A Quote from the OIC

Djibouti: This resolution is a lot like my ex-girlfriend. It looks hot, but it's irrational, emotional, it's wasting your money and has no intention of committing to a long term relationship.... That is why we should vote it down as soon as possible. I yield my time.

Chair: Sorry about your ex-girlfriend...

-Tiffany Mueller

I'm FREEEEEEZING! I tried to go get coffee for Will and myself this morning, but I nearly froze about 20 feet from the front door of the Sheraton. So I aborted the plan and settled for a soda that I could buy in the hotel. It isn't really too much colder than Beijing, but there is something about snow (a concept foreign to Beijingers) blowing sideways that can make even me cold!!! Brrr.. And, I can't walk in my heels on the snowy ground with out Will's help :(
It's been a great time though! My committee is really too big to get deeply involved in conversations or debate to make a big difference in the way the agenda goes, but it has been an excellent learning experience!!

-Jess-

Just a Quick One

This is a clause that is part of a resolution that has just been brought to the floor of our committee. Sudan is a Co-Sponsor. Like the writing says...what the $*&%?!

--Will

Finished with our first topic in OIC

We just finished voting procedure on our first topic less than an hour into our second day. We passed 4 out of 5 draft resolutions that we proposed. The one that failed (yay) failed with 6 delegates for, 27 against, and 1 abstention.

Time to figure out the second topic!

-Tiffany Mueller

OIC update

Since no one else except Will and Jessica are updating, I guess I should keep up. (But this means, the others are either working harder than us or are at least less distractable than we are, lol.)



OIC is moving along. We have four draft resolutions of the floor on the topic of "Reconciling Globalization with Islamic Traditions." There have been multiple friendly ammendments made to these draft resolutions and at least one more that are waiting to come to the floor. Unfortunately, we don't have a United States delegate to call out or get irate at or any crises, so we're a little more boring than GA 1st.

Anyway, we're dropping like flies. After each meal break, less and less people come back. It's a plus for some of us though, we have more space to spread out, which is good. It's also not as hot in here, which is also good.

We also haven't had many call outs for national sovreignity (lol, we just had one! at 7:41 pm), but more about secular education and moderate Islam...I'm also getting pretty tired of the Iraqi delegate saying "Shalom" every time he speaks, even if it does mean 'well-being upon you.' Why is it that the Iraqi delegates at MUN conferences always have to have a gimmick? At SRMUN, the Iraqi delegates threw a fit and walked out of my committee during voting procedure, but yet they still got an award....

Alright, gotta talk about a working paper, I'm a signatory on this one.

-Tiffany Mueller

Another Dispatch from DISEC

Here's an update on our activites here in La salle du bal ouest:

• There is now a Draft Resolution on the floor of our committee. We kind of wish our counterparts had seen this, or even better this. But as the Quebecuois would say, "C'est la vie!"



• Thankfully, though, we have drawn attention to the previously mentioned documents in an operative clause we added to another Working Paper, which has yet to be brought to the floor.



• USA "Called Out" Count: 2 (Both times by Spain...)



• Number of Unmoderated Caucuses Since Lunch: 1



• Number of Cries of National Sovereignty Since Lunch: 2

--WT and Jessica

And they're off!

So there's a lull in the action here in the GA First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) thanks to a lovely presentation by the International Crisis Group. Thus far, our committee has decided to debate (or is it argue?) the topic of small arms proliferation.

Only one of the multiple hundreds of pleas by delegates to enter an unmoderated caucus have gone unheard by the chair, forcing us into a prolonged formal debate.

In addition, we kind of wished that many more of our fellow delegates had fallen upon this in the course of their research.

Here are a few significant statistics:

• United States has been called out only ONCE in formal debate (on issue of regulating arms manufacturers)
• Average number of "Main Ideas" mentioned per speech: 3
• Standard Deviation of number of "Main Ideas":0
• Uses of word "absurd":1
• Cries of "National Sovereignty": 1 (This is almost unhead of; we have been in debate for over 2 hours, and usually at this point national sovereignty has been mentioned at least 95-175 times...)
• Number of delegates Will has debated with before in room: 2 (maybe more..it's a big room).
• Assertions that Say's Law applies to small arms and light weaponry proliferation: at least 3-4

--Will Thomas and Jessica from La salle de bal ouest (home of GA:DISEC)

McMun 2009...

has officially started. Opening ceremonies were last night and all of us were completely exhausted. We explored a little bit last night, but mostly stayed out long enough to have dinner and to find Linn a coat. (She left hers on the plane, I'm going to blame the Black Widow.) We also experienced the joy of poutine that Joe has been going on and on about.

Oh, yeah, and to have a couple of snowball fights while walking down the street. We probably got some weird looks, but oh well.

Session started this morning at 9:00 am (or 9:15 am or 9:30 am, depending on what group you are in). I'm in the Organization of the Islamic Conference and we are currently talking about "Reconciling Globalization with Islamic Traditions."

I just had a mintue during an unmoderated caucus (sp?) to let you know how it's going! Gotta get back to session!

-Tiffany Mueller

We Have Arrived!

After connections in Charlotte, NC and Philadelphia, PA, we have arrived safely at Le Centre Sheraton in snowy Montreal!

We've already taken a ton of pictures, but since our camera is out exploring it may be a while until those are posted. Until then, IRC OUT.

Leavin' On A Jet Plane

So it's 6:30 in the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth Airport, and the eight of us are sitting here waiting for our 8 AM flight to Charlotte, NC. There's something to be said for punctuality, but I'm pretty sure we could have slept for an additional 15 minutes (that is, for those of us who slept--apparently the Black Widow from Strip Teas and Coffee is a larger amount of caffeine than Linn could have ever imagined).

Welcome to Our Blog!

Hello Everyone!

This is Alabama International Relations Club's New Blog. We are hoping to use this to keep everyone better informed, especially about our experiences at Model UN Conferences.

We are going to be attending McGill Model United Nations in Montreal, Quebec starting TOMORROW! We are going to be blogging as much as possible throughout the duration of our trip, so check often!

In the meantime, back to packing!

--Will