2002 Border Studies Students Win Awards at Model OAS Conference

Border Studies students on UTEP’s Model OAS team.

Four of the 2002 Border Studies students took as their elective credit at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) a class entitled “Latin American Politics”. They were Naomi Fertman (Earlham College), Rachel Graville (Earlham College), Cassie Shook (DePauw University), and Daniela Mayer (Western Washington University). The class was taught by Political Science Professor Tony Payan, a Mexican native who lives in Ciudad Juárez and commutes daily to teach at UTEP. This class was a vehicle for students to participate in a mock version of the Organization of American States (OAS), a body similar to the United Nations (UN), except restricted to the Americas. This Model OAS conference is similar in form and content to the Model UN programs which are popular across the country at both the high school and college levels.

UTEP’s team for the fall of 2002 represented Brazil, and the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juarez (UACJ) represented Canada. Because of their close proximities to each other, the UTEP delegation assisted the UACJ group, who were first time participants, in preparation, transportation, and translation. Because UTEP had more than an adequate number of participants to support a strong team, and UACJ was a few members short, Naomi Fertman participated as a member of UACJ’s team.

In October, the UTEP and UACJ teams traveled together to Monterrey, Mexico, in order to participate in a weekend-long parliamentary procedure workshop. In November the two teams traveled to San Antonio, Texas, to St. Mary’s University where the 2002 Model OAS conference was held. Daniela and Rachel were members of the Inter-American Juridical Committee (which addressed issues such as: transparency in government, strengthening civil society, and strengthening the judiciary); Naomi Fertman was also a member of this committee, but representing Canada (UACJ) rather than Brazil (UTEP). Cassie Shook was a member of the Human Rights Committee. After an intense few days of debate in committee, UTEP had proven itself as a powerhouse team in the conference. Part of UTEP’s success lay in the fact that the team was _ bilingual (representative of its home town) and was thus able to act as translators, go-betweens, and companions to members of the four Mexican universities, including UACJ, that were present at the conference.

At the end of the conference, UTEP swept the podium, ousting its rival Baylor University, for Best Delegation, a title Baylor had received for the four years prior to 2002. In addition to Best Delegation, UTEP received two Outstanding Delegate awards, one of them going to Cassie Shook, and one Distinguished Delegate award, going to Rachel Graville. UTEP also won the Outstanding Head Delegate award, the Secretary General, and the Presidency. The team from UACJ had a successful first year and, although it did not receive awards, plans to attend again next year.