People of SSUNS 2015
At SSUNS, we had the privilege to meet awesome people that we could not resist to interview. Here’s a few of them:
May Lim
As Deputy Committees for Specialized Agencies, May Lim’s biggest responsibility is to ensure the smooth running of committees by making sure that all daises’ needs are met. She also gives special attention to ensuring that delegates’ concerns are reflected in how committee sessions are carried out. There is one thing that May learned at SSUNS: there are so many people involved that it will be impossible to perfectly satisfy all go them. Accepting that you cannot accommodate all needs is necessary and inevitable. But obviously, it didn’t stop the SSUNS team from organizing an outstanding conference. Other than that, she is proud to see Specialized Agency committees flourish this year. She is excited because the “NGO Mental Health” Committee really does function in practice as an NGO and the “Hacking Wars / Peace Talks” committee has an exciting crisis element added to it as it simulated the hacking of a critical institution and pushed delegates’ limits by necessitating impromptu thinking. This is a perfect demonstration of SSUNs 2015 motto to “Push Your Horizons, Defy the Odds”.
Justine Leblanc
As Operations Coordinator, Justine Leblanc responds to all logistical needs and provides technical support with the equipment. Her position is interesting and stimulating as it enables her to be mobile and see what is happening in many different committees. She found the “Hurricane Katrina” committee relevant since this year marks the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the catastrophe. She also enjoyed seeing how “The Troubles: IRA vs. British Government” committee attempted to resolve the 1970 Arms Crisis. Finally, she was very satisfied with Opening Ceremony as she found it very engaging.
Dexter Docherty
As Deputy Committees for Crisis, Dexter Docherty is responsible for putting together background guides for delegates, explaining how their assigned characters would react in particular instances. It essentially consists in providing them with the tools to embody specific real-life people. He and his team have to think of all the challenges delegates might face in the development of their crises. Of course, there is an emphasis on training. Throughout October, staffers were combined with IRSAM’s delegation team for simulation sessions of crisis committees. This effort to combine SSUNs crisis staff and IRSAM’s delegation team has proved to be of great benefit to both! Overall, Dexter would call working in crisis “controlled chaos”. He is surrounded by immensely creative people who try to make crisis as exciting as possible. Dexter explains that like in the real world, crisis are self-controlled and delegates will self-regulate and rationally respond to extreme strategic acts initiated by others.
