Sunday, April 23, 2006

What is MUN?!

Some of you have been asking what MUN actually is. Sorry I didn’t explain it earlier.

The following was taken from the Model United Nations websites of the International University Bremen, Queen’s University Belfast and the Interscholastic Association of Southeast Asian Schools (IASAS). The IASAS website in particular has much more information about the qualities required to be a good MUNer.

"The concept of a Model United Nations was developed by students in America after World War II in order to simulate the challenges of diplomacy and international negotiation. These model conferences particularly focus on areas of peace and conflict resolution that are a part of the day-to-day work of the United Nations. During a MUN conference participants are assigned to delegations representing a specific country – never their real home country though. These delegations represent the positions of their countries in the General Assembly, Security Council and the respective committees. The debates are held in English, and the student diplomats strictly have to observe all rules of the United Nations protocol."

"Before playing out their ambassadorial roles, students research global problems to be addressed, drawn from today's headlines. Members learn how the international community acts on its concerns about topics including peace and security, human rights, the environment, food and hunger, economic development, and globalization. Model U.N. delegates also look closely at the needs, aspirations, and foreign policy of the countries they will represent at the event."

Friday, April 14, 2006

Weird

If you type in "littlegirls of deformation" into Google Turkey (without the quotation marks and with no space between 'little' and 'girls'), this blog comes up as the first hit.

Thanks to Statcounter for this info.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Spectroscopy volunteers

Are you worried about your health? A colleague in my lab is looking for volunteers for a magnetic resonance spectroscopy study of lipid levels in the liver. If you’re interested, let me know and I’ll pass on your details to her. The investigation itself is non-invasive and non-ionising, but having just volunteered, I should warn you that it’s pretty boring and a bit cramped in the scanner.