Students excel at Model NATO event

YSU students were assigned to represent Slovenia and the Netherlands.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Students in Youngstown State University's Model UN club scored well against teams from universities across the eastern United States and Canada in the recent Model NATO conference in Washington, D.C.
YSU students representing Slovenia tied for third place out of 27 delegations, and two students -- Stephen Foley of Richmond, Ohio, and Guy Sebastian of Youngstown -- won the "Outstanding Delegation" award for their performance during committee sessions.
In all, 16 undergraduate students who are members of YSU's United Nations Association attended the conference at the Washington Plaza Hotel. David Porter, YSU professor of political science, accompanied the students.
The conference continued the club's winning ways. In fact, between October 1993 and November 2004, YSU won at least one award in 32 consecutive programs for a total of 218 awards in 10 years, Porter said.
The conference simulated a meeting of NATO, with each group of students assigned a country. YSU was assigned to represent both the Netherlands and Slovenia. The conference consisted of three half-day committee sessions, where students portrayed the opinions and positions of their countries. On the first day of the conference students visited the embassy of their countries.
Other YSU students participating in the conference were Armon Arcuri of Boardman, John Blue of Girard, Emery Boyle-Scott of Berlin Center, Craig Callow of Hubbard, Andy Eich of Apopka, Fla., Crystal Kenmuir of Lisbon, Tiffany Kostan of McDonald, Sarah Lewis of Girard, Monica Nieves of Youngstown, Kristen Olmi of Struthers, Ramon Ramos of WIlliamsfield, Dave Sedlacko of Struthers, Abbie Twyford of Toronto, Ohio, and Karen Varga of Brook Park, Ohio.
The Model UN club at YSU sponsored the ninth annual middle school Model UN day on campus March 2, with more than 200 area middle school pupils participating. The 19th annual high school Model UN day will be conducted on campus Thursday. The conferences are organized and run by YSU students.