Western Oregon Journal

Issue date: 11/29/06 Section: Headlines

Western's Model United Nations Club (MUN) International Awareness Dinner and Silent Auction is being held at the Gentle House on Nov. 30. A social dinner, sponsored by Western Oregon University's social science department, begins the night and dinner follows at 6:30 p.m. Proceeds from both the ticket sales and the silent auction go toward the club's fundraising. "It is a crucial part of the club and all members are expected to participate," said Patrick Eiser, MUN Head Organizer. The funds raised go towards paying for conferences that participants attend worldwide. The dinner and auction are completely put together and run by club members. Eisner is also in charge of a committee of club members who were each responsible for different parts of the event. Planning for this event began during the beginning of fall term and is MUN's biggest fundraiser of the year. A lot of time and effort is put into the dinner because it is a huge event for MUN. The dinner is just not an event to raise money for the club. "It is an opportunity to promote international awareness to the students of Western and the surrounding community," Eisner said. Every year the club chooses a country to promote awareness of and the country this year is Canada. "Everyone is welcome to attend the social hour and place bids on the auction items," Eisner said. And that dinner is open to everyone as well, as long as you pay the $15 for a ticket. Each year sees new guest speakers, and this year, the dinner will be graced by Interim President John Minahan, Geography Associate Professor Shaun Huston and Kevin Cook. This year, members will be representing Western Oregon University in British Columbia, Canada, Utrecht University in the Netherlands, and San Francisco, Calif. In past years MUN members have attended conferences in St. Louis, Montreal, Canada and Scotland. Those who attend the conferences are those who are involved in the club and those who are in Political Science Assistant Professor Mary Pettenger's PS 199 (Model United Nations) and PS 399 (Advanced Model United Nations). Selection is based off of applications, any related experience, club participation, and research and writing skills. Applications are then reviewed by a board of elected club members. MUN is a simulation that is based on the workings of the real United Nations. Each student is given a country to "play" and then researches that country to understand the international involvement of that country. "This even is our biggest fundraiser for the year and also the club's biggest opportunity to publicize itself," Eiser said.

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