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Details of Arab League CRISIS Committee/BMUN Conference

Hi everyone,

Hope you guy are all doing well! I just wanted to give you some quick updates about conference as well as go over some of the details on how committee will proceed.


First, good job on position papers! I have uploaded the grades and your graded papers onto Huxley so you can go ahead and take a look at them to see if there is anything additional preparation you guys want to do before conference. Please do not be discouraged if your grade is low! We did grade somewhat harshly, and there was definitely no expectation for you to get an A or B.


Next, I wanted to reveal some of the basic details of procedure in CRISIS. There a couple of different motions that are available to you guys over this weekend:

1. Default will be a moderated caucus with one minute speaking time. This time is really meant for you guys to discuss which direction or topics you guys should discuss in committee.

2. Moderated Caucus: You can motion for a moderated caucus on a specific topic and change the default speaking time. These moderated caucuses will help you focus in the topic of debate and help the entire committee to dive deeper into specific issues.

3. Unmoderated Caucus: Your standard unmoderated caucus .

4. Formal Caucus: This is a twist on formal caucus that is standard in normal BMUN procedure. Once a committee directive is submitted, you can motion for a formal caucus to present the committee directive before the directive is voted on by the committee. This caucus consists of 2 minutes of presentation time and 3 minutes of time for Q&A. If there are no questions, the remaining time can be yielded to comments or yielded to the chair. I believe this caucus will be a good tool to get everyone on the same page and to facilitate discussion on the committee directives.

Voting on committee directives will take a 50+1 majority format.

I also want to emphasize that our committee will be a no-technology committee. 
That means that there should be no phones or laptops open/out during our committee. I don't think you guys will have any need to use technology as committee proceeds. Exceptions to this rule will be subject to the chair's discretion.

I will answer any other questions about procedure before committee begins and also feel free to email me before this weekend about any other questions you might have!


Finally, I wanted to go over a bit about grading.  

Grading will be broken down into four main sections:
1) Moderated Caucus
2) Unmoderated
3) Comments/Q&A
4) Directive writing/presenting

In your speeches/comments, try to focus on the content of your speech and pushing debate/discussion forward. Creativity/uniqueness are also always appreciated! Also remember that diplomacy is factor that is weighed in grading as well. At the end of the day, don't be too worried about grading. Be insightful, polite, and have fun and all of you guys will do great!

That's everything for now. My dias and I are super stoked to meet everyone this coming weekend and I know it's going to be a lot of fun. Again, feel free to reach out to me or email me if you any other questions or concerns before conference weekend.

Your head chair,
Andy

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