Bosmun XX Background Guide Ad Hoc Chair: Noah Riley Crisis Director: Timothy Obiso Committee Topic: the Emu War, 1932 Letter
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BosMUN XX Background Guide Ad Hoc Chair: Noah Riley Crisis Director: Timothy Obiso Committee Topic: The Emu War, 1932 Letter from the Chair Dear Delegates, Welcome to BosMUN XX! My name is Noah Riley, and I am beyond excited to be serving as your Chair for Ad Hoc: The Emu War, 1932! This is, believe it or not, my eighth and final BosMUN. My first four I attended as a high school delegate; my freshman year at Boston University I served as Chair of the 1953 Iran Coup d'état committee; sophomore year I was fortunate enough to serve as the conference’s Under-Secretary General of Crisis Committees (now the fabulous Mary Thomas); and last year, as a junior, I was the Chair for The Boston Molasses Crisis: Molassacre! I understand this conference inside and out and hope to provide the best experience for all of you in our committee! I do promise, though, that my whole life is not Model UN (I swear). At BU, I study International Relations and Economics, as well as Mandarin Chinese. Last year, prior to COVID- 19, I studied in China for seven months, the fortunate recipient of a Boren Scholarship. On campus, I am the Editor in Chief of the International Relations Review and play on the Club baseball and basketball teams, among other activities. I originally hail from Boston’s Brighton neighborhood, and grew up in the Greater Boston Area. An absolute Boston sports fanatic, when not watching the Celtics, I can be found bingeing TV shows, reading history books, or playing pranks on my friends. Also, be warned, I cannot get enough cheesy icebreakers…so be prepared. I’m very easy-going, so please don’t hesitate to reach out as I am happy to answer questions about the committee, college, and share my (limited) life wisdom. Can’t wait to see you all this weekend! Your Chair, Noah Riley [email protected] Letter from Crisis Director Dear Delegates, My name is Timothy Obiso and I am so excited to serve as your CD for the Ad Hoc at BosMUN XX! I am originally from New Jersey, but currently live in Boston. I am a junior at Boston University double majoring in Linguistics and Chinese Language and Culture and minoring in International Relations. At BU, was a crisis staffer for the Ad Hoc at BosMUN XVIII and a Chair for the Taiwanese Independence committee at BosMUN XIX. I am so excited to return to the Ad Hoc again! I am also the current Head Delegate of MUN@BU, the Boston University Model UN team. As a delegate I have competed in lots of committees, most recently an Ad Hoc and have found my niche in crisis. The topic of this committee is the Emu War! I find the Emu War a very fascinating and niche topic; I also think that it serves well as a backdrop for a crisis committee. The Emu War cannot be fully understood without knowing the history of Western Australia and the pariah state status it had. With a growing secessionist movement, the federal government launched the Emu War. This committee can be a wargame or more quirky through collaboration between the delegates and the crisis room through notes. I am so excited to see what you all do with this committee and look forward to meeting you all on Friday! Sincerely, Timothy Obiso Overview of Crisis Considering this is an ad hoc committee, we are operating under the assumption that many of you are experienced crisis delegates. But if you are not, no worries! A crisis committee, for those of you who have not previously participated, is a fast-paced, rapidly changing delegate experience. Delegates are tasked with dealing two equally important components in this type of committee: 1) The in-room (literally inside the committee) which is more conventionally based Model UN. Delegates are tasked with making speeches, cooperating and negotiating with other delegates, and writing directives to address problems the committee will face. 2) The Crisis room (not literally inside the committee), which will be delivering updates to the committee based on a combination of historical events, responses to delegates directives, the actions of delegates when personally communicating and interacting with the crisis room, and other factors. Delegates will have to work together to react quickly and decisively to updates given to them by the crisis room. At the same time, delegates should also personally interact with the crisis room via their own personal directives in whichever manner they see fit. Debate will generally revolve around the two main topics outlined later in the background guide; however, the committee will primarily be driven by crises that delegates are expected to deal with. This, by no means, requires delegates to do any research outside of the subjects mentioned in the guide (but please do research on the subjects mentioned here!), but just that delegates should be adaptable and quick-thinking to address anything that might be throw their way in committee! Further details on the “in-room” Delegates are expected to work with one another to address the issues put forward in the committee. In crisis, there is no “Opening Speech”, nor is there a “Speaker’s List”, as in more conventional, General Assembly-type committees. Rather, debate is driven forward by various “Moderated Caucuses”, “Unmoderated Caucuses”, and other forms of debate that are generally considered “Suspensions of the Rules” (such as a Round Robin, a Question & Answer period, or other creative motions delegates may have to propose should circumstances dictate as such). To address the topics of debate and crises, delegates will author “Directives”. Delegates may be familiar with “Resolutions” – documents that are written in long-form, formalized and structured writing, and often the subject of final debate in large committees to address a given topic. Directives, on the other hand, are much shorter, informal (do not require perambulatory or operative clauses) and should be consistently produced by delegates throughout the duration of the conference, in an attempt to solve the crises that are given to the committee. While the dais appreciates the constant churning out directives and understands that, due to the fast-paced nature of a crisis committee, such directives may not be a delegate’s magnum opus, the expectation that directives will retain detail and creativity remains; there is no expectation, however, that they resemble formal resolutions in anyway. The more detailed and creative (if only in a few lines) directives are, the more likely that these documents will effectively deal with a crisis at hand. Further details on the Crisis Room (“out-room”) For those who have never participated in a crisis committee before, what differentiates this committee type from all others is the crisis room. While this would traditionally be an actual, physical “room”, delegates would never actually journey to this place – it is where the committee’s Crisis Director and Crisis staffers will be pulling the strings of the committee. Of course, given the nature of the conference this year, the crisis room, updates, and more will all be virtual. It is the crisis room that dictates what crises the committee is confronted with; these crises are decided based on the plans of the Crisis Director, but also how delegates interact with the crisis room, and the ways in which the committee acts as a whole. Delegates will be communicating with the crisis room by means provided by BosMUN’s virtual conference platform. (See the BosMUN website for greater detail.) Delegates should write to some sort of character (or characters), of their own creation and imagination. For example, notes should not be addressed “To the Crisis Room”, but instead, “Dear Secretary Johnson.” Such notes should then go into detail about what delegates want to accomplish, why they want to accomplish it, and (most importantly) how to accomplish it. The last part is key – the crisis room is likely to grant delegates’ requests/actions should the delegate be thorough, creative, and mostly realistic (related to delegates’ portfolio powers) to do so. These notes can be used to accomplish personal (as the delegate is representing a character) as well as committee-wide objectives. That which delegates accomplish outside the committee room, will often directly and indirectly impact what happens inside the committee room. Ad Hoc The best part of this whole weekend will be that you are participating in the BosMUN XX’s ad hoc committee. This designation means more than simply receiving this background guide on a relatively short timeline before committee begins. More importantly, it means each of you as delegates will have the opportunity and responsibility to engage with crises in dynamic ways that propel committee forward – more so than in any other committee at BosMUN. In ad hoc, we highly encourage creativity and the construction of out-of-the-box problem-solving, as well as unique crisis arcs that might steer the committee in unexplored, potentially unconventional directions. While this all may sound complicated and overwhelming…there is no need to worry. Both the Crisis Director and Chair are very understanding and more than willing to answer any questions. Both will go over further expectations and questions regarding crisis at the beginning of the committee, but delegates should familiarize themselves with expectations prior to the conference. BUT ALSO, if a delegate has never participated in Crisis before…not a problem!! To be put simply, the best way to learn a crisis committee is to do a crisis committee. The first one is always the most fun (probably ☺). Structure of Committee The structure of the committee will diverge from a conventional singular governing body committee.