DISARMAMENT, TERRORISM, IMMIGRATION AMONG TOPICS FOR MODEL U.N. CONFERENCE

As news reports on the escalating tensions with North Korea and Iraq fill the airwaves, 1,100 students from 38 high schools across the United States will meet to discuss disarmament, international security and terrorism, among other issues, at the 26th annual Old Dominion University Model United Nations Conference Feb. 12-15 at the Sheraton Waterside Hotel in Norfolk.

The students will simulate the work of several U.N. bodies including the General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, to discuss the reduction of military budgets and transparency, the prevention of an arms race in outer space and the establishment of new nuclear free zones. They will also act as the General Assembly Ad-Hoc Committee on Terrorism to discuss new immigration policies after 9/11, democratization and good governance.

Jean-Bernard Gazarian, a senior fellow and coordinator of the Training Programme for Permanent Missions at the U.N. Institute for Training and Research will speak on the U.N.'s formation from the League of Nations and detail his experiences attending its opening in 1945. He has served in the U.N. under every secretary-general. Additional speakers include Lucy Westcott, secretariat member of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, and Glenda Tesalona, national coordinator for Global Classrooms.

For more information contact Fred Warren at (757) 683-3923 or (757) 683-5043. Visit the Web site at www.odu.edu/al/mun/odumun.