On Saturday and Sunday, March 30 through 31, the Corona del Mar Speech and Debate Team will be attending the University of Southern California (USC), Model United Nations (MUN) Conference. USCMUN is an annual event that takes place in early spring on USC’s campus. The conference is headed by USC’s MUN Team, which also competes in college-level MUN competitions. Students from all throughout California participate in USCMUN.

Model United Nations is a simulation of a typical United Nations conference, and it is divided into various committees. Each committee includes numerous delegates, who each represent a country. The delegate, or student, acts as if they are truly a representative of their country. Throughout the conference, delegates speak on their country’s policy and solutions to the issue that the committee is covering. Delegates take roll and after, the speaker’s list opens and delegates are able to give a speech covering their country’s policies in general and on the issue. Once a majority of the speakers on the speaker’s list have spoken, a series of moderated and unmoderated caucuses take place. Moderated caucuses are caucuses that are controlled by the dias, or the individual running and judging the committee. Moderated caucuses include a specific amount of time for delegates to speak, and are on a specific topic. Unmoderated caucuses allow delegates to stand up and speak to one another, sharing their ideas on solutions for the topic.

The heart of Model United Nations is the resolution. Resolutions are papers created by various groups of delegates in each committee. Resolutions allow the solutions to the issues presented to be explained in detail. Resolutions are presented in front of the committee, and at the end of the conference, resolutions are voted on. The passing resolutions are recognized by the dias and the committee as a whole.