BEARMUNt h e o f f i c i a l n e w s p a p e r o f t h e b e r l i n m o d e l u n i t e d n a t i o n s

Pre-Edition

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Are media devices as safe as you think? see page 3

Education of the future: does technology create problems? more on page 2

BerMUN’s host city and its connections to media. full coverage on page 4

Learn about the problems caused by the increasing numbers of refugees. check page 3

When a film production degrading Islam goes viral, the outrage mounts.

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Melina KnabeJan McGrealReporters

Today’s world pulses incessantly and rapidly. Information is coded, reviewed, processed, submitted and released at high speed. Living in a society of instant gratifi-cation of news and opinions, it is only fitting that this year’s 21st annual Berlin Model United Nations conference topic reads: “Media Without Boundaries: Creating or Solving Problems?” These disparate opinions of me-dia’s influence on global issues remain high-ly discussed within the last few months. The conflict inflamed anew with the emergence of a controversial YouTube video named “The Innocence of Muslims” that went viral beginning September 2012, shortly before

the 11th anniversary of 9/11. During a period of national grief and religious sensitivity, the California-based production satirizes Islam and its sacred religious figure - the prophet Muhammad. The film excerpt, which cannot be accessed via YouTube and has had the video-sharing website blocked by the Paki-stan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in several Middle Eastern countries, portrays degrading and discriminating images of the “pious personality of Muhammad,” accord-ing to the U.S. foreign ministry. Responding to the film, the Free-dom and Justice Party of the Muslim Broth-erhood in Egypt called for uprisings against the “racist crime” according to The Tribune, and a series of demonstrations before the U.S. embassy in Cairo resulted. The killing of the U.S. Am-bassador and three embassy officials on

Wednesday, September 12th in Benghazi, Libya shocked the entire world, prompting a further wave of aroused sentiments linking back to the original video. This event also provoked sharp criticism from the Muslim community, showing the world that the kill-ing should not be interpreted as the general reaction towards the film but as a singular radical and unjustifiable occurrence. Now Sam Bacile, the producer of “Innocence of Muslims,” whose identity re-mains questionable, prompted an uproar of violence in the Middle East, where individu-als are now guilty of the murder of four U.S. embassy staff members. Yet Bacile’s own in-nocence is disputable. Yet the question remains, whether the media and YouTube’s controversial up-load can take the blame, or whether govern-ments must face intrinsic, unresolved reli-gious and cultural animosities instead.

The Guilt Following “The Innocence of Muslims”

BEARMUN

BERMUN PRESS STAFF

Disclaimer:The opinions and views expressed in the BEARMUN Newspaper, do not necessarily reflect the opinion of BerMUN or its advertisers.

John F. Kennedy SchoolTeltower Damm 87-9314167 Berlin (Zehlendorf) Germany(+49) 030 90299 5785e-mail: bermunpress@jfksberlin.orgweb: bermunmedia.blogspot.com

Editor-in-Chief:Sophia Hengelbrok

Advisors/Editors:Mr. Lee BeckleyMr. William Robertson

Text Editors:Caroline BeyerMaximilian EnthovenDina Farag

Head of Layout:Noah Lehrecke

Head of Photography:Noah HenckelSteffen Meder

Head of Digital Production:Julian McCarthy

Reporters: Dorothea DouglasMaya GrafMelina KnabeMax LarsonChristina Lennartz Emilia McGrealJan McGrealNina MeyerLeonard von Kleist

Layout Artists:Anton BegehrNina BruneLara FenwickSamantha Roehl

Photographers:Georg BrandFritz PukallAntony Roczek

Digital Producers:George FreyermuthJeremy McCarthyPablo Smith Lukas Tophoven

The Concerns of Technology in EducationChristina LennartzReporter

The use of technology in education is an extremely important and highly dis-cussed topic, as it concerns the development and learning experiences of future genera-tions. Isabella Veglianti, Chair of this year’s ECOSOC believes their issue is a “modern and unexplored topic. Since most nations probably don’t have detailed policy state-ments about this topic, delegates will receive a chance to be truly creative!” Students generally welcome the idea of using technology for schoolwork be-cause they can bring a familiar atmosphere into their learning experience. Through the Internet, students have much more access to information during class and must not rely on the teacher. Therefore, the teacher acts more as a guide to students, asking them to express their own thoughts and ideas, instead of only preaching lectures to them. This results in students having interactive discussions, coming up with their own solu-tions, as well as a seen improvement in the student-teacher relationship. However, the use of technology in education is also a controversial issue, as

the Internet, the social networks, and various games may distract students from focusing on the curriculum. In a summary for iGener-ation about the use of social media platforms as learning tools, Charlie Osborne, medical anthropologist and former teacher, says that, “due to [the internet’s] changeable nature, it can be difficult for school systems to keep up and compensate.” The Internet it not al-ways a reliable source and it is important that students learn how to evaluate material correctly. Other concerns surround the stu-dents’ struggle to deal with the pressure of having the newest technology among peers. In addition, one can see a decline of stu-dent’s social skills if too much emphasis is put on media-delivered facts.

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Resolving Issues through Media: Current Events in MENA Countries

Max LarsonReporter

image courtesy of insightpakistan.com

In keeping with the Political Com-mittee’s overarching goal of resolving is-sues involving religious, ethnic, and politi-cal strife, this year’s conference will focus on two MENA (Middle Eastern & North African) issues of paramount importance: South Sudan’s struggle for autarky and the Arab-Israeli Conflict. A research report has been published by PC Presidents Thyra von Gizycki and Sophia Natividad, outlining possible solutions to both problems. Having caused the deaths of al-most 300,000 people, the Sudanese civil

war has left deep scars. Even after the long-awaited secession of Southern Sudan just last year, potential for conflict remains. In the words of the PC research report: “The South has accused the North of [...] attempt-ing to ‘sabotage the South’s economy’.” This year, the committee will convene in an effort to find a compromise amenable to both sides. The Arab-Israeli Conflict, on the other hand, spans over 60 years of interne-cine quarrel sparked by the proclamation or the world’s only Jewish state, Israel, in 1948. “Israel’s claim over what was once a land populated by 94% Christians and Mus-lims remains a core issue,” according to the report. The recent uprisings popularly known as the “Arab Spring,” however, have lent perspective to the rapidly developing nature of conflicts in the region: the involve-ment of modern technology as a means of empowering Arab youth. In the words of an analyst cited by Natividad and von Gizycki, “[...] technolo-gy may do for Islam, what the printing press did for Christianity; usher in a great era of change.” The Political Committee certainly hopes so.

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Scared, Persecuted, Threatened: The Life of a Refugee

Maya GrafReporter

The numbers of forcibly displaced refugees is at its high-est since the mid 1990’s, with over 42 Million refugees worldwide. According to the refugee council RCOA, almost 80 % percent of the refugees find asylum in developing countries like Pakistan and Iran. Hardly any asylum camps are stationed in economically developed countries such as the USA and France, thus hindering the develop-ing countries from rising in economical standard. Refugees flee their homes due to racism, discrimination, violation of human rights, and lengthy political conflicts, as shown by the high number of refugees from Palestine and Afghanistan. To help the refugees, the UN Refugee Agency, an organization founded in 1949 to support and protect refugees, is increasing refugee camps all over the world, supplying the refugees with the needed medical care and making sure their rights aren’t being violated. UN Refugee Commissioner Antonio Gutteres states, “Al-though we try to protect all refugees coming to us, it is still an in-creasing number and unfortunately we can’t help every individual.” Gutters also comments that there will be, “no decrease in the num-ber of refugees if countries like Iraq and Afghanistan keep up the political conflicts and discrimination.” Human Rights Committee Deputy Chair, Lilli Pukall, whose committee will discuss the status of refugees in a globalized world, claims, “The most obvious step to secure more refugees is to increase refugee camps all over the world, and not only in develop-ing countries.”

This is an important issue, as the developing countries have to face their own problems, such as starvation and the corrup-tion of the government, and should not be concerning themselves with refugees. Pukall also states that, “In addition asylum seekers face a lot of discrimination in the refugee camps, thus tolerance should be taught and fostered.” Refugees are already living under harsh conditions in the camps, and their increasing number is a pressing issue for the whole world.

The Hidden Danger of Media Devices

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Leo von KleistReporter

Although devices such as tablet computers and cellphones have become a crucial part of modern life, their use can have dis-astrous consequences. More specifically, the production, use and disposal of media devices is extremely harmful to the environment. According to Jacob Becker, Deputy President of the Ber-MUN Environment Committee (EC), “The production of media devices can negatively impact the environment if chemical pollu-tion seeps into the surrounding area.” The mining of the raw materials causes this pollution, inaddition to consuming large amounts of energy and water. The materials are then chemically treated before being assembled. For example, the process of manufacturing a cell phone uses the energy contained in 10.5 gallons of gasoline. Although media devices decrease the reliance on paper and therefore save resources, they use large amounts of electric-ity. According to Techi.com, a cell phone uses an average of 4,221 Megajoules of energy per year, which is the equivalent of 32 gal-lons of gas. From an environmental standpoint, one of the most harm-ful habits that many e-device users have is leaving their gadgets turned on when not in use. However, Becker also states, “the actual use of media devices is less harmful to the environment than the production and disposal.”

Due to toxic materials contained in media devices, these de-vices are a threat to the environment when not disposed of properly. This so called “E-Waste” contaminates soil and groundwater with substances like mercury, lead and flame-retardants. The aforementioned issue is especially significant in de-veloping countries with nonexistent or weakly enforced laws need-ed to regulate the disposal of E-Waste. During BerMUN, the EC will try to find solutions to these environmental hazards.

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Extracting copper from E-Waste.

A family in a refugee camp.

The new BerMUN PRESS QR Code!

How to use it?

As most delegates will sojourn in the area of Zehlendorf, some recommendable cafes are Coffee Cabana, Starbucks and Walter’s Coffee. Lastly, a rather famous finger food in Berlin is the Döner. It consists of sliced lamb or chicken served in a pita with salad and sauce- it is a must-try for all of the delegates! Conclusively, with its exciting night life, culinary, his-torical and architectural aspects, Berlin is one of the most versatile cities in the world. It has considerable national and international recognition. If any questions arise concerning the city, the Berlin BERMUN delegates are happy to provide further help and infor-mation.

BEARMUN

Berlin: A Gateway to Media

Emilia McGrealNina MeyerReporters

“Ich bin ein Berliner” is a phrase known for encompass-ing the Cold War period. In 1963, U.S. President John F. Ken-nedy said these famous words during his speech in front of the Schöneberg City Hall in Berlin. Hoping to aid the unification pro-cess, he unknowingly created one of the most memorable events of the Cold War. Although only an audience of about 450,000 people wit-nessed the speech, it reached thousands more when it was broad-cast on news and radio stations. Media was not only a significant segment of Berlin in the past, for it is still an inevitable attribute to the government of present-day Berlin. Media has a recognizable importance in Berlin’s mod-ern-day architecture. As one looks at Berlin’s skyline, a colossal tower, referred to as the “Fernsehturm” cannot be ignored. In order to symbolize the virtue of strength, the German Democratic Gov-ernment built the tower in the 1960’s. Now it is regarded to be one of Berlin’s most famous landmarks, as it epitomizes the reunion of Berlin and Germany. In addition to its great architecture, Berlin has many oth-er media related points of interest. The Sony Center for instance is the media and cinema center of the city. Not only does Berlin have an exciting nightlife, it has plenty of restaurants and cafes.

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The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

The Reichstag Building in Berlin.

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The Berlin Central Train Station.

photo by Antony Roczek