THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 7, 1997 TAG: 9702070524
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL SIZEMORE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 88 lines
In a global diplomacy class at Chopticon High School in St. Mary's County, Md., they've been paying uncommon attention this year to Guinea-Bissau.
It might not be readily apparent why a tiny, impoverished country on the west coast of Africa should be of such consuming interest in a little school in rural southern Maryland. But the payoff comes this weekend.
A delegation from St. Mary's is among 1,200 high school students attending the 20th annual Old Dominion University Model United Nations High School Conference at the Omni Waterside Hotel.
The three-day gathering, which ends Saturday, is a hands-on lesson in international diplomacy in which students pose as representatives from countries all over the world, debating current issues, drafting resolutions and negotiating with their fellow diplomats.
Most of the students at this year's conference are from the Mid-Atlantic States, but some came from as far away as California and Panama.
The conference is set up to closely resemble the real U.N., complete with a Security Council, an International Court of Justice, two dozen nongovernmental organizations and an international press corps.
It was clear that Dawn Klieforth and Liz Nourse, representing Guinea-Bissau on the Security Council, had done their homework when they jumped into a spirited debate on nuclear technology transfers Thursday.
The students had been preparing for this all semester, plowing through books, periodicals and the Internet to learn all they could about their chosen country and the real-world issues it faces.
The St. Mary's students selected their country last spring when they signed up for the class, Dawn said during a break.
Why Guinea-Bissau?
``I think, honestly, it was probably the name - Guinea-Bissau,'' she said, rolling it off her tongue. ``We made up a little song about it on the bus coming down here.''
There were more practical considerations, too. ``Last year we represented a very developed country, and we felt we needed a change,'' Dawn said.
``Also, it has a seat on the Security Council.''
What's the most surprising fact they learned about Guinea-Bissau?
``There's only one telephone for every 100 people,'' Dawn said.
The students were careful to study the country's history, warts and all, so they would be able to respond knowledgeably to their critics in debates. By lunchtime Thursday, China had drawn flak for selling nuclear technology to Iran, and the United States had been taken to task for its delinquent U.N. dues.
``If somebody attacks us, we'll be ready,'' Dawn said.
The important thing, the students all agreed, is that differences among nations be resolved in forums like the U.N., not on the battlefield.
Learning firsthand about the U.N.'s role in preserving world peace is more important than ever in this post-Cold War era, the delegates were told in introductory remarks by Hamid Abdel-Jaber, an information officer at U.N. headquarters in New York.
It is becoming increasingly difficult for nations to isolate themselves from each other, Abdel-Jaber said.
More and more, ``we are intertwined together in one global village,'' he said.
``We need the United Nations for a better world.
``We can improve it, but we cannot snuff it out.''
To those critics who say the U.N. is a bloated bureaucracy, Abdel-Jaber offered some numbers for perspective.
The world body has 53,000 employees worldwide, he said - about the same number who work at Disney World.
And in a world where the total cost of armies and armaments is estimated at a staggering $767 billion, the U.N.'s operations budget stands at $1.3 billion.
That, Abdel-Jaber said, is $1 billion less than the budget of the Tokyo fire department. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
VICKI CRONIS/The Virginian-Pilot
Cristy Hall, center, representing Egypt at Thursday's meeting of the
Model United Nations at the Omni, listens as Maisha Williams,
representing France, discusses nuclear tdesting. At left, Jeff
Farthing also represents Egypt.
VICKI CRONIS/The Virginian-Pilot
High school students discuss nuclear issues during a meeting of the
Security Council Thursday at the 20th annual Old Dominion University
Model United Nations High School Conference at the Omni Waterside
Hotel. Among the students are Marisha Williams, center, a senior at
Gar-field High in Woodbridge, Va., and Jennifer Williams, far right,
a junior at Huntington Beach, Calif.