Johnson County Community College
Press Release

College Information and Publications
913-469-8500
Julie Haas, Director, ext. 3120
Peggy Graham, Writer, ext. 3425
Tyler Cundith, Sports Information Director, ext. 3122

3/25/08
Story by Peggy Graham

JCCC Model U.N. Team Wins in New York
 
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. ­– The Johnson County Community College Model United Nations Team won three awards at the National Model United Nations conference in New York City March 18-22. JCCC won two outstanding awards for its portrayal of Lao People’s Democratic Republic, including the Outstanding Delegation award, the most prestigious award for Model United Nations in the world.

The Outstanding Delegation award recognizes the overall performance of JCCC across all committees. Students were evaluated on their skills at representation of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic’s policy position, JCCC student performance in formal and informal speaking, and proper use with rules of procedure. JCCC was the only community college among the short list of other schools that received the award. The award list included Alma College, Brigham Young University, Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris France, Ludwig-Maximillians-University Munich Germany, University of Montréal, Macalister College, California State University Northridge, California State University Chico, Rider University, University of Miami, University of Laval, Florida International University and JCCC.

JCCC also won an Outstanding Position Papers award for representing the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Again JCCC was the only community college to receive this position paper award among a short list of other colleges and universities. This award is received in recognition of outstanding pre-conference preparation. In addition, JCCC in combination with Wichita State won an Honorable Mention award for representing the Philippines.

Sixteen JCCC students competed with students from more than 200 other universities and colleges from across the world. The students who represented Lao Peoples Democratic republic were Jason Beury, Lawrence; Trent Brining, Overland Park; team captain Jared Hedge, Atwood; team co-captain Nida Fatima, Overland Park; Stephanie Goings, Shawnee; and Viktoryia Schnose, Lenexa. The Outstanding Delegation award recognized these students’ representation of Laos’ policy positions on the following topics: Breaking the Link Between Diamonds and Armed Conflict; The Role of Private Military and Security Companies in Conflict; The Politics and Economics of the External Debt Crisis; and The Evaluation and Implementation of the United Nations Literacy Decade.

Students who represented the Philippines were Stephanie Richner, Overland Park; team co-captain Brandy Schmitz, Olathe; Lowell Fletcher, Kansas City, Mo.; Haena Kahng, Lawrence; Norman Decelles, Lawrence; Danny Eakins, Stilwell; and  Lois Grimshaw, Olathe. The Honorable Mention award recognized these students’ representation of the Philippines’ policy positions on the following topics: Global Management of Water and Other Resources; Reversing the “Urban Penalty:” Empowering Vulnerable Urban Populations; and Implementation and Strengthening of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

In addition, three JCCC team members received coveted staff positions for the NMUN conference. Brandon Bezner, Overland Park, was the chair of the General Assembly Second Committee: Economic and Financial; Rebecca Elo, Kansas City, Mo., co-chair of the General Assembly Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural); and David Willis, Cleveland, Mo., was chair of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

This opportunity helps these students to build their skills in facilitation of debate, rules of order, and conflict resolution. The team adviser is Brian Wright, JCCC associate professor, political science, Warrensburg, Mo.