Happy New Year!  I hope all of you had a great holiday full of recuperation and time well spent with the family and friends.  Now let’s switch gears of this intellectual automobile we’re driving and start thinking about things other than television and holiday parties.

So I have a few articles about our second committee topic, cloning, courtesy of CNN.  They are all short, so please read them and post comments with your responses.  While reading them, consider where your country would draw the line with cloning regulation.  In which industries would cloning be appropriate or inappropriate?

This first one is some food for thought (pun obviously intended).  It is about the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announcing that it is safe for meat and milk from cloned animals to be sold in the market.  Ask yourselves what the pros and cons of such a policy are, including ethical issues.  How would your country feel about cloned meat in its markets?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/dailydose/11/21/cloned.meat.safety/index.html?iref=newssearch

This next article concerns a woman in England that suffered a severe lung collapse and was given a new windpipe created in a laboratory with her own stem cells.  Obviously this article presents the positive aspects of therapeutic cloning, but try to think about both sides of the argument.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/11/19/windpipe.transplant/index.html?iref=newssearch

The third article is about scientists doing research in Japan to clone extinct animals.  Is it a good idea to bring back extinct animals?  Why?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/11/04/japan.mouse.clone/index.html?iref=newssearch
Finally I want to mention something important about debating that I don’t think many delegates do.  Most delegates will present their side of the story beautifully, and their speeches will be laden with facts.  But they don’t present the other side of the story and provide counterarguments.  This separates a good speech from a great speech.  As controversial an issue as cloning is, a carefully constructed resolution with both sides considered will be the only one that will work.  Good luck!

My name is Farnoosh Mahdavi, and I will be your head chair for this committee.  I am a fourth year at Cal, where I study the art of Rhetoric.  I am looking forward to meeting all of you in February.  I hope you are all doing your research and will be keeping up with the blog posts.  It will surely be an exciting and fun committee, because I have the best vice-chairs in the world.  You can read their introductions below.  And please, feel free to contact me with any questions/comments/concerns you may have.

Patrick Ho

Hello everybody.  I’m Patrick Ho, and I’ll be one of your vice chairs.  I’m a second year Economics major, and I’ve been involved with Model United Nations for 6 years now.  If I’m not studying, I’m probably watching TV, working out, singing, or of course, hanging out with BMUN.

Andrew Davis 

My name is Andrew Davis, and I am a first year at UC Berkeley.  I plan on studying either Political Science or English Literature.  My hobbies include reading, writing, and anything that has to do with music.  I am also very interested in international relations and the workings of the United Nations.  MUN gave me my most fond memories of high school, and I look forward to having a great weekend with all of you!

Jose Garcia Gomez 

Hi everyone, my name is Jose Garcia Gomez.  I’m a first year student at UC Berkeley, and I have two years experience in MUN.  I’ve been in all the different types of committees (large, small, and medium size).  I am eager to share my knowledge and advice to all the new and returning delegates, and I look forward to meet as many of you at BMUN 57. See you guys soon!!