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For
Faculty Advisors and
Student Steering Committee
22 August 2000
Dear Teachers and Students,
We’re not yet quite talking about “magic numbers” for the Cardinals, but school is just about here. By the time that the Red Birds clinch the pennant (we hope), the Gateway Model United Nations will be well under way.
It is but a few weeks until the first (and only) model UN faculty meeting of the 2000-2001 year. We’ll be meeting on Saturday, September 9, at Crossroads School from 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM. This will be the time for us to make refinements to last year’s program and to brainstorm entirely new ideas. Our activities for the year include four model UN sessions, the mid-winter model UN sponsored by the University of Chicago (MUNUC), our frivolous model UN, our “crisis simulation,” our own model UN web site, and numerous discussion groups. We’ll also improving our PowerPoint presentations on model U.N. activities. At the meeting, we will also have large (13” x 10”) laminated recruiting posters for you to take to school to gather more support among the students. There’s much for us to do that morning. And we promise, one hour and out, because you’ve got a life to live!
You may recall that last year we had regular model U.N. sessions in the Fall followed by Global Seminars in the spring. The reaction to the seminars was mixed. We’ll review their viability and desirability as the year goes on. In any event, we promise four terrific sessions at Forest Park Community College this year.
We are looking at ways to be more cost-effective in our spending. The key factor is for us to minimize these “snail mail” communications we have with you through the postal service. Almost all of our teachers and students have internet access at school, and many have it at home as well. We can save several thousand dollars during the year by minimizing these letters and instead communicating with you and your students by E-Mail. We are also looking into putting more of our information on CD-ROMS that we can make available to schools for about $1.00 each.
Once again, we must require model U.N. fees from participating schools. The fee per school this year will be $60.00. We know that this new policy may cause a burden for some; if you would like to further discuss it with us and propose something unique for your school, please contact us and we’ll work something out with you. Bills will be sent out in September.
As many of you know, I was assisted the last two years by Ms. Patsy King. Her work behind the scenes and in front of the delegates has been outstanding. Patsy has just given birth and will not be working during the Fall. Hopefully, she can return for our Spring sessions. In the meantime, I will be assisted by Ms. Gretchen Haupt. You may know Gretchen well; she just graduated from Notre Dame High School and was an outstanding MUN delegate for four years. She has been busy gathering lots of background materials for us this summer and she will involved in virtually every aspect of both our high school and middle school programs this year. You will be able to become more acquainted with her at the September 9 meeting.
We have recently received information on model UNs, not only in the United States, but around the globe. You can view a list of these worldwide model UNs at http://www.unausa.org/programs/mun/munlinks.htm.
Another interesting site is http://www.thehungersite.com. Just by clicking on the site, you allow corporate sponsors to contribute money towards addressing world hunger.
Once again, we hope to see you at the Faculty Advisor Meeting on Saturday, September 9. We’ll have our usual fine refreshments. Feel free to bring a friend along. Enclosed with this mailing is a map to Crossroads (500 DeBaliviere), a brochure on MUNUC, and the proposed MUN calendar for 2000-2001.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call us at 367-6480.
Sincerely yours,
Arthur H. Lieber & Gretchen Haupt
High School M.U.N.
Coordinators