These High School Students Do a Lot of Talking

English and Math classrooms at Mira Costa will be the talk of the town Saturday. But instead of the usual discussions about literature and equations, this talk will turn to world peace, hunger, cloning ethics, international drug trafficking and education when about 735 Model United Nations (MUN) students from 17 local high schools participate in the 16th annual Los Angeles Invitational MUN.

More than 100 Costa students have been hard at work preparing for the invitational with the support of about 30 teachers. On Saturday, 95 Costa sophomores, juniors, and seniors will a long day, from before 8:45 a.m. when the conference begins, to after it ends at 4:30.

"We are Mira Costa Model UN," said Laura Vaughn, senior. "We pride ourselves as one of the best [Model UN] programs in the country… at our own conference we try to set an example."

At the invitational, which replicates the UN, representatives from each school will be placed on one of the 22 committees offered, from the UN Security Council to the World Health Organization. Costa sophomores will serve as legals that will assist the junior and senior vice-chairs and chairs with running debate. Some juniors and seniors will serve as secretaries of the conference, ensuring that positions are filled and any problems quickly solved. Two seniors will serve as secretary generals who will oversee the conference, just as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon does in New York.

Secretary General Laura Vaughn said that all jobs were crucial to the success of the conference. "The production is entirely [the students]... so much work goes into the conference and it really reflects well on this Model UN Program."

"The entire delegation at Mira Costa has been working for about two months," said Mackenzie Austin, Costa junior and the secretary of LAIMUN's Office of Public Information. "We've all been working together and hopefully it will be a great success."