By Sam Bell
Opinion Editor
Mira Costa High School hosted the 25th-annual Los Angeles Invita- tional Model United Nations Conference on Dec. 7-8 at Mira Costa High School, bringing together 31 high schools from all over Southern California.
Costa freshmen participated in the debate, and sophomores, juniors and seniors chaired commitees. There were over 1,250 people involved in the conference, con- sisting of delegates, advisors, and 112 L A IMUN staff. Costa’s biggest competitors, Huntington High School and Edison High School, were among the 31 high schools that attended the conference.
“LAIMUN has something for every- one, including crisis committees, which are rare in local South Bay conferences,” Secretary-General Kenna Horgan said. “It provides great practice for the coming East Coast competition season.”
Preparation for this debate began in May of the 2018-19 school year and continued over the summer, according to MUN Sec- retary-General Andrew Cormack. Dele- gates had to complete a position paper and worked together within their committees that were responsible for completing and voting on resolutions that pertained to their specific topics being debated.
Seniors Andrew Cormack, Kenna Horgan, Rohil Dave, Tia Papas, Sam Pearman, Mia Milosevic and juniors Hunter Kolodziej, Nicole Bolsejian, Thomas Gerken and Lu- cas Meyer worked on the Secretariat, while Secretariat is responsible for organizing the whole weekend. Each chair wrote 20-page topic synopses and background guides.
“As Secretaries-Generals, Kenna Horgan and I were in charge of the LAIMUN staff,” Cormack said. “We assigned positions, re- viewed chair materials, were in charge of training, communicated with school and district administration, invoiced visiting schools, created country assignments, and curated debate topics.”
LAIMUN hosted over 35 committees, which discussed a wide range of timely topics. The Novice committees and Advanced committees both included five General Assembly committees, five Economic and Social committees and five Specialized committees, along with the Crisis commitee under the Advanced committees.
For those in novice committees, dele- gates are exposed to high-quality, informative, learning-based debate, according to Horgan. Delegates in the advanced debate are challenged to advocate thorough coun- try policies and feasibility solutions.
“LAIMUN prides itself on its fair, high- quality debate,” Cormack said. “The conference is unique in the sense that it is the only high school conference in the area of- fering ‘crisis-style debate’.”
Complex topics that have relevance to current global crises were discussed at the conference, ranging from digital privacy laws and rights worldwide, the global to- bacco crisis and displacement due to climate change. LAIMUN provided an oppor- tunity for delegates of all levels, including beginners and veterans, to participate in debates that covered real-world issues, according to the LAIMUN website.
“This conference is notably large and hosts numerous committees debating unique and complex topics,” Cormack said. “For Costa students, LAIMUN is an opportunity to use dedication, work ethic, problem-solv- ing abilities, and public speaking to put on a major MUN conference.”
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