Just a quick reminder: BMUN does not accept pre-written resolutions. If a resolution that is turned looks like its been prewritten, or if during committee a delegate reports a pre-written resolution, we will not accept it. That however does not mean you cannot come to committee with ideas for solutions; in fact, we encourage that.
Alright, I hope to see many of you tonight online!
- Bryan
Hey everyone,
I will be holding online office hours tomorrow from 6-7 pm and 8-9 pm tomorrow (Tuesday) on AIM. My screenname will be BMUNunesco56.
I will post the chat room I will be using tomorrow before office hours on this blog. In addition, if the activity is strong enough, I will consider holding the office hours the following week as well.
Don’t let the suddent influx of posts following an extended hiatus confuse you. There are THREE new posts today, so be sure to read up on those.
- Bryan
Q: The position paper guidelines you link to here are different than the guidelines in the Delegate Guide. Which do I follow?
A: Follow the guidelines in this blog, as they are more comprehensive than the guidelines in the Delegate Guide.
- Bryan
Well, not really. We should get back to posting within the weekend. I’ve just been swamped with college student stuff.
There has been a rumor going around that chairs will be awarding extra credit for those who post comments on these blogs. While that rumor is true in that some chairs are doing so, I will not be doing that for UNESCO, simply because I don’t think its fair to those who don’t know about this blog. (Also because I’m lazy and don’t want to keep track of it. 
)
However, I strongly encourage you to post comments, questions, or anything else on the blog. You may not get tangible “points”, but as chairs, we will recognize those who are active on the blog and will be more capable of helping out those who post. And besides, early name recognition is always a plus. .
-Bryan
There is a question about what type of sources are mandatory for the position paper. While I don’t require any particular number of sources be books or what-not, it is good to use sources that force you to actually flip some pages. Publication generally ramps up the respectability of the source, although there can be extreme exemptions (it is up to you to determine any bias).
The reason for not having this requirement is simply this; these issues are still mostly academic, and there aren’t very many concrete case studies out there. Some of the information you need cannot be found in public libraries, and while it doesn’t hurt to look, if you have to pay to use a certain journal, I’d rather you use an online source. However, a paper relying solely on online sources, especially those of poor reputation, will be looked upon unfavorably compared to one using a variety of sources.
- Bryan
p.s.: if you can get access to a University library (UC, Cal State, a local junior college like Stanford, if you’re desperate ), that is probably the best place to go to.
p.p.s.: Wikipedia will not be valid as a source, but it is a good place to go to look for other sources.
Just for clarification…
#1: Genetics and Cultural Identity
#2: Biomedical Research Ethics Standards
-Bryan