Sisters student a delegate at Model UN

Nicky Blumm was the sole delegate from Sisters to the annual Model United Nations (MUN) conference in Eugene last week. Blumm, a Sisters High School sophomore, is pioneering Sisters' participation in the state-wide event.

MUN replicates the actual United Nations, an international organization developed after World War II in an effort to maintain peace between and prosperity within nations. In the MUN program, students don the role of an ambassador from the UN member state they have chosen, debating, negotiating and crafting international policy issues. Blumm chose to represent Palestine.

"I wanted to be at the forefront of the action," he explained. "The Arab/Israeli conflict epitomizes ethnic and religious conflicts throughout the world."

In addition to ceremonial events, Blumm participated in three committee sessions focusing on global security issues: weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, and ethnic and religious conflict.

Blumm helped craft a resolution.

"We based it on the premise that Palestine's main problem was Hamas (an Islamic fundamentalist organization holding a majority of seats in the Palestinian legislature and whose military wing resorts to terrorism and refuses to recognize the state of Israel). Moderate Palestinians were no longer the governing body, and we lost control of Hamas."

The resolution requested monetary assistance to rebuild the economy and government, as well as peacekeeping troops to eliminate Hamas. Significantly, it called for construction of an international highway (with no exits and checkpoints on both ends) between Gaza and the West Bank. The resolution had both Palestinian and Israeli support.

"Israel came on board because we (the Palestinian delegation) realized that Jerusalem was not a realistic objective at this time. We were going to focus on land disputes later," Blumm said.

During the three-day conference other committees focused on issues relating to global economics, environmental concerns, human rights, and health and human services. Drew Corrigan, also a SHS sophomore, worked with Blumm last trimester as they honed and refined their knowledge of the issues. Corrigan was unable to attend the conference, due to a prior obligation to the school jazz band.

"MUN was a wonderful learning experience," Corrigan said. "I feel like I broadened my horizons about the world. I hope MUN is here to stay."

Bill Rexford, Sisters High School history teacher, supervised the students' effort to spearhead a MUN program within the school. Rexford, who was a MUN chaperone and student teacher years ago, said "...during that brief experience, I learned that this is a great experience for the students as they delve deep into global affairs. We have many challenges ahead, and these guys are going to conquer them. "