Missing Information!

Hey guys,

We are missing email addresses from some of you delegates, which makes it very difficult to write you back our comments on your papers. So can everyone please email your bloc leader and just in the body of your email type your name and email address, for simplicity's sake. This is really important, thank you!

Also, for anyone reading this blog who has not yet turned in your paper, it is imperative that you do so asap!

Note from Joe: If you posted your paper after December 26, please repost it as a comment to this post. This late in the game it is difficult to keep track of the papers that we are reading when they are posted as comments to 10 different posts.

This Year's HSC Rules

YMCA Model UN HSC 2009 – Game Rules

Sec 1 – Mr. Reimer’s Rule: BE ON TIME (5 minutes early)!!

Sec 2 – Mr. Foster’s Rule: BE PREPARED!

Sec 3 – No Laptops or Cell Phones can be utilized within the HSC room (remember what year it is)! .

Sec. 4 - Communications
Senators: when you seek to write a note to another Senate colleague or to an individual in another bloc, just fold the note and give it to a Senate page for delivery.
White House / Mexican / British Cabinet Members: any notes should be written and addressed clearly, including the manner you want your note to travel, and provided to a college staff member for “delivery.”
All orders are to be communicated verbally to the college advisor responsible for your bloc. Do not submit them in writing unless instructed by the college staff.
Pay attention to newspapers. They might be helpful. You might also use press releases to the newspapers to help you.
Never assume news from any source was shared with your fellow countrymen.

Sec. 5 - Bloc Conduct
Treat everyone with respect, act responsibly, and use common sense.
Bloc leaders are responsible for ensuring proper conduct within their blocs.
Be respectful of all delegates by keeping the noise levels down.
You may only stand within the taped-off boundaries of your bloc.

Sec. 6 - Travel between blocs
In order to travel, you must request to travel through the ticket office (controlled by the college staff).
You must go to were you are sent to by the ticket office even if you are misdirected.
Remember: during this time period people traveled by horse and buggies and boats. Travel time will be affected accordingly.
Spying must be conducted in a reasonable manner. College staff determine the meaning of “reasonable.”

Sec. 7 – Visitors, Experts and Consultations
· Consultation with college advisors is ongoing and does not need to be requested in advance.
· Any expert or visitor must be requested at least 15 minutes in advance with a justification of the need. (Ex: economic advisor, military advisor, Governor, or foreign official). The roles may be played by Mr. Reimer, Mr. Foster, college staff, or even outside MUN members.

Sec. 8 – Leaving the Room
· No one may leave the room without permission from a College advisor. There will be no exceptions to this rule. Someone must know where you are at all times.

Sec. 9 – Time Period Restrictions
The technology allowed within the HSC is limited to the technology of the time period. (Ex. there will be no phones, only telegraphs, which were often misprinted).

Sec. 10 – Sanctions
The following sanctions can be imposed at the will of the College advisors and/or Mr. Reimer and Mr. Foster in any order and without notice. Additionally, the list of sanctions is not all-inclusive; Mr. Reimer and Mr. Foster reserve the right to add additional sanctions as deemed necessary.
Important communications maybe misplaced, mishandled, misread, or ignored all together.
Ticket office will misguide and mislead people from their desired destinations, or worse, refuse to stamp a return trip.
On a final and very serious note, egregious character misconduct (stepping out of character…) or lack of decorum shown in your bloc can and will lead to your removal and replacement.

Sec. 11 – Suggestions & Advise
· Be specific with your requests. Make sure you know if you are asking an advisor/college staff as themselves or as their character.
· The more creative you are, the more fun the HSC will become. Take a risk and try something different, but remember to stay in character at all times.

Go West? PLEASE REPLY

(Editorial Note: this should provide a hint as to where things will be starting...)

What should we do about the good folks living out in the California territory? We have this territory that we can claim since we defeated the infidels in Mexico! There's rumors there might be resources out there... There's even access to the Pacific Ocean so we can get to China without going around Africa. Should we force the inferior Mexicans to give us it all? Should we turn it into a colony? Of course, it MUST be slave free - especially if it should ever be granted admission into our Union. I trust you all understand my feelings: we cannot let the Mexicans to continue to inhabit lands that God himself as granted our people. When we began 250 years ago, the King granted us full rights to that land. We need to protect it.

Truly greatful to be in HIS service.

Senator W. H. Seward
New York
1848.

Quick check-in

Just a quick note with a few points:

1. Reminder, everyone needs to post. To post, click at the top "sign-in" and create an account. You can then comment on any of the papers or other discussion points so far. You could also create your own top level discussion thread.

2. I have a senator from VA still available that I realized I forgot to assign. The first person who e-mails me with an interest in changing their Senator position to this important role gets it. jlr@hangley.com (This is also a test to see if anyone is reading.)

JLR

A few good primary sources...

In an effort to preserve the balance of power in Congress between slave and free states, the Missouri Compromise was passed in 1820 admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. Furthermore, with the exception of Missouri, this law prohibited slavery in the Louisiana Territory north of the 36° 30´ latitude line. In 1854, the Missouri Compromise was repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Three years later the Missouri Compromise was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott decision, which ruled that Congress did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories.

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Missouri.html

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The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed by the United States and Mexico on February 2, 1848, ending the Mexican War and extending the boundaries of the United States by over 525,000 square miles. In addition to establishing the Rio Grande as the border between the two countries, the territory acquired by the U.S. included what will become the states of Texas, California, Nevada, Utah, most of New Mexico and Arizona, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. In exchange Mexico received fifteen million dollars in compensation for the territory and the U.S. agreed to assume claims from private citizens of these areas against the Mexican government.

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Guadalupe.html

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The Compromise of 1850 consists of five laws passed in September of 1850 that dealt with the issue of slavery. In 1849 California requested permission to enter the Union as a free state, potentially upsetting the balance between the free and slave states in the U.S. Senate. Senator Henry Clay introduced a series of resolutions on January 29, 1850, in an attempt to seek a compromise and avert a crisis between North and South. As part of the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act was amended and the slave trade in Washington, D.C., was abolished. Furthermore, California entered the Union as a free state and a territorial government was created in Utah. Also, an act was passed settling a boundary dispute between Texas and New Mexico that also established a territorial government in New Mexico.

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Compromise1850.html

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The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise, allowing slavery in the territory north of the 36° 30´ latitude. Introduced by Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois, the Kansas-Nebraska Act stipulated that the issue of slavery would be decided by the residents of each territory, a concept known as popular sovereignty. After the bill passed on May 30, 1854, violence erupted in Kansas between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers, a prelude to the Civil War.

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/kansas.html

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The Supreme Court decision Dred Scott v. Sandford was issued on March 6, 1857. Delivered by Chief Justice Roger Taney, this opinion declared that slaves were not citizens of the United States and could not sue in Federal courts. In addition, this decision declared that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional and that Congress did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories. The Dred Scott decision was overturned by the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution.

http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5629040858974646181