The ALMUNAC

It is now November 1, 2013 in the Crisis Committee. The zombie infestation began in September with just a few infections in Pennsylvania, and has now spread to create millions of zombies throughout the entire east coast of the United States, as well as some outbreaks internationally, including in Australia. The generators at the CDC in Atlanta, headquarters of the Crisis Committee, have nearly died, and the headquarters have only 24 hours of power left. Due to the very grave situation, the delegates are working frantically to solve the problem.

A directive was passed that said zombies trying to infect others with the H1Z1 virus, which is considered a biological weapon, will be punished with death by firing squad. All U.S. troops are being moved in order to enact these directives. Despite their many attempts to provide rights for these zombies, the ACLU and PETTI delegates could not pass their directive to move millions of zombies onto the small, 150-square-mile island of Kiribati. PETTI also suggested an idea that she got from the delegates in SPECPOL: Relocating all the zombies to the International Space Station. The delegate from the NRA compared the zombies to Old Yeller, saying “He loved Old Yeller, but in the end he just had to take the dog behind the shed and end it all. Sometimes you have to hurt the ones you love.” There have even been talks of nuclear bombs, but the Crisis Committee has not yet decided on that particular fate for the Eastern seaboard. Many within the group are fighting for the use of nonnuclear weapons, but no decisions have been made up to this point. The group is currently verging on a state of panic as a plan has not yet been reached.

The delegates themselves will be safe from the outbreak, because they are being moved to Los Angeles so that they can continue to try to solve the crisis. The U.S. federal government has also been relocated to Los Angeles for the time being. Whatever happens, the delegates will do their best to pass measures to save the world’s population from the impending zombie apocalypse.

                I was In the Crisis Committee, and they were talking about the “Zombie Flu” or “H1Z1.” When the strangest thing happened….The Australian Ambassador resigned! I asked him and he told the press that he did not want to catch the Zombie Flu so he had to resign in order to leave his country. I did not ask him where he was going to move but I suspect he will be moving to an English speaking country so he will not have to learn a new language. When he does move he said he will be living like a local to that country.  

                The H1Z1 virus is a contagious disease that makes you a zombie. What the committee is trying to discuss is “what to do with the zombies short of killing them. Many said to put half to three fourths of America’s population on an aircraft or boat of some sort and send them to an island with very low population where they can’t escape. Many others said to put them on the space station where if they try to leave it they will suffocate in space.

                If they do chose plan A (put the zombies on a boat or aircraft and ship then to an island) they will have less than twenty four hours to do this so the disease won’t spread. If they chose plan B (put the zombies on the space station) they will have a little more leeway on time.

                If my opinion counted, I would suggest that we make a chemical that does not harm humans but that is deadly to the zombies. I have yet to come up with the chemical name and the attributes of it. This way it is easier to make and we have time to put it in bomb shells and drop it on the most infected cities around the world.

Fellow nations,

The absolutely unthinkable has happened. After a particularly intense build-up to the 2013 flu-season, one met with an unseen amount of hysterical fear of a new, evolved virus in the same vein of the Swine or Avian flu, a new strain was discovered by the Centers for Disease Control in mid-August in the United States. Its discovery was met initially with a large amount of speculation from the scientific community, considering just how unbelievable a claim the CDC was making about this new strain that had been found in an Amish community in rural Pennsylvania.

The flu strain was termed “H1Z1” or the “Zombie Flu”. It is postulated that it originated in raccoons being infected with both the H1N1, or Swine, strain of influenza and rabies at the same time and the viral vectors integrating themselves into side-by-side positions on the raccoon's genome, causing all future viral reproduction to contain both viruses. This coordination between the two viruses is actually a major benefit in fitness for the two, as the increased aggression seen in specimens infected with rabies leads to increased animal-to-animal contact and increased viral transference.

As H1Z1 is, effectively, the amalgamation of both influenza and rabies, the effects of the virus are similar, but enhanced. Rabies causes acute encephalitis by infecting the central nervous system, leading to confusion, increased rage, and mania, but H1Z1 seems to mainly cause rage and increased desire for violence. What is a particularly interesting and a novel adaptation of the virus is that these effects of the rabies half of the virus do not seem to become visible until after death by the influenza version of the virus. By sufficiently infecting the nervous system, the H1Z1 virus is able to effectively “re-animate” the victim, albeit awkwardly, leaving the re-animated victim a shambling corpse. This is a huge adaptation for the virus as the problem viruses have had to fight against for as long as they have existed is managing to not kill the victim before the chance of spread. Now that victims of the virus are able to affect others even in death, the virus can be as destructive as necessary to take dominion over the body.

After the discovery was confirmed by the CDC, the panic happened. Although the US government did not disclose the information that had learned for some time, the virus was already spreading and the first cases were being spotted in Philadelphia. As it turns out, flu victims rising from the dead and lurching towards other humans in a bit unsettling. Social media sites such exploded with such a video and FBI censors weren’t fast enough to catch it before it could be mirrored through all realms of the internet. The secret was out.

            The second topic that the committee of SOCHUM began to discuss is the issue of child imprisonment. Now child imprisonment is a very broad term, which can be misconstrued in many different ways. For instance, some might take this term to be that children are being illegally taken and thrown in prison with no regards to their well-being. However, in this instance, the question is how to deal with children who have committed a crime.

            There has been a sort of back and forth banter that about what is the age of a child. Some believe that a child is anyone under the age of 18. Others believe that a child comes of age when they hit puberty. So the primary focus at the beginning of debate was on defining what the age of a child was. However, after an un-moderated caucus, the body as a whole has appeared to shift from the age of a child to what measures can be taken to set punishments on children, rehabilitation, and alterations of court sets in order to be more suited toward the situations and problems presented with child crimes.

            However, a key thing that the committee of SOCHUM has to remember is that, no matter what, the General Assembly must protect national sovereignty. It’s a great thing that the group wants to aid the children and try and rehabilitate the kids back into society. But it is unlikely that the countries will be able to agree to let the United Nations force upon the countries the rules and regulations that the committee is talking about.

            The United States proposed a universal prison set and a code of honor, which would be enforced only if the country is ok with it, that would enable the better treatment, sentencing, punishment, and rehabilitation of children. Children, the committee believes, are a major part in the future of the world, and therefore, they want to focus on the psyche and how to best handle the situations that are presented. With currently two working papers forming, it will be interesting to see how the committee solves the problem of child imprisonment.

A new drama has begun within the crisis committee. The H1Z1 virus continues to hone in on Atlanta, the meeting site of this group. Due to the betrayal of the previous member Lori Myers, the group has been exposed to someone that has been in contact with a zombie. Any action to move, if the group has been exposed to the disease, could spread this virus further. The people within the group could be considered selfish if they move to save themselves, but where will the world be without them? The decisions get harder to pass as the group represents their group’s opinions.

As if the level of drama could not get any higher, the chair made an announcement that Daniel Radcliffe and Ryan Gosling have been infected with the disease and have been reanimated. This announcement left the females of the group speechless in a moment of sadness at the loss of these very attractive movie stars. If the rate of celebrity reanimations continues to rise, large-scale sadness will ensue. The storyline of this drama continues to gain more complexity. For all the Catholics out there, the Pope is also in an infected zone and has not been moved at this point. The movement of the Pope, if not handled the correct way, could spread the virus to the Vatican City thus create a world issue.

Kevin Jones is a freshman at the University of Alabama, who this year is the chair of IPC in the ALMUN conference. To give a short background, he grew up in Ohio and joined MUN in grade school because he thought the club sounded interesting and he’s been participating ever since! His major at UA is undecided, but he is considering art history or chemistry. His dream career is to one day work for NASA. His hobbies include: Reading, skiing, playing the tuba in the marching band, and rugby. Two of his favorite books are the The Hobbit and All The Pretty Horses. His favorite music comes from the band Street Light Manifesto. All these things are important and dear to the life of Kevin Jones.

            Every other committee has gotten a snazzy article written about what they are doing during the conference, and it’s high time someone decided to write about what the International Press Corps has been doing. This is my first time in IPC, and I’d like to start by saying I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. IPC gets the unique privilege of being able to participate in every committee. We get to see every debate, talk with every delegate and have fun participating in the different situations proposed in the different committees.

            As a whole IPC is trying to cover all the committees while coming out with extraneous articles such as the ones of good restaurants in town. We’re trying to come up with funny things to tweet about to provide you a few seconds of humor in those dull moments of committee. The most exciting thing you can look forward to from IPC is the proposed Harlem Style video the delegate from the United States is looking into producing. I don’t know the details at this time, he’s kept in on the down low, but everything I’ve heard about it seems cool.

            The biggest project in the works so far is the PowerPoint for closing ceremonies. We’ve been taking pictures all weekend for it, and will be putting it together during the session tomorrow. Hopefully you all can enjoy it, because it is the biggest thing IPC does, and everyone is really excited about what we can do the presentation.

            It’s been a real adrenaline-pumping ride trying to get everything written up and published, but from everyone at IPC we hope you have, and will, enjoy it.

 The delegates in the DIS committee worked to come up with methods of prevention and punishment for cyber terrorism and cybercrime. They debated the pros and cons of working papers 1.1 and 1.2. The delegates voted to move into voting procedure for 1.2 and spoke both for and against the paper. The main concern was national sovereignty, and proponents of each working paper thought their own protected it more effectively. Vagueness was another issue discussed within the papers. A delegate argued in a pro speech that vagueness in wording left room for nations to decide what they would like to do within the parameters of the rules of the working paper. She also said vagueness allowed for an opening of the discussion again at a later date if specificity was needed. Those against the paper, on the other hand, said that paper 1.1, rather than 1.2, was vague enough to allow those things.

Delegates on both sides were willing to admit the faults in their own paper and the strengths in the opposing paper. They were also very professional in arguing their own points. Thanks to their willingness to compromise and their professional manner, they passed resolution 1.2 and concluded the topic.

Before the vote, while arguing against the creation of a database to fight cybercrime, one delegate pointed out that countries could just make use of existing databases. He proclaimed, “Why don’t we just use Twitter?”

The Crisis Committee goes through an ongoing story as much as it goes through debate and the making of decisions. It is structured differently from any other committee at ALMUN, because each delegate represents the head of a specific organization rather than representing an entire country, and because there are continuing developments in the zombie story throughout the committee session.

The committee passes press releases and directives rather than resolutions, and there is a wide variety of opinions represented due to all the different organizations, from the ACLU to the UNSC to the NRA. The new organizations “Citizens for Zombie Eradication” and “People for the Ethical Treatment of Those Infected” (a branch of PETA) are represented as well, and their opinions clash as often as you might guess.

A representative for the Pope arrived to request that His Holiness be allowed to escape the quarantine. In a very dramatic moment, the representatives from the CIA and the NRA announced that the committee had been betrayed by one of its own when Lori Meyers (head of PETTI) smuggled her zombified fiancé from Philadelphia to Norfolk, causing an outbreak of the disease in Virginia and North Carolina. Secessionists from Texas came in to announce that they were officially seceding from the union, chanting “Texas! Texas!” and leaving the chamber with a “Lone Star State out, y’all!” All of this adds entertainment and intriguing developments to the committee session that the delegates had to respond to.

The wide range of approaches to the issue lead to very interesting debate: Some delegates thought that Lori Meyers deserved to be sent straight to Guantanamo Bay or go in front of a firing squad for smuggling the zombie out of Pennsylvania, while other delegates simply wanted to send her to prison. Certain delegates want to kill all zombies on sight, while the new delegate from PETTI, Lori’s twin sister Dori thinks they should be isolated from the rest of the population and “be given their own rooms to decorate and enjoy as they please.” Overall, despite the many differences the delegates have, they continue to be very productive, and we are all very likely to survive this zombie epidemic thanks to their wise and careful consideration of the problem.

Nearing the end of the third session, the Disarmament and International Security Committee began tackling a variety of points associated with a particularly interesting issue: China’s jurisdiction over the South China Sea. Originally discussing disputes over underwater resources, the committee soon went to address this tangent as the Chinese DISEC ambassador spontaneously appeared in committee, noting her delegation’s full possession of the South China Sea. This subtopic effectively ruptured the committee, causing the rise of two polarized positions.

One on side, delegations such as Pakistan believed that China should rightfully have the South China Sea. In stating that “China rightfully owned this land for over two hundred years,” Pakistan, as well as several other nations, believed that it was in the best interest of the committee to offer China their rightfully given land and move on.

Conversely, nations such as the United States, Guatemala and Switzerland expressed full-fledged advocacy of, rather, Japan’s interests in South China Sea. “Since they have practically held the area for over one hundred years by now, it makes no sense to have China acquire this,” Guatemala reasoned. Additionally, the United States rebutted Pakistan’s argument in stating that the appeasement Pakistan brought up would “not quell, but instead aggrandize China’s desire for more territorial power.” The emergence of these views, not long after, led to the creation of another working paper, and for nations such as the Japan, hopefully another future resolution to accompany the first two for this topic. 

Devon Preston, the chair of SOCHUM Committee, is a sassy young man with big dreams. It is his junior year being a political science major and English minor. He has participated in ALMUN since 2010 and this is his second year being the chair of SOCHUM, which he believes to be “the best committee we have,” of course, excluding IPC. Devon is from a Huntsville family of die-hard Alabama fans. He never participated in Model UN in high school, but hopes this will help him to achieve his ultimate goal of being admitted into UA’s law school to become either a criminal, medical, or corporate lawyer. His idol is the UN Security General, Ban Ki-Moon and Devon wishes he himself could be Security General someday. Devon is a quirky fellow who prefers not wearing socks or buttoning his top button.

            After a very successful morning session in which three resolutions were passed, SPECPOL proceeds to discuss new ideas on how to further improve peacekeeping troops.  Delegates began the debate by defining peacekeeping troops and developing a unanimous definition in order to resolve the issue in a more effecient manner.  Japan stated that peacekeeping troops should be sent when a country's government cannot easily handle a conflict on its own; all delegates agreed and decided that case would be necessary for peacekeeping troops and aid because it would be UN's responsibility to protect the country's civilians. 

            Next, the committee discussed the responsibilities of peacekeeping troops.  Many, if not all, countries stated that the purpose is to protect a country's citizens when in danger.  Switzerland, however, brought up a valid point and suggested peacekeeping troops should also be present in some minor conflicts as well, such as political strife and riots.  Focusing on the negative aspect of peacekeeping troops, Morocco stated that not all scenarios in which peacekeeping troops were present have been beneficial due to possible imbalance within a country and its government, and the delegate suggested the committee to keep both the positive and negative effects of peacekeeping troops in mind during debate.

            During a mod. caucus, Pakistan enlightened the committee by describing the three steps in peacekeeping troops, observation, diplomatic, and militaristic.  While observing a country's situation, troops proceed to handling the matter diplomatically.  If the situation does not resolve, the troops continue their services but in a militaristic way, bringing in weapons.  However, some countries do not believe these steps are necessary nowadays.  Switzerland stated that technology in the 21st century allows each country to easily keep track of the others' activities, meaning the observation step is not needed.  Morocco also objects a step stated by Pakistan; she believes if a conflict cannot be resolved diplomatically, then the UN is not performing their peacekeeping responsibilities correctly.

            Keeping these thoughts in mind, SPECPOL is working diligently to resolve the peacekeeping conflicts and will hopefully develop a resolution for the pressing issue.

            Bouncing around from committee to committee today one factor has reigned supreme in all of the debates. Is violating national sovereignty to insure the safety of civilians worth it? Many nations argue that sending in peacekeeping troops to a nation without the prior consent of the nation violates their national sovereignty and allows them the excuse to do whatever they want. Richard Perle once said, “National sovereignty is an obligation as well as an entitlement. A government that will not perform the role of a government forfeits the rights of a government.” Along the same lines Nikita Krrushchev once said, “The purpose of the United Nations should be to protect the essential sovereignty of nations, large and small.”

            Is it right for the United Nations, an institution that preaches preserving national sovereignty, to be able to send soldiers into any region they want to at any time. Peacekeepers are extremely helpful in protecting civilians in war-torn regions, but have they become old fashioned in the modern warfare techniques used today?

            Luckily SPECPOL is on the case of reforming the United Nations peacekeeping policies to better suit the world today. The biggest topics the delegates are wrestling with is defining the term “peacekeeper” and their missions. Peacekeepers have had marvelous successes and several massive failures since their inception as a United Nations technique, but what missions are truly within the scope of peacekeeping? Are the peacekeepers well enough equipped to succeed in their given missions, and does the United Nations need to invest in better equipping their peacekeepers for newer warfare techniques? Do peacekeepers need to be militaristic, or should the peacekeeping operations become expanded not only to physical warfare but technological and cyber warfare?

            These are the questions SPECPOL is trying to answer as they attempt to reform the peacekeeping system. Are peacekeepers still useful in the world today? Hopefully progress will be made on this pressing topic that effects every United Nations committee and every country around the world.

As the Security Council advanced to its third session, the major subject for debate was the Indo-Pakistani border conflict. Ever since the births of India and Pakistan in 1947, fighting over which regions they owned has been a major issue. Whereas native Indians claimed Kashmir and surrounding areas to be Indian regions, Pakistanis claimed these regions as rightfully theirs. Such disputes, in fact, have led to two out of the three wars that these nations were ever involved in. After more than 10 years, this issue has come into light yet again, serving as the root cause to escalating violence in the region.

Many delegations, especially those close to this volatile region, held dynamic views on this issue. Initially, India noted that Pakistan’s promises were misleading, using pacts that Pakistan broke in the past as proof. In response, Pakistan noted that India was causing greater civilian harm, leading to “the deaths of 5,000 Muslims and the rapes of 2,400 women.” Pakistan, additionally, attributed the theft of water and food resources to India, labeling the country’s stance “hypocritical.”

Eventually, though, general agreement triumphed. The United States, wary of both sides’ arguments, considered a “mid-way line” to be the best course of action—seemingly uncomplicated; one solid line can be agreed upon as a valid border between both countries. Nations such as Russia, additionally, helped to encompass the condemnation of terrorist groups and the affirmation of peacekeeping troops to ensure stability in the region in their policy statements. Even Pakistan came up with its own cooperative solution, expressing incentives and disincentives as effective methods towards a solid border that could be used to curb conflict.

By this time in the Security Council, a working paper had already been designed. With instruments promoting consolidation, distribution of ideas, and minimalized warfare, working paper 1.1 seemed to have succumbed to the needs of many delegates. In fact, such progress convinced the Security Council to start debating about their third issue: the Syrian conflict.

            Victory has come at last to the committee of SOCHUM. After two long sessions of debate, compromise, and collaboration, the committee has finally passed the working paper 1.1 as a resolution. Early on, the committee decided that the order of topics would be 1, 2, and 3, in this way deciding that human trafficking was the most prevalent issue to be discussed among the body of delegates. Then, after this topic was settled, the debate would move to child imprisonment and then, finally, the defamation of religion. However, as the delegates discovered, solving a world issue was no easy task. The working paper faced great opposition and nit-pickiness from a few delegates, including India, which nearly shut the paper down and caused the debate to continue. However, after a roll call vote, the motion carried and the working paper passed with minimal opposition.

            Everybody loves food. It’s just a fact of life. What people really want to know is which restaurants are going to provide the best food for their particular tastes. Whether you prefer Mexican, Thai or pancakes, Tuscaloosa has it all for you.

            For you Latin lovers, one of the most common, yet best, franchises on the campus is open for you on the Strip. Yes, I am of course referring to Moe’s Southwest Grill. Let me just tell you, the Joey Bag of Donuts is to die for. According to correspondents with various committees, including the delegates from US in SPECPOL and DISEC, the quesadillas are amazing. Therefore, if you are in the mood for a good old Hispanic, make-it-yourself meal, I highly recommend going to Moe’s Southwest Grill.

            Now for you Oriental lovers out there, the place for you is not exactly the place you would expect. Everyone has heard of Surin, which is located at the very end of the Strip. However, the best Thai food in Tuscaloosa is not exactly well known but it is some of the most authentic, delicious Asian food I have ever tasted. It’s a small orange house right across from Surin called Ruan Thai. The service was great, they gave us a substantial amount of food rather quickly, and it was some genuine good food. I highly recommend that people go to Ruan Thai and not just overlook it because it is small.

            And finally, you know it, you love it, it’s your favorite late night breakfast snack. Yes I am talking about the International House of Pancakes aka IHOP. Great service, great food, the restaurant is more than just a house of pancakes. It has every breakfast food you can think of, as well as salads and burgers. Also, the option to create your own type of pancake can make your meal simply divine.