Council simulations or the Economic and Social Commission (ECOSOC) simulation. The other 750 students will be participating in one of the two General Assembly simulations on F r i d a y . Most of the students arriving Thursday will be staying on campus over night, sleeping in the dormrooms of Hopeites. ' ' W e ' v e got j u s t e n o u g h rooms," stated L a u r a Woodruff, internal coordinator. " I t ' s been difficult this y e a r due to the large number of students coming. And I'd like to thank everyone who contributed their floor space." Each year, an international speaker is found to address the students. This year, Mr. Alain R a f f r a y , deputy director of the New York liason office of UNESCO will speak. He will be speaking on the two new international orders which are being pushed by the third world and a r e very controversial. The first is the New International Economic Order while the second is the New World Information Order. The latter was one of the reasons the United States withdrew f r o m UNESCO. R a f f r a y is a native of Maurtius, an island located just off the east coast of M a d a g a s c a r in the Indian Ocean. He graduated from the London School of Economics. He has been with UNESCO since 1969, serving in various roles. " I ' m real pleased we could get someone f r o m the third world who Ms knowledgeable in their
field," s t a t e d J a c k Holmes, faculty advisor. R a f f r a y will be addressing the high schoolers at a special banquet on Thursday night. He will also be speaking to the other students on F r i d a y as well as the high school advisors. Two additional Security Council s i m u l a t i o n s h a v e b e e n developed this y e a r to bring the total to five. E a c h Security Council, composed of 15 high school delegations plus Hope control delegations, concentrates on a " h o t s p o t " in t h e w o r l d . Nicaragua, Lebanon, EthiopiaSomalia, India-Pakistan, and Southeast Asia a r e the crisis areas. High schoolers attempt to solve t h e c r i s i s while t h e Hopeites continually throw road blocks in their way through changing situations. The participants must continually r e a c t to the changing situation, bringing about a dynamic and ever changing challenge. Kevin Kossen, Security Council coordinator, states, " B e c a u s e of the additional Councils added this year, it's been a challenge, but I think everything's ready to roll." The ECOSOC will also begin meeting Thursday night in committee meetings: h u m a n rights, narcotic drugs, transnational corporations, and UNESCO. High schoolers will a t t e m p t to pass resolutions in the various committees to be presented to the entire ECOSOC on F r i d a y . "We're full to the top," stated Tanis, who also heads the ECOSOC simulation. " I t ' s going to be challenge to control that many students." Tanis, though, only h^s to control 53 students while the two General Assembly simulations number well over 400 students for Track I and 300 for Trafck II. Track I, the " e a s i e s t " simulation which beginning students enter, is run by K a r l DeLooff. The 440+ students participating
in this simulation will pack into the DeWitt theatre Friday afternoon for debate. F r i d a y m o r n i n g the high schoolers will be listening to Hope students and profs discuss the two issues which they will be debating. The issues this y e a r a r e debt relief and dispute settlement. Track II, an upper level General Assembly headed by Steve Jekel, will be divided into two for c o m m i t t e e work before convening a s a whole late F r i d a y afternoon in Dimnent. Friday morning will also see the Track II delegates listening to Hope experts discuss their two issues: the UN budget and outer space. " W e ' r e hoping everything holds together," stated Dirk Weeldreyer, student director of the Model UN for his second year. Weeldreyer mentioned that all simulations a r e open for anyone interested to view. " I ' d encourage Hope students and professor& to attend at least p a r t of the p r o g r a m . There really is a lot going on and a lot that anyone can l e a r n . " The banquet with R a f f r a y speaking begins at 6:30 p.m. in the lower level of Phelps dining hall. The ECOSOC committees will meet in various classrooms in the b a s e m e n t of Dimnent Thursday night from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. Friday the ECOSOC will begin at 8:30 a.m. in Semelink Hall at Western S e m i n a r y and run throughout the day. The Security Councils will meet from 8:00 to 10:30 p.m. T h u r s d a y night and F r i d a y beginning at 8:30 a.m. in the following places: N i c a r a g u a will be in L u b b e r s Loft, IndiaPakistan in Western Seminary room 106, Lebanon in Durfee b a s e m e n t room 2, EthiopiaSomalia in the Otte Room of
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Student Congress closed its doors to the public last Thursday night. J u s t before discussion of next y e a r ' s budget was to commence. Congress voted 9-11 to withold the monetary information from the public. It was then deemed necessary that Anchor co-editor Phil Tanis, who covers Congress for the p a p e r , should leave the room. " I ' m dismayed by the action which Congress took last Thursd a y , " stated Tanis. "It goes against every aspect of a proper representative government to close a meeting when discussing spending other peoples' m o n e y . " The money, some $91,800, most of which is budgeted to various student o r g a n i z a t i o n s c o m e s directly f r o m the Student Activities F e e -- which will be $36 per student next y e a r . Tanis had raised objection to the closing of Congress. He was countered by Congress m e m b e r Dirk Weeldreyer who stated that it was perfectly legal to close Congress. While t h e Michigan Open Meetings Act does not directly pertain to a body such as Student Congress, there is no enabling legislation within the Congress constitution-bylaws which allows for calling an "executive session ; " a closed meeting. "I don't know where they got the idea that they could close their meeting," Tanis said. "At that point (last Thursday) I was in no t e m p e r a m e n t to debate their action -- as crazy as I felt it was." We need " a little time to discuss this oursevles," said one Congress m e m b e r who is also a m e m b e r of tl}e Appropriations Committee, the group which p r e p a r e s the budget. "It is reasonably sensitive," s t a t e d a n o t h e r , a r g u i n g for closure of the meeting. When d i s c u s s i n g the " s e c r e t i v e " procedures of the budget, one Appropriations Committee m e m b e r said, "They (the organization leaders) weren't
even in the room while we discussed what would be c u t . " A letter w a s sent to all the leaders of the various organizations detailing what the Appropriations Committee would be p r e s e n t i n g to C o n g r e s s . Leaders could either contact First Vice President Greg Olgers or attend the Congress meeting if they had any questions or complaints. Olgers reported that several leaders had contacted him. He also said that he h a s answered the questions they had. There were no other spectators at the Congress meeting besides Tanis. 4 if anyone else had been present at the meeting I doubt that they would have kicked us out," stated Tanis. "Apparently some m e m b e r s of Congress were dwelling on a couple articles in the Anchor which were misconstrued by letter writers," said Tanis, attempting to reason why Congress was " s c a r e d " of "bad p r e s s . " Congress m e m b e r s have negatively critiqued several of the articles the Anchor ran about their meetings. The Anchor has also printed letters attacking Congress and an editorial which some felt too strong against the organization. "There m a y have been some confusion between the straight news articles and the editorial opinions printed with the Anchor. I must also admit that I did m a k e a few unintentional mistakes in a couple of my articles on Congress," Tanis confessed. "But closing a meeting on the press just because they're a f r a i d we might print something they don't like just doesn't stand up in my book," Tanis added. " I t ' s not right." Reportedly, the fears of some Congress m e m b e r s c a m e to nought as discussion was relatively casual within the closed meeting, with but a few changes in the proposed budget. Coming out of the closed session, Congress passed the budget unanimously (see related article).
Appropriations Cranks out Budget
by M a t t Anderson Last T h u r s d a y , March 7, the Appropriations Committee of the Student Congress, the group responsible for financing the activity groups on campus, officially determined its budget for the 85-86 y e a r with a unanimous vote of approval by Student Congress, Aqcording to Greg Olgers, Vice President of Student Congress and C h a i r m a n of the Committee, the Committee projects an income of $91,800 from Student Activities F e e s next fall. The Committee h a s budgeted $69,140 of this income for distribution a m o n g t h e v a r i o u s activity groups and will set aside $4,500 for the Contingency F u n d (an amount of money reserved for
unforseen mforseen expenses which wmcn may i arise during the course of the school y e a r ) thus creating a total expense of $73,640. The remaining $18,160 which is remaining will go towards eliminating the deficit which has come about as a result of organizations overspending their budgets. Olgers said that, given the amount of revenue from the Activities fees, the Committee could h a v e set its m a x i m u m budget a t $78,000, but instead chose to limit it to $70,000 so that more resources could be put towards reducing the deficit. In
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