At the Model United Nations meeting last Thursday, student leaders gave out committee assignments for delegates participating in the conference at Indiana University on Feb. 22 to 24. These committees specify which topics delegates will discuss at the competition, and with whom, as well as which countries they will represent, according to Hannah Kosc, Model U.N. president and senior.

“We’ve already decided (who’s going to the conference in February), and then those students are assigned to specific committees that IU says, ‘these are the committees and the positions that you have,’ and then we filled in whoever was going,” Model U.N. adviser Sandy Gardner said.

“We just try to judge based on people’s personalities and how they’ve shown us their skill level, where they might be placed. And of course, if they’ve demonstrated interest in a certain committee, we try to honor it,” Kosc said.

There are a number of different committees and assemblies, ranging from up to 50 students to as few as 12, and covering a variety of topics. Each delegate will receive a packet containing information on the country they represent, as well as their views on certain situations, which will guide them as they research their discussion topic and, later, as they meet with the other delegates in their committee to pass a resolution.

“There’s some interesting committees this year, and one that I personally am looking to be on — they have a joint crisis committee for the Al Gore campaign, about the 2000 election between him and George W. Bush, so you have two different sides of that campaign. Your actions determine the outcome, so while in historical context, Al Gore lost, there’s the potential that if one side of the joint crisis committee does a better job, you could win him the election. So, it’s cool, you have the historical context but also you’re not limited to it,” Kosc said.