While College of Business students are really good at, well, business, they also excel at many other activities on and off campus.
This month the Oregon State Model United Nations team competed at a conference at the University of Seattle. Members were split between the United Nations Security Council and three national cabinet committees; the Chinese, the Indian and Pakistani. The 60 delegates from five schools sat down to figure out a solution to the disputed Kashmir region between India and Pakistan.
Oregon State students sat on the cabinets for France, India, Morocco, Pakistan, and Togo.
The day played out true to life. India and Pakistan argued over the area, eventually moving to war.
India eventually won the conflict, but took much longer than hoped following a United Nations no-fly-zone.
Within that, though, College of Business student Riley Kinser took home an award for OSU, earning Most Diplomatic in the Security Council as a member of the French cabinet. Kinser is also the founder of the International Affairs Club, a student group dedicated to the general subjects of international business and politics.
Lisa Nelson, OSU IAC Model UN Vice President, said that while war isn’t necessarily the best conclusion, the day was instructive for everyone involved.
While waging war is never a good outcome, the results of this simulation conference were fairly realistic in that not everything can be solved through conversations, let alone in only one day.
We all experienced the frustration of inefficient governments, the trouble of dealing with those who refuse to cooperate, and the confusion of complexity that is characteristic of any international conflict; patience was definitely a must.
