The Agrinautica

   So the Western Collegiate Model United Nations (WestMUN) Conference was this weekend in exotic Oxnard California ("Oxnard: its more than just a beautiful name!"). That is if by weekend you mean Wednesday through Sunday and by exotic and beautiful Oxnard you mean ghetto-ass lame-ville Oxnard.
   We sent an unusually small delegation of four persons: myself, Jason Molleson, Gena Rinaldi, and the other guy. A number of people had bailed out at the last minute. We left around 5pm on from Davis, travelled south down the five, with the traditional stop at Kettleman City for In-N-Out, and around midnight we found ourselves hopelessly lost in redundant detours in Oxnard.

   Committee began at 9am Thursday morning. I represented the United States of America on the legal committee, where we talked about unlawful combatants, tried to define terrorism, and discussed the New Economic Order. So that was good times and I think I managed to keep a straight face about it, someone even remarked that I came off like a conservative republican. (= Conversely, I think the delegate representing China was having trouble hiding the fact that he WAS in fact a conservative republican, making it quite clear in comments under his breath and off the record that he thought China's policy full of hypocracy.
   Eventually while we were on the topic of defining terrorism, the Security Council took the topic from us. In the United Nations subsidiary committees don't discuss a topic while the Security Council does, and if they're already discussing a topic when the Security Council takes it up, they must immediately cease discussing this topic. Security Council priority is a favourite thing to be exercised by the Security Council at MUN conferences, but never before have a seen a committee get as collectively butthurt as mine did. I response to having their topic stolen, the Sixth Legal committee issued a resolution condemning the Security Council. This resolution also condemned the United States (me) for not supporting the resolution of condemnation. When the Security Council received the resolution, one of them asked "does anyone in Sixth Legal even have the UN Charter??" to which our delegate responded "the United States does actually." Funny how the only person not to support the resolution condemning the SC was the one who actually had a copy of the charter.
   Eventually I looked at a map and realized Oxnard was only nine miles from where my maternal grandparents live in Camarillo, so I gave them a call and stopped by there for a quick supper on the last day. They fed me a scrumptuous something and rumcake.
   At 12:50 Friday night the Chief Justice of Mt Saint Andrews College called me with a judicial emergency.

   In the end I was voted "most likely to go over their speaking time" by the committee and "best speaker," and officially awarded the Best Delegate award for the committee.


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