Three Named Co-Leaders to Rider’s Model UN Team 2004
Rider juniors Katie Sebastian and Melissa
Sperrazza and senior Blair Saxman have been named
co-leaders of Rider’s Model United Nations (MUN) 2004 Team.
Now in its 37th year, Rider’s
MUN gives students a simulated experience of how the United
Nations, with its many committees and working groups, handle
and resolve world problems and issues. The MUN team will debate
and negotiate issues of global concern both in the classroom
and on a grander scale at a national Model UN competition held
in New York City.
Team leaders are voted on by classmates.
To be considered for selection as a leader or team member, Rider
students are encouraged to complete coursework in such areas
as international business, global politics and international
communication. Much emphasis, however, is placed on an individual’s
organizational and interpersonal skills, relevant work experience
or internships, functional knowledge of world affairs and past
team-like experiences.
For Sebastian, a human resource
management major and a second-year team member, the Model UN
is a unique learning experience. “Model UN has helped me bring
out skills I knew that I had, but had no idea how to use or
develop,” she said. “I am no longer afraid or nervous to get
up in front of a group of people of any size and speak. I can
negotiate and listen to people much more effectively now.”
Thirty undergraduate and graduate students
have applied for Rider’s 2004 MUN Team. The final selection
of delegates will be made by November 15. Student delegates
will represent Rider at the national MUN competition sponsored
by the National Collegiate Conference Association (NCCA), April
6 – 10 at the Hilton Hotel in New York. Delegates hail from
colleges and universities from the United States, Canada, Europe
and Japan. Last year, more than 3,000 were in attendance.
During the spring semester,
Rider’s team leaders will assist their teammates with how to
present a speech, how to get one’s point across to other countries
when facing different delegates one-on-one, and how to develop
problem solving and conflict resolution skills.
“Working as a team really enhances
your skills to listen, communicate and solve conflicts together,”
said Sperrazza, also a human resource management major and a
second-year team member. “All of these areas are of great importance
in one’s career. I have gained a better understanding of myself
and what I can accomplish in my life not only as a member of
a team, but as an individual.”
Third-year team member Saxman,
a political science and global multinational studies major,
credits Dr. Chau T. Phan, professor emeritus of political
science, in particular, for leading the program for 36 years
before retiring from Rider last spring. This year, Dr. Marc
A. Wallace, ’89, assistant professor of political science,
and Steve Sutow ’00, ’02, treasurer of the NCCA board
of directors, are serving as Rider’s team advisors.
“Despite our small size, Rider
University is well known and respected at the conference,” said
Saxman, who also works as supervisor of Rider’s foreign language
lab. “And this year, we want to build on the high standards
that past Rider teams have established.” Saxman served as an
assistant director for the NCCA conference in New York last
spring.
Delegations from Rider have been
cited by the NCCA for numerous awards. Team 2003, which represented
Malawi, received Honorable Mention. Over the years, other team
honors have included being named “Outstanding Delegation” four
times, “Distinguished Delegation” three times, and “Honorable
Mention,” nine times.
For more information about Rider’s
MUN, call the office of political science at (609) 896-5350.
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